Captain America still not gay, but now he's a Hydra agent with beliefs like Donald Trump

NOOOOOOOOOOOO https://t.co/Qgrj4WEpt5

— beth (@dicentric) May 24, 2016

Oh, FFS! In the latest iteration of Captain America, it turns out our hero has actually been a deep cover agent for the Nazi-like Hydra all this time:

A Marvel editor explains how Captain America was a Hydra agent all alonghttps://t.co/3LybCp4JUG

— TIME (@TIME) May 25, 2016

And just in time for the election!

Stupid, insulting, ridiculous lefty agitprop https://t.co/09sBbOMOdK

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 25, 2016

Now #CaptainAmerica is Hydra? Seriously? Take most American of American superheroes & make him a fascist? Try harder, Marvel. #YoureFailing

— Krystal Heath (@TheFriddle) May 25, 2016

According to the interview in Time, Hydra and Cap sound a lot like Donald Trump, and that’s the point:

In the comic the Red Skull of Hydra talks about “criminal trespassers” who “make a mockery” of America’s borders and calls the refugees in Germany an “invading army” bringing “fanatical beliefs and crime” to Europe. Obviously, this hate speech is nothing new for the organization, but it sounds like rhetoric we’ve been hearing this election. Is that purposeful?

We try to write comics in 2016 that are about the world and the zeitgeist of 2016, particularly in Captain America. Nick Spencer, the writer, is very politically active. He’s a Capitol Hill head and following this election very closely. So we can talk about political issues in a metaphoric way. That’s what gives our stories weight and meat to them. Any parallels you have seen to situations real or imagined, living or dead, is probably intentional but metaphorically not literally.

What are we supposed to think about the fact that someone literally named Captain America now supports these beliefs?

Again, I don’t want to say anything too definitively because we’re laying out the story. But we want to push that button. There should be a feeling of horror or unsettledness at the idea that somebody like this can secretly be part of this organization. There are perfectly normal people in the world who you would interact with on a professional level or personal level, and they seem like the salt of the earth but then it turns out they have some horrible secret — whether it’s that they don’t like a certain group of people or have bodies buried in their basement.

You should feel uneasy about the fact that everything you know and love about Steve Rogers can be upended.