Hydra (comics)

This article is about the fictional terrorist organization. For other uses, see Hydra (disambiguation).

Hydra
Hydra agents
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Strange Tales #135 (Aug/ 1965)
Created by	Stan Lee Jack Kirby
In-story information
Base(s)	Various
Owner(s)	Currently: Viper Formerly: Baron Strucker Red Skull
Employee(s)	Current members: Gorgon Baron Helmut Zemo Former Members: Hardball Kingpin Silvermane Werner von Strucker Bob, Agent of Hydra

Hydra is a fictional terrorist organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The name "Hydra" is a reference to the mythical Lernaean Hydra. The organization's motto references the myth of the Hydra, stating that "if a head is cut off, two more will take its place", proclaiming their resilience and growing strength in the face of resistance. Hydra agents often wear distinctive green garb featuring a serpent motif.

Publication history

Hydra first appeared in Strange Tales #135. In its original continuity, it was headed by nondescript businessman Arnold Brown, who was killed as S.H.I.E.L.D. apparently crushed the organization. Hydra soon returned, however, headed by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, with the support of the Nazi Red Skull; Hydra's changing origin was one of Marvel's earliest retcons. After its initial defeat, several of its branches, such as its scientific branch A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) and the Secret Empire, became independent.

Crypt of Shadows #3, published in 1973, reprinted a story from Menace #10 (1954), but with a change to a line of dialogue that erroneously implied that Hydra was first mentioned in the 1954 issue. In the reprint, an agent of an unspecified enemy government was changed to identify himself as working for Hydra when he paid off a scientist named Dr. Nostrum for information about a cobalt bomb that turned people into monsters. Dr. Nostrum shot all the other scientists on his team after they were turned into monsters, then shot himself after his son put an image from a monster magazine on his mirror.

Organization

"Hail, Hydra! Immortal Hydra! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off a limb, and two more shall take its place! We serve none but the Master—as the world shall soon serve us! Hail Hydra!"

—The Hydra Oath from Strange Tales #135 (Aug. 1965)

Before mankind, a cabal of immortal hooded reptoids came to Earth, planning to start a legacy of evil. Sometime later, they corrupted an Asian secret society of geniuses known as the Brotherhood of the Spear, which resulted in that group being called "the Beast" by the Brotherhood of the Shield. The corrupted Brotherhood of the Spear spread out ingraining itself into all facets of human society from science to magic to politics like a multi-headed serpent. As time wore on, the organization's name changed and included the Cathari sect as well as the Thule Society. The Nazi sub group funded by the Thule Society were brought into the main HYDRA fold after the end of World War II.

Baron Wolfgang von Strucker quickly seized control of the organization and restructured it to be dedicated to world domination through terrorist and subversive activities on various fronts, resulting in a fascist New World Order.

According to the files discovered by Nick Fury HYRDA is split into four independent sectors: "International Corporations (Fronts created using a legitimate business to conceal illicit activities), Government Assets (Individuals within the chain of command. Long-term resources that benefit from the minimal turnover inherent in bureaucracies), Global Criminal Groups (Subsidiary organizations created for short-term goals. Also used to deflect unwanted interest from the global law enforcement community), and Intelligence Gathering ( S.H.I.E.L.D. and all their underlying resources)" (sic) Hydra regards S.H.I.E.L.D. as their "most valuable proactive intelligence asset" while its Government Assets include the US Department of Treasury, FBI, and NSA as well as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the GRU and SVR of Russia.

Nick Fury theorized that his previous successes against Hydra were either feints to make him believe that he was making headway against the group or manipulation by Hydra to eliminate any possible competition or possible rogue sub organizations.

The current version of Hydra is partly funded by Baron Strucker's personal fortune, based on his recovered hoard of Nazi plunder from World War II, and funds established by the original leaders of the Japanese secret society that became part of the old Hydra.

The organization is run with behind-the-scenes direction by Baron Strucker (who was one of the people to assume the role of Supreme Hydra). Under him is a central ruling committee; under them are individual division chiefs, and under them are the rank and file members and special agents.

