"HAIL HYDRA" AND THE ISSUE OF IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO ISSUES OF STEVE ROGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA FOLLOW

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Despite recently starring in a film grossing over $1 billion, Captain America has been quite the controversial figure lately. In the Marvel comic book universe (not related to the MCU), Steve Rogers was at one point aged rapidly to match his biological age of over 90, leading him to step down from the Captain America mantle and passing it down to Sam Wilson, formerly known as Falcon.

Recent events, however, have had Steve restored to the peak of his physical fitness, and in turn him taking the mantle of Cap back up, along with Sam; new shield and all. As such, he was given his own solo series once again, with Steve Rogers, Captain America #1 being released last month (Just in time for Civil War!). Sounds great, right? One of Marvel's star characters, getting a new series! What could go wrong?

A lot, apparently.

If you've been on the internet at all in the last month or so, there's a good chance you've at least heard of this story. If not, here's what happened. The end of Steve Rogers, Captain America #1 ended with what may be the most controversial comics panel in years.

(Property of Marvel comics)

Yes, that is Captain America saying the words "Hail Hydra". The issue revealed that Cap has supposedly been a double agent for Hydra since his childhood, before World War II, before he ended up in present-day. Of course this was controversial, that's not the problem here. Cap has been battling Hydra for 75 years, so to expect a reveal about him actually working for them to be without controversy would be absurd. However, it is the scope of this controversy that I take issue with.

First off, Cap being Hydra does not, I repeat, does NOT make him a Nazi. While the connection in the films may be a little closer, Marvel has made it very clear that in the comics, while Hydra did work with the Nazis, they were two completely separate organizations. Hydra has a very complicated history, which you can read about here, if you chose to do so. The point is, the claim that this story, and Cap himself, being anti-semitic are just not true, and quite frankly, disrespectful. You may not agree with a story, but to claim that Captain America is now anti-semitic? That's where I find an issue.

One of Cap's most famous moments (Property of Marvel comics)

The outcry didn't stop there, though. Some people vowed to boycott Marvel. Petitions to Marvel were created. Some people even had the bring idea to BURN their issues, while filming themselves doing it. Why? I don't know. I guess to make a point? Marvel got your money anyway, so I'm not sure what kind of point that is. Long story short, people weren't happy about this, and demanded Marvel to fix this. Which, they did.

Well, sort of. This is all very recent, so you may not know about it yet. Turns out that Captain America never was a Hydra agent all along. To make full sense of this, let's go back to the aging, and subsequent de-aging, of Steve Rogers. You see, his de-aging was accomplished by an entity known as Kobik, who is the personification of Cosmic Cube fragments in the form of a little girl. If you would like to know more about what this "Cosmic Cube" is, click here. The main thing you need to know, though, is that the Cube has reality-altering powers (if you've seen The Avengers, then you know about the Cosmic Cube, but in that film it's known as the Tessarect). Turns out, when Kobik was reverting Steve back to his prime, she was actually under the control of Red Skull, a high-ranking member of Hydra who is one of Cap's biggest enemies. (Okay, so it wasn't actually Red Skull, but a clone; you get the idea.). So while Cap was in fact reverted back to his prime, due to Red Skull's meddling he was also given new memories. FALSE memories. Memories of him being part of Hydra since childhood. So Cap wasn't an agent of Hydra in the end after all. Problem solved, right? Not so fast.

Kobik, and the Cosmic Cube (property of Marvel Comics)

Obviously, this was also a huge deal. Various news outlets reported on this "twist on a twist". Most famously, Paste Magezine posted an article headlined "Marvel Backtracks on Captain America Revelation After Just One Issue", which can be read here (note: they have since updated the article, and published a response to it). The article seemed to imply that this story decision was made in response to the backlash. While I have no doubt that Paste didn't actually think that was the case, the wording made it appear so. The problem is, some people actually do believe that's what happened. That Marvel saw the response, and subsequently changed their story. Obviously if you know anything about how comics work, you know this couldn't be farther from the truth. There's so many moving parts involved with making a comic, especially one from a company as huge as Marvel. Writing, inking, coloring, etc., there's just so much work involved that it's impossible for Marvel to backtrack and change their plans in that short of a timeframe. The process is so rapid and intricate that the minds behind the storylines have to have their arcs planned out very far in advance, in most cases months.

