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 (writer) Jack Kirby (artist)
In-story information
Base(s)	Various
Owner(s)	Currently: Viper Formerly: Baron Strucker Red Skull
Employee(s)	Current members: Gorgon Baron Helmut Zemo Arnim Zola 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 an allusion 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 shall 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 (August 1965). 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 the evolution of mankind, a cabal of immortal hooded reptoids came to Earth, planning to start a legacy of evil. Millions of years 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 like a multi-headed serpent into all facets of human society, from science to magic and politics. As time wore on, the organization's name changed and it included the Cathari sect as well as the Thule Society. The Nazi sub group, funded by the Thule Society, was brought into the main Hydra fold after the end of World War II.

One of the Nazi members, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, quickly seized control of the Hydra organization and restructured it to be dedicated to world domination through terrorist and subversive activities on various fronts, resulting in a global neo-fascist New Order. To this end, Baron von Strucker used his 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. However, after von Strucker's first death, Hydra broke into factions (such as A.I.M., Secret Empire, Them, etc.) that each adopted its own reorganized modus operandi. Eventually, this fragmentation would lead to a Hydra civil war, even after von Strucker's resurrection.

According to the files discovered by Nick Fury, Hydra 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)
• Intelligence Gathering (S.H.I.E.L.D. and all their underlying resources) 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, the FBI, and the 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.

In the aftermath of the Secret Invasion and Baron von Strucker's second death, there followed a series of power struggles which eventually left Hydra without a formal leader. The splintering of Hydra accelerated, with various cells operating seemingly independently. Eventually, the Red Skull, returning to his Nazi beliefs, started building a new Hydra from the ground up. However, this brought him into conflict with Baron Zemo, who was trying to control what was left of the old Hydra.

The Red Skull convinced his now aware Cosmic Cube, Kobik, to cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D. in creating Pleasant Hill and discovered that Kobik could alter people's memories to make them believe they had been members of the Hydra of which the Red Skull had told them stories. However, the Red Skull failed to realize that the Hydra he was building and the Hydra Kobik had created false memories of were two different things, with the now Hydra Captain America disobeying the Red Skull and planning something else.

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, and going back to the Third Dynasty of Egypt, with all references to the ancient group disappearing around the Renaissance. The modern incarnation of Hydra was originated when the Nazi spymaster known as the Red Skull took control of an Asian secret society, the Brotherhood of the Spear, merging it with a German occult organization, the Thule Society.

Some time before 1943, the Red Skull started creating a Hydra cell in Japan, merging several underground Japanese secret societies, including a faction of The Hand, with several fugitive members of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, to become the modern Hydra. This incarnation of Hydra operated in Japan, directed by a Japanese militarist called the Supreme Hydra, and in Germany, under the control of the Red Skull and Arnim Zola. However, after joining Hydra, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker seized control of the organization and constructed 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 then 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, Col. Rick Stoner, 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.

After several failed 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, which 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, Hydra's collective threat was mitigated by not only occasionally infighting among themselves, but their operating policy of punishing failure with death, often led to their killing of each other more often than their intended victims. Hydra frequently found itself defeated by S.H.I.E.L.D., various superheroes, and even unpowered civilians, like the motorcycle racing team, Team America. Von Strucker was eventually revived, and he reunited several of the Hydra factions under his leadership,renewing 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 continued to operate around the Marvel Universe, and a Hydra Civil War would later result. While Baron Helmut Zemo had von Strucker placed in stasis for his own ends, Gorgon and von Strucker's second wife, Elsbeth von Strucker, mystically created a clone of von Strucker, whom 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 go on to 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 and 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 undercover for Hydra under the orders of Nick Fury, now deposed as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. following the events of Secret War, to whom she was still loyal. Hydra revealed that they knew of her betrayal, and wanted her to replace Viper as their current leader, as she was unstable. Spider-Woman refused their offer, destroying in an explosion the Hydra base to which she had been taken.

As Spider-Woman revealed her true identity as Queen Veranke of the Skrull Empire, Hydra was left with a void in his control organization, which was then 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 for secrecy, and the expensive health care needed by his brother, a former UCWF wrestler, who was crippled in the ring.

