The MCU Finally Fulfills Arnim Zola’s Original Comic Book Role

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Marvel’s What If…? episode 9.

Thanks to Marvel’s What If…?, Arnim Zola’s original comic book role has finally been fulfilled. The classic Captain America villain appeared in two MCU movies, but never really completed his transformation into his comic book counterpart. Created by legendary comic book writer and artist Jack Kirby in the late 1970s, Arnim Zola is a recurring adversary of Steve Rogers and an important member of his rogues’ gallery.

It was established in Marvel Comics that prior to his team-ups with the never-truly-gone organization Hydra and encounters with Captain America, Zola was an evil scientist who worked with the Nazis during World War II. It wasn’t until much later that he transferred his consciousness into an android body so that he could live forever. Captain America: The First Avenger properly paid homage to his comic origin by introducing the MCU version as a Hydra scientist first, and leaving the door open for him to take the next step in his journey at a later date. A surprise cameo in Captain America: The Winter Soldier deepened the connection between the MCU’s Zola and the comic character by revealing that he uploaded his consciousness into a supercomputer so that he could survive the death of his human body.

Zola’s supercomputer being destroyed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier prevented his MCU story from going any further, but through the What If…? season finale’s ending, the MCU was able to do what the movies couldn’t. A twist in the final fight with Ultron Vision saw Black Widow use one of Hawkeye’s arrows to hit the villain with a “virus”, thus allowing Arnim Zola to seize control. When that happened, Zola’s face manifested in Ultron’s torso, followed by Party Thor making a joke about his “stomach-face”. The villain’s appearance was a direct nod to the comic book character, who was known for this unique look. Zola’s android body in Captain America comics was always depicted with his face on his chest.

In the main timeline, such a fate is likely what the MCU’s Arnim Zola would have wanted, but it’s possible that he didn’t have the technology or the opportunity to become an android. Instead, he was stuck in cyberspace with no body of his own. However, things were able to go quite differently for Zola in the Marvel Zombies universe, where the battle with Ultron created a favorable scenario for him. Because of Black Widow’s decision, he was finally able to possess an android body – albeit only briefly. Zola never had a chance to use it for evil and fight the Guardians of the Multiverse, as he was immediately ensnared by Strange Supreme’s spell.

Even if Arnim Zola never gets free in What If…? season 2, this one moment perfectly paid off the MCU’s setup for the character. It also goes to show how the Disney+ series has made it possible for MCU characters to get the arcs that certain events have denied them in the past. Zola couldn’t become the villain that fans know from Captain America comics, but Marvel’s What If…? proved that he always had that potential.

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