'Captain America 4' Villain Possibilities

Anthony Mackie has officially signed a deal to return as Sam Wilson/Captain America in Captain America 4. Anticipation is running rampant as production is scheduled to get underway sometime in 2022, and speculation has began to soar as to who the villain(s) could be, and what the story could entail. I for one would like a fresh start for this first Sam Wilson-lead Captain America movie. Not a villain or villains who have any ties to Steve Rogers, and just something fresh that suit Wilson and helps to make him into Captain America.

Having Hydra resurface might be coming at some point down the line, but it shouldn’t happen for a while. Someone like M.O.D.O.K. has been wanted by fans, myself included, but Arnim Zola would fall under that same trope. Unless he’s past Hydra and is with A.I.M. wanting to end the Captain America mantle, I wouldn’t be interested in a Hydra M.O.D.O.K. story. Much like Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson has his fare share of a great rogues gallery, many villains who would be perfect to be a movie villain.

I have to begin with U.S. Agent. After John Walker took the Super Hero Serum towards the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Walker helped Sam and Bucky to end the Flag Smashers, but was striped of the Captain America mantle by the U.S. Government. The mysterious Valentina Allegra de Fontaine came in and gave Walker his U.S. Agent suit, and seems to have him under her thumb. Maybe she, and her other allies, will send Walker to try to kill the new Captain America. Or maybe he’ll just go up against Sam with some of his war buddies-turned villains as well?

There’s definitely some sort of confrontation coming between the two at some point, it just remains to be see where and who this will happen. Coming in the form of a Captain America movie, definitely seems like the safest bet though. I’m not sure if U.S. Agent could serve as a movie villain, on his own at least, considering that Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios like to go with world ending threats for basically every movie they do.

The last we saw of Toby Jones’ Arnim Zola was in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where he was seemingly destroyed once and for all. Well, Marvel Studios has done a nice job at planting the seeds for Zola to return, this time as M.O.D.O.K. It’s also Marvel, and in the comics world, no one is ever really dead. Walton Goggins’ mysterious character from Ant-Man and the Wasp was working for someone, and I have had a feeling for a while now that it could be M.O.D.O.K. Zola could be in search for tech to make his M.O.D.O.K. suit. His classic classic “floating head” suit might be a bit cheesy and it would be a lot cooler to see M.O.D.O.K. as a giant robot controlled by Zola’s consciousness.

Captain America 4 would be a nice way to get out with the old, and in with the new. Wrapping up Steve Rogers’ enemy from the past as Zola might be angry that he can’t fight Rogers but settles for Sam Wilson, also wanting to end the Cap mantle. Zola could also be set up through Captain America 4 and be used as the main villain in the inevitable Young Avengers project, which could be a Disney+ series, but I’d assume that a movie would be most likely. And better frankly. M.O.D.O.K.’s henchmen, A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) could also be used as well. A.I.M. is the villainous organization that M.O.D.O.K. runs and would be a neat “next Hydra” type of threat with newer and more innovative ideas.

Sin, also known as Sinthea Shmidt is the daughter of the Red Skull. Seeking a male heir, the Red Skull fathered a daughter with a washerwoman. The woman died in childbirth, and the Red Skull almost killed the child, angry that it was a girl and not the boy he expected. One of his followers, Susan Scarbo, convinced him not to, telling him she would raise the girl herself as her nanny. Red Skull agreed and left the girl (now named Sinthea) to be raised by Scarbo, who indoctrinated her with the Skull's views as she grew up. Red Skull returned when Sinthea was a child and put her in a special machine that accelerated her aging process until she was an adult and gave her superhuman powers, as well as the ability to age very slowly.

Hugo Weaving, who played the character until Avengers: Infinity War when we was mad that he’d not have a major role anymore, happens to have a daughter on the rise in Hollywood. Samara Weaving is one of the most coveted up and coming actors today, and would serve PERFECTLY in the role. Over the years in the comics Sin attempted to rebuild Hydra, to be named the new Red Skull, and even had her face deformed in a manner similar to her father’s. She’s essentially the embodiment of everything both Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson stand against, which could make her a particularly formidable foe for Sam.

In the final moments of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier finale, it was revealed that Sharon Carter, was indeed the Power Broker. As the kingpin of the criminal fictitious city of Madripoor, Sharon was responsible all along for funding the development of the Super Soldier Serum used by the Flag Smashers, who were actually her personal paramilitary force before they abandoned her to pursue their own evil agenda.

The end credits scene saw Sharon walking out of the Congress building, and getting on the phone with unseen character after Sam Wilson’s promise came to fruition and got Sharon pardoned by the U.S. government. Sharon seemingly intends to use her newly recovered access to put "government secrets, prototype weapons, you name it" onto the black market for anyone to buy. This means that the bad guys of the MCU are about to become even more dangerous.