In order to become a member of Hydra, an individual must be a legal adult willing to submit to a thorough investigation of the applicant's personal background and to swear a death-oath of loyalty to Hydra and its principles.

Technology

Hydra's level of technology is as highly advanced as that of any on Earth, based in part on technology of the alien Gnobians discovered by Baron von Strucker in 1944. Hydra uses various advanced experimental vehicles and devices in its activities, and various conventional military vehicles, seacraft, aircraft, pistols and standard concussive force blasters, and conventional communications equipment.

Hydra personnel are issued cowled jumpsuits, which have included a number of designs over the years. Originally, the jumpsuits were green with a yellow H design, and later incorporated a red and brown color scheme, but in time were changed back to green with a serpent motif.

Fictional organization history

Hydra's history as depicted in Marvel Universe continuity is a long, tumultuous and convoluted one, spanning millennia ago to the Third Dynasty of Egypt, with all references to the ancient group disappearing around the Renaissance. Surviving fugitive members of the governments of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan (including the The Hand) are recruited to become the modern incarnation of Hydra.

A cabal of Japanese ultranationalists planned to use Hydra to overthrow the Japanese liberal democratic government, assassinate the prime minister, and install a neo-militarist government, which would re-arm Japan. However, after joining Hydra, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker seizes control of the organization and constructs the Hydra base Tsunami - called Hydra Island. The original Hydra Island was invaded by the Leatherneck Raiders and the Japanese Samurai Squad, and the base was destroyed. Strucker slowly steered the organization towards the goal of world domination. That campaign brought him into conflict with Charles Xavier and the future Magneto among others, and once Hydra became more brazenly public in its operations, eventually led to the creation of the original agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. specifically to counter Hydra's threat to world security. After Hydra apparently assassinated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first executive director, Nick Fury was appointed as executive director. Hydra agents attempted to assassinate Nick Fury before his appointment as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Director, but failed.

This decision, after several Hydra campaigns including the failure of the world blackmail attempt using the Betatron Bomb, the creation of the Overkill Horn (designed to detonate all nuclear explosives worldwide), and the bio-engineered "Death-Spore" Bomb, led directly to von Strucker's first death at the hands of Fury and several deceived Hydra operatives. In the wake of von Strucker's first death, the surviving elements of Hydra broke into factions that each adopted its own reorganized modus operandi. Several of these factions developed "super-agents" that would occasionally break away in turn to become freelance operatives, or, in some rarer cases, superheroes such as the first Spider-Woman. During this era, their collective threat was mitigated by not only occasionally fighting among themselves, but their operating policy of punishing failure with death often meant they were killing each other more often than their intended victims after their frequent defeats by SHIELD, superheroes and even civilians like the motorcycle racing team, Team America. Von Strucker was eventually revived and reunited several of the Hydra factions under his leadership to renew his campaign against S.H.I.E.L.D. and humanity for several more years.

Despite his reorganization of the group, various independent Hydra factions continue to operate around the Marvel Universe, and a Hydra Civil War would later result. While Baron Helmut Zemo had Strucker placed in stasis for his own ends, Gorgon and Strucker's second wife Elsbeth von Strucker mystically created a clone of Strucker who they set up to fail, allowing for a public execution of him, after which—as part of an alliance with The Hand, they utilized an army of brainwashed superheroes and supervillains, including Northstar and Elektra to launch a massive assault on S.H.I.E.L.D. The assault was ultimately repelled and Wolverine would kill Gorgon.

Hydra later planned an all-out attack on the United States by smuggling missiles into New York for use in a planned bio-weapon assault on the Ogallala Aquifer. They formed a distraction through using a team that had the duplicated powers of several Avengers (Iron Man, Captain America and former Avengers Thor and Hawkeye) but were inevitably foiled by Spider-Man and the other New Avengers.

When Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. during the events of Civil War, Hydra stormed the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and freed her. Spider-Woman, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and member of the Avengers, had been working for Hydra under the orders of Nick Fury, deposed as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. following the events of Secret War, whom she was still loyal to. Hydra revealed that they knew of her betrayal and wanted her to replace Viper as their current leader, for she was unstable. Spider-Woman refused their offer, destroying the Hydra base she had been taken to in an explosion.