Hardball, however, deeply hurt and shamed by the compromises Woodman forced 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 be caused simply 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 discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. was under the control of Hydra, and apparently had been from the beginning. He also discovered a number of organizations under Hydra's alleged control including the United States' FBI Science and Technology Branch, NSA, and US Department of Treasury, along with the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate and Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Meanwhile, after having destroyed Hydra's undersea headquarters, Ichor, due to its having been infiltrated by the Skrull invasion force, Von Strucker rebuilt Hydra from the ground up, and after his discovery that Fury had learned the truth, reconvened 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 appeared in an alliance with H.A.M.M.E.R.. Following the defeat of Norman Osborn, H.A.M.M.E.R. was disbanded, with Madame Hydra using the remaining members to reinforce Hydra.

After the existence of Pleasant Hill, a top-secret community where Maria Hill incarcerated various supervillains, after brainwashing them to believe they were regular civilians via a sentient Cosmic Cube named Kobik, was exposed and subsequently shut down, Red Skull's clone used the subsequent backlash in the intelligence community to assemble a new version of Hydra, starting with Sin and Crossbones. Although his efforts were still focused on rebuilding the organization, he had already scored a significant victory, after the sentient Cosmic Cube, having been 'raised' by the Red Skull, in the form of a little girl, to see Hydra as a great organization, altered Steve Rogers' memories so that he believed he had been a Hydra sleeper agent since childhood.

During the "Secret Empire" storyline, Hydra's plans came to fruition, as the mind-altered Steve Rogers used the Planetary Defense Shield to trap those who were fighting the Chitauri, stranding them beyond the Shield, and having Baron Zemo use the Darkhold to enhance Blackout's powers to entrap all of Manhattan within the Darkforce following the fight between the superheroes there and Baron Zemo's Army of Evil. Having taken political and military control of the United States, Hydra proceeded to round up and incarcerate all Inhumans, and all mutants were condemned to the western California territory of New Tian. Becoming the Hydra Supreme, Captain America formed Hydra's version of the Avengers, consisting of Scarlet Witch who is possessed by Chthon, Vision who was suffering from an A.I. Virus created by Arnim Zola, Odinson, Taskmaster, Deadpool, Eric O'Grady's Life Model Decoy counterpart Black Ant, and Doctor Octopus' Superior Octopus form. Throughout this period, Hydra encountered resistance from the Underground. Sam Wilson, the original Falcon, and currently the All-New Captain America, brought hope to the resistance with a plan to bring their real Captain America back, by using the remaining Cosmic Cube, under Scott Lang and Winter Soldier's hand on Hydra Supreme's Cosmic Cube-infused Hydra suit. As Hydra began to fall, most of Hydra's Avengers members, Odinson, Taskmaster, and Black Ant, began to betray Hydra, joining the resistance, while Vision and Scarlet Witch were freed from the villains' control. Deadpool came to regret his betrayal of his friends, having killed Phil Coulson and Emily Preston and having lied to Emily's family with Maria Hill having given him a painful lesson. Kobik returns the real Captain America, with his memories intact, and with Hydra Supreme defeated, Hydra's reign over the United States comes to an end, with major casualties being Rick Jones, Phil Coulson, and Black Widow, who have been killed. Hydra Supreme was imprisoned in the Shadow Pillar as he is visited by Captain America to bring up the fact that he will stand trial for his crimes. After leaving, Hydra Supreme is chained up as one of the guards whispers "Hail Hydra" into his ear.

Due to Hydra Supreme's imprisonment, Baron Zemo had to keep Hydra active. He planned to spring Hydra Supreme from the Shadow Pillar only to meet opposition from Punisher in the War Machine Armor. After the attempted jailbreak was thwarted, Hydra Supreme was apprehended while Baron Zemo got away.

During the "Spider-Geddon" storyline, Arnim Zola led a bio-duplicate of Gorgon and some Hydra agents to Superior Octopus' lair where Arnim Zola tried to get Superior Octopus to help rebuild Hydra. Superior Octopus turned him down stating that he has upheld his bargain to Hydra as Arnim Zola claims that one does not leave Hydra until their death. After defeating the Hydra Agents, the bio-duplicate of Gorgon, and Arnim Zola, Superior Octopus has Arnim Zola spread the word to Hydra to never come after him again.

Membership

Main article: List of Hydra members

Other versions

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 instead of red. They first appear in Super-Soldier #1 and are led by Lex Luthor (later known as Green Skull).

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.