It’s highly possible that Sharon could be the main villain, or in actuality, playing a Norman Osborn-like role which might surprise some mainstream moviegoers. In the comics, newer comics I should say, Osborn uses his wealth and scientific power to control villains, and assembles his own villainous team: The Masters of Evil. Seeing how Sharon was able to pull a double cross with Batroc on Karli, maybe she already has other villains on her payroll?

I don’t think she’s a Skrull. While it’s safe to assume that people that Skrulls replace do a complete 180 character shift and become evil… That’s not in their nature. This is just a classic example of someone being wronged by her allies and government, and unlocks the darkness within them. There is a way for Sharon to be redeemed, AGAIN, but she isn’t a Skrull. Sharon is all of the sudden one of the handful of characters that I am very eager to see again in the MCU.

The Serpent Society is a business enterprise of criminals and mercenaries whose costumed identities are based on snakes. The Society remains one of the best-organized, most successful coalitions of criminals in all of Marvel Comics. Sidewinder, Anaconda, Black Mamba, Death Adder, Asp, Diamondback, Cottonmouth, the Cobra, Bushmaster, Rattler, and Princess Python are the most notable members of the Serpent Society.

They’re definitely the fan favorite for Captain America 4, and would do exactly what I said in giving Sam a villain(s) who have no ties to Steve Rogers or Hydra. And who could forget the fake-out at 2014 San Diego Comic Con when Kevin Feige revealed that the third Captain America would be called Captain America: Serpent Society, only to say, “wait, that’s wrong” and it was revealed to be Civil War.

I’m not a huge fan of theirs in the comics, always found their commonality to be a little cheesy, but they are a group of tough and very intelligent villains that could stabilize a very interesting concept for a movie.

This last villain, or group I should say, is the one that I want to see the most. In 2017, Marvel released one of its most controversial comic book storylines of all-time with Secret Empire. The crossover event saw Hydra attempt to take over the United States as Steve Rogers was revealed as a Hydra sleeper agent of many years, forcing the heroes of the Marvel universe to unite against their former ally/leader.

Marvel Studios would almost certainly never adapt this story directly and reveal that Chris Evans' beloved fan favorite Avenger had been a villain all this time. But with the multiverse now a major part of the MCU moving forward, seeing a variant of Steve Rogers introduced that somehow become affiliated with Hydra, would be a surprising, and interesting, twist. Chris Evans playing an evil version of his iconic character would be a sight to see. With Marvel reportedly in talks with the actor to return, one would imagine it would take something special for him to return.

But in general, the Secret Empire organization is a group that I would absolutely love to see. Members consist of:

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine: took on the mantle of Madame Hydra in the late 2000s, only to betray Hydra in the end. We’ve seen her in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Black Widow played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and is definitely up to something sinister.

Viper: Ophelia Sarkissian, is well versed in the arts of stealth and espionage, Viper is immune to most toxins and has seemingly unending influence in the seedy underbelly of organized crime. Oh, and she has green hair... whether that's a personal style choice or to keep with Hydra's overall aesthetic is unclear.

Kraken (Jacob Fury… Nick Fury’s brother): Much like Madame Hydra, the mantle of Kraken has been passed to multiple villains. The two most important were the original, Daniel Whitehall, who was disposed of and replaced by Jacob Fury to infiltrate Hydra command. The most notable thing about Kraken is the Kraken armor that enhances its users' strength and durability while granting teleportation and energy projection powers.

Gorgon: Tomi Shishido ran The Hand before perishing and being resurrected to become a member of Hydra. He is a very powerful mutant with transmutation and telepathy powers. Since being resurrected, Shishido now has the requisite superhuman powers one would expect of a supervillain: outrageous strength, speed, durability, and reflexes on top of a healing factor. He also has a genius-level intellect, so he really is a well-rounded menace.

Hive: isn't even really a human being but an experiment that was created in a Hydra laboratory. It is actually a bunch of genetically engineered parasites that were merged to an unwitting Hydra agent in order to give them some cohesive semblance of sentience. Hive can shoot these parasites as projectile weapons and is capable of breathing underwater, but it is a bit hard to know what is on its mind as it doesn't speak any translatable languages.

Doctor Faustus: Johann Fennhoff is the kind of man everyone should fear. He isn't strong, he doesn't have any godly powers, and he isn't exactly all that menacing upon first glance. However, he is the world's leading expert in psychiatry and hypnosis, which makes him an exceedingly devastating adversary under the right circumstances. When you can manipulate the mind of someone as strong-willed as Captain America, you know you're a big deal.

Using some of these villains, and maybe others, could be done in a non-Hydra way, which is he route I’d prefer for Marvel Studios to go down. But even if they’re trying to restart Hydra, or adapt Hydra with new innovative methods, I’d be 100% ok with that.

Whatever villain or storyline Marvel Studios decides to do, it is certain to follow the usual MCU formula of adapting elements from fan-favorite comic arcs, while still taking enough creative liberties to keep things original and surprising for every moviegoer.