As Spider-Woman revealed her true identity as Queen Veranke of the Skrull Empire, Hydra was left with a void in his control organization, filled by Congressman Woodman. Under his rule the young Hardball, empowered by the Power Broker is appointed as a double agent, acting both as an Initiative recruit and as a Hydra spy with the role of gathering information about the Initiative and doing errands for Hydra in exchange of secrecy and the expensive health care needed by his brother, a former UCWF wrestler who was crippled on the ring.

Hardball however, deeply hurt and shamed by the compromises Woodman forces him to endure, and Komodo's attempt to bail him out of Hydra by telling his secrets to his field leader Gravity, mercilessly kills Congressman Woodman in front of his subordinates. His ersatz coup d'état pays off, and Hardball is appointed as the new Supreme Leader of the organization, severing every tie with his former life. His joining Hydra however, was revealed to simply be caused by his having nowhere else to go. He surrenders to the Shadow Initiative, and is sent to the Negative Zone prison, destroying his Hydra cell.

After the events of Secret Invasion, Nick Fury discovers that S.H.I.E.L.D. was under the control of Hydra, and apparently had been from the beginning. He also discovers a number of organizations under Hydra's alleged control including the United States' FBI Science and Technology Branch, NSA and US Department of Treasury, as well as the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate and Foreign Intelligence Service and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Meanwhile, after having to destroy Hydra's undersea headquarters, Ichor - it had been infiltrated by the Skrull invasion force - Von Strucker decides to rebuild Hydra from the ground up, and after learning that Fury has learned the truth, reconvenes the other main heads of Hydra: Viper, Madame Hydra, Kraken, and The Hive; as well as resurrecting The Gorgon for the purpose of showing Hydra's "True self" to the world.

Hydra (alongside A.I.M.) later appears in an alliance with H.A.M.M.E.R.. Following the defeat of Norman Osborn, H.A.M.M.E.R. ends up disbanding with Madame Hydra using the remaining members to reinforce Hydra.

After the existence of Pleasant Hill - a community where Maria Hill kept various supervillains after brainwashing them to believe they were regular civilians via a sentient Cosmic Cube - was exposed and shut down, the reborn Red Skull used the subsequent backlash in the intelligence community to assemble a new version of Hydra. Although his efforts are still focused on rebuilding the organization, he has already scored a significant victory after the sentient Cube - having been 'raised' by the Skull to see Hydra as a great organization - alters Steve Rogers' memories so that he believes he has been a Hydra sleeper agent since childhood.

Membership

Council of Hydra

The Ruling Council of Hydra, introduced in Secret Warriors #2, consists of:

• Baron Wolfgang von Strucker - The Supreme Hydra as revealed in Strange Tales #150 (Nov 1966). Shot in the head by Nick Fury.
• Viper - Leader of Hydra's New York City branch who also goes by the name Madame Hydra. First appeared in Captain America #110 (Feb 1969)
• Valentina Allegra de Fontaine - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. First appeared in Strange Tales #159 (Aug 1967). She was later revealed to be Madame Hydra VI.
• The Hive - Introduced in Secret Warriors #2
• The Gorgon - First appeared in Wolverine (vol. 2) #20
• Kraken - First appeared in Secret Warriors #2.

Supreme Hydra

The Supreme Hydra is a term given to the leader of Hydra. At other times, the title has also been used to refer to the leaders of various Hydra branches and splinter groups. Besides Baron Strucker, among the known Supreme Hydras in order of appearance are:

• Arnold Brown - The Imperial Hydra who was the organization's figurehead. First appeared in Strange Tales #135 (Aug 1965)
• Supreme Hydra - An unnamed state Shinto Imperialist who was the first leader of Hydra. He first appeared in Captain Savage #4 (July 1968) where he was also killed by Baron Strucker who usurped his position.
• Supreme Hydra - The unnamed Supreme Hydra that tried to destroy Hulk. First appeared in Incredible Hulk #132 (Oct 1970).
• Richard Fisk - "Supreme Hydra" of Hydra's Las Vegas branch. First appeared as Hydra member in Captain America #145 (Jan 1972)
• Silvermane - "Supreme Hydra" of the East Coast. First appears as Hydra leader in Daredevil #120 (Apr 1975)
• Count Otto Vermis - The Supreme Hydra who is the leader of European Hydra fragment and manipulated Jessica Drew into being a Hydra agent. First appeared in Marvel Spotlight #32 (Feb 1977). He was killed in the same issue when Spider-Woman left bombs on his escape jet.
• Sn'Tlo - A Skrull who infiltrated Hydra and rose to the rank of Hydra Supreme where he had the alias of Sensational Hydra. First appeared in Captain America vol. 3 #3 (March 1998).
• Edgar Lascombe - The Supreme Hydra that was responsible for the creation of the Hydra Four. First appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #521 (Aug 2005).

Hydra agents

The following characters are or were agents of Hydra:

• Agent Dakini -
• Anton Trojak - Annihil-Agent, 47, Scientist (deceased). First appeared in Strange Tales #155 (Apr 1967)
• Blackwing - Air Action Division Leader of the East Coast. First appeared in Daredevil #118 (Feb 1975)
• Bob, Agent of Hydra - Foot soldier of Hydra. First appeared in Cable & Deadpool #38 (2007)
• Bull's Eye - Hired assassin employed by Hydra. First appeared in Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #15 (Nov 1969)

• Chameleon - Sometimes a Hydra employee. Worked for Hydra in Incredible Hulk #154 (Aug 1972)
• Commander Kraken - Naval Action Division Leader of the East Coast. First pictured as Hydra leader in Daredevil #121 (May 1975)
• Congressman Woodman - Commander of Washington D.C. Branch of Hydra. First appeared in Avengers: The Initiative (2007)
• Crippler
• D.O.A. - Short for Department of Occult Armaments. First appeared in NightStalkers vol. 1, #2, Dec 1992
  • Bronskon - Founder of D.O.A.
  • Lt. Gregory Belial - Founder of D.O.A. He has vast knowledge of various forms of magic.
  • Innards - Member of D.O.A. He can remove his vital organs and use them for various offensive purposes.
  • Madame Jasmine - Founder of D.O.A.
  • Malpractice - The current leader of D.O.A.
  • Moorek - Founder of D.O.A.
  • Rotwrap - A mummy-like member of D.O.A.
  • Pyre - Founder of D.O.A.
• Elliot Kohl - First appeared in She-Hulk #7, June 2006. Hydra Soldier, now imprisoned.
• Elsie Carson - Former Southwestern U.S. Regional Field Director, Corporate Hydra; First appeared in Team America #11 (Apr 1983)
• Fixer - Special Agent, Hydra fragment. First appeared in Strange Tales #141 (Feb 1966)
• Fox - Administration Division Leader of the East Coast. First appeared in Strange Tales Annual #2 (Sep 1963)
• George Fistal -
• Grim Reaper - Self-appointed head of Hydra's New York branch. Revealed as Hydra leader in Avengers #106 (Dec 1972)
• Hardball - Former member of The Initiative.
• Hank Johnson
• Hellfire - A Hydra double agent.
• Hydra Four - Creations of Hydra who were trained to kill the Avengers. There were other tubes containing these Super Hydra Agents, but only four of them were opened. First Appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #520.
  • Bowman - Hydra's version of Hawkeye.
  • Hammer - Hydra's version of Thor. He had the same powers as Thor except for immortality.
  • Militant - Hydra's version of Captain America.
  • Tactical Force - Hydra's version of Iron Man. His first name is Karl.
• Jackhammer - Engineer Corps leader of the East Coast. First appeared in Daredevil #123 (Jul 1975)
• El Jaguar - Commando Division Leader of the East Coast. First appeared in Daredevil #120 (Apr 1975) Killed by Scourge of the Underworld.
• James Winderfield - Part-time Agent of Corporate Hydra. First appeared in Team America #11 (Apr 1983)
• Jared Kurtz - Hydra Agent from Europe. First appeared in Marvel Spotlight #32 (Feb 1977)
• Karl Kraus - Double Agent for Hydra. First appeared in Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #14 (Sep 1969)
• Kingpin - Actual director of Hydra's Las Vegas branch. First appeared as Hydra leader in Captain America #147 (Mar 1972)
• Laura Brown - Special Hydra Agent H (later G). First appeared in Strange Tales #135 (Aug 1965)
• Lieutenant Cassandra Romulus -
• Lieutenant Garrotte -
• Lieutenant Guillotine -
• Lieutenant Saltz -
• Man-Killer - Assassins Division Leader of the East Coast. First appeared as Hydra leader in Daredevil #123 (Jul 1975)
• Mentallo - Special Agent, Hydra fragment. First appeared in Strange Tales #141 (Feb 1966)
• Ms. Fischer - First appears in Secret Warriors #2.
• Ms. Fisher - Hydra recruiter. First appeared in Secret Warriors #12.
• Nancy Winderfield - Part-time Agent of Corporate Hydra. First appeared in Team America #11 (Apr 1983)
• Number 72 - Leader of Hydra fragment. First appeared in Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #14 (Sep 1969)
• Ralph Sanzetti - Assassin, Corporate Hydra (deceased). First appeared in Team America #12 (May 1983)
• Red Skull - True leader of Hydra's Las Vegas branch. Revealed as Hydra leader in Captain America #148 (Apr 1972)
• Robert Rickard - Hydra Agent U (deceased). First appeared in Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #12 (May 1969)
• Ron Takimoto (deceased) -
• S.H.I.E.L.D. Super-Agents
  • Knockabout -
  • Psi-Borg -
  • Violence -
• Sathan (deceased) -
• Carmilla Black - Hardball's lover and former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Sergeant Batrel -
• Silver Fox
• Space Phantom - A Space Phantom was revealed as Hydra leader in Avengers #106 (Dec 1972)
• Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) - Special Agent. First appeared in Marvel Spotlight #32 (Feb 1977)
• Werner von Strucker - Eldest son of Wolfgang. Killed by Wolfgang's descendant.
• William Darvin - Agent of Corporate Hydra (deceased). First appeared in Team America #1 (Jun 1982)

