Why Zemo Wears His Purple Mask To Save Bucky & Sam

Baron Helmut Zemo is known for his iconic purple mask. Shortly after he makes his MCU return in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier‘s “Power Broker,” Zemo makes a point to grab his purple mask. When Sam and Bucky are in trouble a few scenes later, Zemo makes a pointed display in putting the mask back on to save the duo — here’s why.

A large part of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier concerns Bucky and Sam to figure out how the super-soldier serum has resurfaced. They realize that Zemo can help them to get to the bottom of it, so Bucky breaks him out of jail for his assistance. The three of them figure out who is responsible for bringing the super-soldier serum back, but not without some trouble along the way. As they trek through Madripoor, nearly every bounty hunter in the area is after them.

At one point in the fight, Zemo disappears and Bucky and Sam think that he’s abandoned them. But suddenly, he returns with his purple mask in hand. He puts it back on right as he saves Sam and Bucky. The decision to go back for his mask speaks to how he has evolved since his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War.

While this is only his second MCU appearance, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier has made it clear that Zemo is a well-known villain. Once Bucky and Sam made the decision to work with Zemo, the trio visits various locations in Madripoor in order to track down the serum’s origins. At one point, Sam uses Zemo’s identity as a threat to someone they meet — he insinuates that the person has heard of Zemo, and therefore should be scared to be in his presence. Zemo later uses his reputation to his advantage when he needs to save Sam and Bucky.

On the surface, Zemo putting on his purple mask as he goes to save Sam and Bucky is simply a great television moment. While Zemo does revel in the theater of the moment, he ultimately uses his purple mask as an intimidation tactic. He takes on Sam and Bucky’s attackers from a higher vantage point and creates a diversion in the middle of their fight by initiating a massive explosion. When the bounty hunters look up to see what caused the explosion, the first thing they see is Zemo in his purple mask. As The Falcon and The Winter Soldier hinted at earlier on, Zemo is well-known throughout Madripoor. This likely means that Zemo will continue to be a strong force and important ally to Sam and Bucky for the remainder of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 1.

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