Secret Wars (2015)

During the Secret Wars storyline, there were different variations of Hydra that reside on Battleworld:

• One version of Hydra rules the Battleworld domain of the Hydra Empire which is based on the remnants of Earth-85826. The members of Hydra consist of Arnim Zola, Grant Ward, Dum Dum Dugan, Nick Fury Jr., and Toad. In addition to female assassins possessed by Hydra's version of the Symbiotes called Vipers, Hydra also has its version of the Avengers consisting of Captain Hydra (Leopold Zola), Chancellor Cassandra, Doctor Mindbubble, Iron Baron (Baron Strucker), Lord Drain, and Venom.

• Another version of Hydra resides in the Battleworld domain called the Walled City of New York which is based off the remnants of Earth-21722. The members of Hydra consist of Arnim Zola, Baron Strucker, Baron Heinrich Zemo, Hank Johnson, MODOK, Red Skull, and Viper. Hydra controls one section of the Walled City of New York in opposition of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s section.

Ultimate Marvel

The Ultimate Marvel version of Hydra appears 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, led by Viper.

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 Giant-Woman 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 and brings Fury 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.

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 X-Men: Evolution. In the episodes "X-23" and "Target X", they were behind the creation of X-23 from Wolverine's DNA, and 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's rule 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 Baron Wolfgang von Strucker's leadership 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 the 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 the 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 '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 from behind. MODOK arrives and tells Strucker that the Cosmic Cube was a failure and gives back the money. After MODOK left, Strucker suspects that MODOK was lying about the Cosmic Cube being a failure. In the episode "Hail Hydra", Hydra and A.I.M. tear the city apart for the Cosmic Cube's control, forcing the Avengers to intervene. It is revealed that Black Widow was a double agent that infiltrated 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. The agents and Strucker 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 Malick (Powers Boothe) assuming full control of Hydra upon Ward's death. After Hive returns to Earth in Ward's body and kills Malick's own 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 before Malick himself is killed by Daisy Johnson, who is under Hive's thrall. Hive uses Malick and Hydra's remaining resources to enact his own plans, until S.H.I.E.L.D. stops him. In the episode "Self-Control," the show's core cast members are submerged in an artificial reality called the Framework which plays out an alternative history where Hydra supplants S.H.I.E.L.D. and many core agents are its loyal followers. The leader of Hydra within the Framework is the rogue life model decoy Aida (Mallory Jansen), who has adopted the persona of Madame Hydra. In season five, another faction led by Daniel Whitehall's old student General Hale (Catherine Dent) seeks to unite S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra in order to deal with a possible invasion from an alien alliance called the Confederacy. In addition, she has recruited Absorbing Man, Werner von Strucker, and her own daughter Ruby (Dove Cameron) into assisting in her plot.
• Hydra has sporadic appearances in Avengers Assemble. Known members include Red Skull, Baron Strucker, Arnim Zola, Crossbones, Crimson Widow, and Whitney Frost. The group is occasionally seen throughout season one. They're first seen in the episode "The Avengers Protocol" Pt. 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 season one, 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 S.H.I.E.L.D.-affiliated Avengers rescue a captured S.H.I.E.L.D. agent which eventually lead to information on Crimson Dynamo and Radioactive Man. Hydra can also 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 Heinrich'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. In the episode "Into the Future", World War II-era Hydra soldiers during a time-jumped fight between Captain America and Kang the Conqueror. The group is seen again in the episode "Seeing Double" as part of Baron Strucker's branch. Thanks to the new Black Widow, Strucker has Bruce Banner captured and altered into the Winter Hulk until the original Black Widow got to Winter Hulk's senses. Strucker was defeated while Belova got away.
• Hydra can also be seen in the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. cartoon series. In the episode "Days of Future Smash Part 4: The Hydra Years", Hulk teams up with a young Captain America to stop Red Skull who becomes Green Skull when enhanced with gamma energy by Leader. In the present, the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. team up with an old Captain America to fight and free the world from HYDRA which is led by Leader and operating a device that is powered by Green Skull.
• Hydra can also be seen in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series. In "Great Power", Spider-Man imagines Nick Fury fighting Hydra soldiers (in their original depiction). Hydra has a central role in Ultimate Spider-Man vs The Sinister Six (along with the Sinister Six) with Arnim Zola and Crossbones as known members. In the two-part premiere "HYDRA Attacks", Doctor Octopus collaborates with Zola. After using a special Octobot that took control of Swarm's nanites to convert the S.H.I.E.L.D. Tri-Carrier into HYDRA Island and attack the Triskelion. Zola subsequently led his own army of HYDRA Goblins transformed from selected Hydra Soldiers by Doctor Octopus using the Goblin Formula. However, Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider use Norman Osborn's anti-Goblin serum to restore the Hydra Goblins back to normal. With additional help from Agent Venom and Iron Spider, Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider send HYDRA Island (and Zola) to Saturn while Doc Ock escapes. Subsequent episodes show Doc Ock using Hydra resources to eliminate Spider-Man in contradiction to his new employers' plans; "Miles From Home" shows Doc Ock and Baron Mordo use the Siege Perilous to summon an alternate-reality Green Goblin with Spider-Man getting help from Doctor Strange and Kid Arachnid to prevent further interdimensional damage, "Double Agent Venom" shows Doc Ock trying to take the Venom symbiote on Hydra much to Zola's annoyance, "Anti-Venom" depicts Doc Ock as Anti-Venom's creator with Hydra scientist Michael Morbius' assistance. In the two-part episode "The New Sinister Six", the Sinister Seven fights S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy while Doc Ock steals Curt Connors's anti-Hydra weapon. Despite Spider-Man's best efforts, Doc Ock uses the anti-Hydra weapon to convert Zola's HYDRA Island into his own Octopus Island until Scarlet Spider's change of heart. After Zola's demise and HYDRA Island's destruction, Crossbones became Hydra's acting leader where he led different Hydra plots like trying to capture Fury and Madame Web (in the episode "Agent Web") and to have Morbius recreate the Carnage symbiote in order to launch to other locations (in "The Symbiote Saga" three-part episode).
• Hydra appears in Spider-Man. Known members are Arnim Zola and Crossbones. Hydra first appears in "Spider-Island" Part 2 where Arnim Zola and Crossbones lead the Hydra agents into obtaining the key for a Vibranium vault where they ran afoul of Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, and Black Widow even when some of the Hydra agents started developing spider powers. With help from the spider-powered citizens, Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, and Black Widow defeat Crossbones and the Hydra agents with him while Arnim Zola and the remaining Hydra agents get away.