Other versions

Ultimate Marvel

At the time when Spider-Man was presumed dead following the events of the Ultimatum storyline, J. Jonah Jameson recalled the time when Spider-Man saved Tony Stark from an attack by Hydra.

In more recent Ultimate titles, Hydra has been described as an "anti-government" organization (though their political philosophy is left deliberately vague). Modi (Thor's son) is seen in allegiance with them, and acquiring weapons from Project Pegasus, including Modi using the Mind Gem on Director Flumm (to attempt to kill the U.S. President), and Cassie Lang attacking Spider-Man (until stopped by his venom-strike). They are defeated by both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Ultimates although some members escaped.

Nick Fury later masqueraded as Scorpio and infiltrated Hydra and came across Abigail Brand, a Hydra soldier who captures him and brings him to Commander Crimson. Commander Crimson later sends Brand to the Death's Head Camp along with Fury until rescued. S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Monica Chang grants Fury permission to re-form the Howling Commandos to stop Hydra.

Exiles

Another alternate version of Hydra appears throughout Exiles #91-94, where they are well underway with their plan to take over the world. This version is being led by Madame Hydra (Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman in the regular Marvel universe) and her lover, Wolverine. Various other superhumans, including Captain America (now Captain Hydra) and Slaymaster, are agents of Hydra in this world.

Amalgam Comics

Another version of Hydra has appeared in Amalgam Comics. They are very similar to the normal Hydra and wear the same green and yellow outfits, but with black eyes not red. They first appear in Super-Soldier #1 and are led by Lex Luthor (later known as Green Skull).