But that's just part of the problem. I take issue with the whole overreaction with this whole situation. The backlash, petitions, burnings, they all stem from an issue that I've seen become more and more prevalent in pop culture: the issue of immediate gratification. More and more consumers of media are wanting immediate payoff, and not willing to wait for it. We live in an era of binge-watching, leaks, and people looking up spoilers for things they have yet to see. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning these. I'm just saying that the rise of the internet has allowed us to be immediately rewarded in various forms of media. It's now possible to watch an entire 13-episode season over the course of a weekend, when previously the only choice was to wait over a period of months to see how a season would play out. I'm not saying that one is better than the other, just that there's something special about seeing one part of a story, and discussing it with others until the next piece of the puzzle is revealed, with the cycle continuing until the story ultimately reaching its finale. During this period, you have the ability to come up with your own theories, reflect upon what's happened previously, and just wait to see how everything plays out. Obviously binge watching completely eliminates that. Sure, you can discuss the events of the season with your friends once they all finish watching, but watching an entire story play out in one sitting severely limits its discussion possibilities, and in my opinion, lessens the impact of the end. There is just something so gratifying about waiting weeks, months, for a storyline to pay off, and when it finally comes, it feels like an accomplishment. Obviously if the ending is disappointing, or not exactly what you wanted, it can feel like you wasted all that time, but if it turns into something you love, the experience is just that much more rewarding.

One of my favorite part of Game of Thrones is seeing everyone discussing their own thoughts & theories (Property of HBO)

Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, we also live in an era where leaks and spoilers are readily available to anyone who searches for them. I would be lying if I said if I've never done it myself. Sometimes my curiosity just gets the best of me. But there's also something to be said about going in completely, or at least partially blind, and seeing something fully play out in front of you. Last December's Star Wars: The Force Awakens was famously quiet with its marketing, revealing almost nothing about the film's plot at all prior to the film's release; they didn't even have any of the characters talk until the films third trailer (save for one line from Harrison Ford)! Since it's marketing was so sparse, I decided to follow suit, and avoid all spoilers related to it. I even avoided reading any reviews prior to me seeing it; I didn't want any preconceived notions in my head going in to the film, and let me tell you, it made the experience that much more enjoyable. Now, I am someone who firmly believes that spoilers do not ruin your experience, as I believe it's more about the journey than the destination. However, it does make that journey all the more exciting if you don't know what that journey is. Let's take this year's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a film which I actually didn't like at all. However, that film (in?)famously revealed it's third act in one of its trailers, showcasing that Doomsday (who had never been announced as appearing in the film prior to this) is the threat that unites Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. To be quite honest, I didn't find the final battle very exciting, save for Wonder Woman's appearance, but still, imagine watching the film, and then seeing Doomsday show up, when you never before knew he would. I feel like that would've added a jolt of excitement to what was otherwise a pretty (in my opinion) underwhelming final battle. It could've helped a lot.

Oh how I wish WB held off on this reveal (Property of Warner Bros.)

Obviously it's too late to change how this Captain America fiasco played out. However, I really wish it played out differently. It just disappoints me that so many people were unwilling to wait and see how this storyline would play out, and wanted a fix to it immediately. Let's all be real here, everyone knew that Captain America wouldn't stay a Hydra agent. That's just not feasible. Someway, somehow, this would be a plot point that would then end, and just be another footnote in Cap's long comics history. The last few years have really been a period of change for Marvel's pillar characters. We've seen a Africa-American Captain America (who can fly!), a female Thor (who's dying of cancer), and a Korean-American Hulk. These are characters who have been around for decades; obviously it's necessary to change things up every now and then to keep things interesting. I see Captain America being part of Hydra as an example of that. When this was revealed, I was willing to wait and see how the story would play out, as I knew that Marvel had a plan. They weren't going to keep one of their star characters evil, but obviously many weren't willing to wait, they wanted answers now, and the fact that so many weren't willing to wait just makes me sad.

There was plenty of outcry when Marvel made huge changes to some of its most iconic characters (Property of Marvel)

I really hope this doesn't come off as angry or dismissive, but this is just something I'm very passionate about. Steve Rogers is super important to me (I plan on getting a tattoo of his famous symbol soon), and I just can't stand to see so many dragging him down. Steve has taught me to always do the right thing, and stick to what I believe in, no matter what. Plus, I'm a huge proponent of long-form storytelling, so people demanding immediate gratification without patience upsets me. Just like cable TV, it's possible to wait and see for the end result of a storyline, we just need to be a little more patient.

Captain America will always be one of my biggest inspirations (Property of Marvel)

Got any opinions of your own on this topic? Leave a comment! All feedback is appreciated. If you want to see me less angry, check out my Twitter. And if you want to see pictures of my life for some reason, I'm also on Instagram too.