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 in order to use him 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. It is later revealed that the real HYDRA is a fanatical cult that worships an ancient powerful Inhuman entity.
  • Hydra first appears in the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger under the Red Skull's leadership, 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 adoptive 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. Arnim Zola found Bucky Barnes after he fell from his presumed death and experimented and brainwashed him into becoming their agent and fitted him with a bionic arm, to replace his severed left one. When S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded, Arnim Zola planted Hydra agents in 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 be still active (as revealed in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). The mid-credits scene shows Baron Strucker overseeing S.H.I.E.L.D.'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 aka "Cross Particles" while being attacked by ants.
  • Hydra is featured in Captain America: Civil War. Brock Rumlow also returns in the film as the mercenary Crossbones, but is now no longer affiliated with Hydra. 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 Vasily Karpov used to create more Winter Soldiers at a Siberian base. Helmut Zemo interrogates and drowns Karpov in his apartment in order to gain access to Winter Soldier's programming. His final words are "Hail Hydra." Once Zemo arrives at the Siberian base, he kills the five Winter Soldiers in cryostasis and obtains a videotape from the base's archives which is crucial to his true plan.

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 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. They are seen with Red Skull and Arnim Zola in a secret Hydra base beneath the Empire State Building. A Hydra agent is an unlockable character.
• Hydra appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2. Known members include Red Skull, Baron Zemo, Arnim Zola, the Hydra Supreme version of Captain America, and the Hydra Four. One section of Chronopolis is the Hydra Empire which was taken from a reality in which Hydra won World War II and ruled the world. Captain America, Black Panther, and Star-Lord follow Klaw and Hydra Four members Bowman and Tactician to the Hydra Empire following the Vibranium heist in Wakanda. In addition to fighting Klaw, Captain America, Black Panther, and Star-Lord had to fight the Vibranium Troopers and Baron Zemo in his biplane. A bonus mission narrated by Gwenpool that took place in the Hydra Empire had Morbius the Living Vampire, Man-Thing, and N'Kantu the Living Mummy building a float for the Red Skull Honorary Parade in Hydra Square.

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