In other media

Television

• In The Incredible Hulk episode "Enter: She-Hulk", Hulk and She-Hulk battle Hydra's forces. The Supreme Hydra featured was Steve Perry.
• Hydra appeared in the X-Men: Evolution episodes "X-23" and "Target X". They were behind the creation of X-23 from Wolverine's DNA. Viper appears to be the Supreme Hydra while Omega Red and Gauntlet are shown as mercenaries working for Hydra.
• Hydra appears as a recurring foe in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. First appearing in the episode "Meet Captain America" as a branch of Nazi Germany under Baron Heinrich Zemo with the Red Skull as the group's super soldier. At that time, Red Skull uses Hydra's resources and a rune stone to abduct Nordic mythological beasts from the Nine Realms and subject them to their control before Captain America and Bucky Barnes thwarted the scheme. Hydra continued its attempts of world dominion after the war ended under the leadership of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker prior to his capture. In the episode "Iron Man is Born", Hydra stole some Stark Industries technology to bolster Dreadnoughts for an attack on the United Nations before being defeated by Iron Man with the captured agents taken to the Vault where Strucker is held. But it is revealed to be an attempt by Grim Reaper to free Strucker prior to Grim Reaper's own incarnation before they managed to escape during the two-part episode "The Breakout". The episode "Hulk vs the World" revealed that Black Widow is Hydra's double-agent that steals the Hulk's DNA and frames Hawkeye as a double-agent. In the episode "Living Legend", Zemo finds Strucker as Hydra's leader yet allows Strucker's status kept alone while Zemo seemingly severing ties with the organization. In the episode "Panther's Prey", Grim Reaper and Hydra managed to pick up some Vibranium from Man-Ape and Ulysses Klaw when Man-Ape takes over Wakanda. In the episode "Widow's Sting", Grim Reaper and Hydra meet with MODOK and A.I.M. for a transaction that would help in the Cosmic Cube's creation which is crashed by Hawkeye's search for Black Widow. Grim Reaper manages to escape (not knowing of Hawkeye's tracer) while both the defeated agents of Hydra and A.I.M. were arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D.. When Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Captain America and Black Panther trace Grim Reaper to Hydra Island, the heroes end up fighting Hydra's forces. Strucker activates the computer's self-destruct 'Codename: Fenris' sequence. Though Hawkeye goes after Black Widow and Strucker. Hawkeye is taken down by Black Widow who secretly attacks Strucker while trying to take Hawkeye's youth. Black Widow escapes from Hydra Island with Strucker while Grim Reaper, Madame Hydra (who was later revealed to be a Skrull) and the remaining Hydra Agents present are arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D.. While waiting for MODOK, Black Widow tells Strucker that Black Panther attacked him from behind. MODOK arrives and tells Strucker that the Cosmic Cube experiment was a failure and gives back the money. After MODOK left, Strucker suspects that MODOK was lying about the Cosmic Cube experiment being a failure. In the episode "Hail Hydra", A.I.M. and Hydra tear the city apart for control of the Cosmic Cube, forcing the Avengers to intervene. It is revealed that Black Widow was ordered by Nick Fury to infiltrate Hydra to learn the Cosmic Cube's nature. In the end, the Avengers prevailed when both Strucker and Captain America touched the Cosmic Cube and it appeared as if nothing happened. Hydra was finally taken down for good as they were arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Hydra appears in The Super Hero Squad Show. In the episode "Brouhaha at the World's Bottom", Baron Strucker leads the Hydra forces into attacking a S.H.I.E.L.D. Base in Antarctica so that they can use the technology there in order to head to another world.
• Hydra is featured in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hydra is introduced in the middle of season one (as part of a tie-in with the film Captain America: The Winter Soldier). Besides Dr. List and Baron Strucker, its featured members are John Garrett (Bill Paxton), Daniel Whitehall (Reed Diamond) and Sunil Bakshi (Simon Kassianides). The reveal of Hydra's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. exposes a Hydra mole within the core cast of the show, and the show retools as a group of fugitives on the run from both the U.S. military and Hydra. In season two, new S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Phil Coulson works to exterminate Hydra, and Coulson's team progressively eliminates senior Hydra leaders. Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), the mole from Coulson's original team, takes what is left of the organization under his control. Season three retcons the history of Hydra, explaining that the group is an ancient religious order dedicated to the return of its banished Inhuman leader Hive with the Nazi organization being merely its latest incarnation. Hive's devotees today are scarce within the organization, but are headed up by industrialist Gideon Mallick (Powers Boothe) assuming full control of Hydra upon Grant's death. After Hive returns to Earth in Grant's body and kills Malick's daughter Stephanie Malick (Bethany Joy Lenz), Malick betrays the organization to Coulson upon capture and is able to instruct U.S. General Glenn Talbot to destroy its remaining infrastructure.
• Hydra appears in the Marvel cartoons seen on Disney XD with the majority of their organization's appearances bare resemblance to their MCU counterparts.
  • Hydra has occasional appearances in Avengers Assemble. The group is occasionally seen throughout season one. They're first seen in the episode "The Avengers Protocol" [Part 1] as the Red Skull's forces. They first fight Captain America and then Iron Man. The group continues fighting on Red Skull's behalf but are defeated by the Avengers. Also throughout this season, both Iron Skull's armor and the Cabal's submarine are seen with Hydra's symbol. Hydra makes occasional appearances throughout season two. Some Hydra agents are seen try to use a superweapon in the episode "The Arsenal" before being quickly foiled by Captain America. More Hydra agents are seen in the episode "Ghosts of the Past" where a branch demands Red Skull's release but were defeated by Captain America and the Falcon which is used as a distraction for the Winter Soldier's own kidnapping. Another Hydra group is seen in the episode "Secret Avengers" when the pro S.H.I.E.L.D. Avengers rescue a captured S.H.I.E.L.D. agent which eventually lead to information on Crimson Dynamo and Radioactive Man. Hydra can be seen in Avengers: Ultron Revolution. The episode "Saving Captain Rogers" shows Hydra agents led by Baron Heinrich Zemo that fight with Captain America and Bucky Barnes. This was part of Baron Helmut Zemo's hypnosis plot to find Henrich's secret laboratory for his father's perfect super-soldier serum. Helmut subsequently uses his own imperfect super-soldier serum on his Hydra operatives to distract Iron Man and Black Widow. Despite being turned into large brutes, Helmut's Hydra soldiers eventually tire out and are defeated by the two Avengers just when Helmut effectively euthanizes himself with one of Heinrich's super-soldier serums.
  • Hydra can be seen in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series. In the season one episode "Great Power", Spider-Man imagines Nick Fury fighting Hydra soldiers (seen resembling their original depiction). Hydra is also referenced in Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors during the episode "S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy" when Iron Spider and Spider-Man accidentally freed old Hydra scientist Arnim Zola from his containment. Hydra will have a larger role in Ultimate Spider-Man vs The Sinister Six along with the Sinister Six. Hydra appears in the two-part premiere "HYDRA Attacks". Doctor Octopus collaborates with Zola, taking over via a special Octobot taking control of Swarm's nanites to convert the S.H.I.E.L.D. Tri-Carrier into HYDRA Island and attack Spider-Man and Fury with an army of Green Goblin-mutated Hydra soldiers. With Norman Osborn's help, Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider uses an anti-Goblin to cure the Hydra Goblins back to normal. With additional help from Agent Venom and Iron Spider, Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider send the HYDRA Island to Saturn (along with Zola) while Doctor Octopus escapes.

Film

• Hydra appears in the television film Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The Hydra Agents are shown with Men in Black-type suits rather than the green uniform from the comics.
• Hydra agents appear in the animated film Ultimate Avengers 2 fighting against Captain America. Seen in the beginning of the film, they are identifiable by their green uniforms.
• Hydra appeared in Heroes United: Iron Man and Hulk. The Hydra scientists Dr. Cruler and Dr. Fump hire Abomination to catch Hulk for an experiment. They later turn on Abomination to use in the same experiment.
• Hydra appears in Heroes United: Iron Man & Captain America.
• Hydra is a key element in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, founded on a belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom and must be subjugated for its own good.
  • Hydra first appears in the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger under the leadership of Red Skull, depicted to have originally started as an advanced science branch for the Third Reich, utilizing several experimental aircraft such as the Focke-Wulf Triebflügel VTOL aircraft and a huge intercontinental flying-wing bomber based in part on the Horten Ho 229 design. But upon acquiring the Tesseract with Arnim Zola developing the technology to harness its energies, Hydra goes rogue as Red Skull eventually plans to betray Nazi Germany after the Allies are defeated. Ultimately, Red Skull is apparently incinerated upon touching the Tesseract, and Hydra's bases are systematically destroyed by the Allies.
  • The 2012 film The Avengers revealed that Nick Fury had S.H.I.E.L.D. gather everything there was related to the Tesseract (then in the possession of Thor's foster brother Loki), including Hydra technology. A plan known as Phase Two deals with using the Tesseract to develop weapons, using the Hydra weapons as a template.
  • Hydra resurfaces in the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier despite the organization's apparent disbandment. When S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded, Arnim Zola implanted Hydra agents into various intelligence organizations in a decades-long plan to convince humanity to surrender their freedom for security by orchestrating assassinations and international conflicts. After Zola's consciousness is transplanted into a computer, Hydra's leadership came to senior S.H.I.E.L.D. member Alexander Pierce, as well as various S.T.R.I.K.E. members (including Brock Rumlow and Jack Rollins). When Nick Fury and the World Council decided to put "Project: Insight" into action, Hydra secretly planned to use their advantage to wipe out any known (or potential) threats to them. Captain America, Black Widow, Fury and Falcon discover this and expose Hydra's plan to the world, while also managing to stop Project: Insight in the process. Following the destruction of Hydra's master plans with Pierce's death and also S.H.I.E.L.D.'s collapse, small Hydra groups are shown to still be active (as revealed in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). The mid-credits scene shows Baron Strucker and overseeing Hydra's end.
  • In Avengers: Age of Ultron, a Hydra branch under Baron Strucker and Dr. List (Henry Goodman) has been using Loki's scepter obtained from Thanos to create weapons as well as superhumans Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. During the Avengers' raid on Strucker's lair in Sokovia, Dr. List gets killed by Iron Man while Strucker was captured by the Avengers and later killed by Ultron.
  • In Ant-Man, a Hydra group led by Mitchell Carson wants to buy Darren Cross's crude shrinking technology. Ant-Man is able to defeat the Hydra agents, however, Carson escapes with a vial of the makeshift particles while being attacked by ants.
  • Hydra is featured in Captain America: Civil War. Crossbones appears in the beginning of the film attempting to steal a bio-weapon, only to be thwarted by the Avengers and die from his own suicide bomb alongside several Wakanda aid workers. It is further explained how Hydra used the Winter Soldier to kill Howard Stark and Maria Stark in order to acquire samples of the Super Soldier Serum, which they used to create multiple Winter Soldiers at a Siberian base. Throughout the film, Helmut Zemo interrogates and kills Vasily Karpov in order to gain access to Winter Soldier's programming.

Video games

• Hydra appears in X-Men: The Official Game. In the game, Hydra is partially responsible for the creation of the Master Mold and Sentinel robots alongside William Stryker. Under orders of their leader Silver Samurai, Hydra infiltrates Stryker's base to remove all evidence and Sentinel equipment, and by accident, activated the Master Mold.
• Hydra is the major villain in the rare Sega 32X video game titled Spider-Man: Web of Fire.
• In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, one of the levels includes an old Hydra base that the Anti-Registration group was using.
• Hydra's aerial base can be seen attacking the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier in the latter's stage in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. The organization's logo can also be seen on the car that attempts to run She-Hulk down in one of her special moves.
• Hydra appears as the central antagonists in the video game Captain America: Super Soldier.
• Hydra is featured in Marvel: Avengers Alliance. Known members include Baron Helmut Zemo, Moonstone, Viper, and the Hydra Four. Hydra's Power Armors appear as bosses and were created from stolen Stark Industries technology. Their foot soldiers consist of Hydra Ballistas, Hydra Burners, Hydra Cannons, Hydra Judicators, Hydra Officers, Hydra Pyros, Hydra Soldiers, and Hydra Vanguards.
• Hydra is featured in Avengers Initiative, with its members serving as enemies in the Captain America chapters of the game.
• Hydra appears in Marvel Heroes.
• Hydra Agents appear in Lego Marvel Super Heroes.

Live performance

• Hydra agents appear in the Marvel Universe: LIVE! stage show.

External links

• Hydra at Marvel.com
• Marvel Directory entry
• Villains of Marvel Comics: Hydra
• Wayback Machine backup