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So. Sequel ideas. Obviously, the Winter Soldier is one option (and can we at least discuss Peggy being the Winter Soldier?), but he's a minion by definition. So, more?
1. Armin Zola. I heard that in the Ultimates continuity, Zola was basically used like the Nazi rocket scientists after WW2, forced to work for SHIELD and finally put in a robot body. That would work for the slightly-dark movieverse in terms of Cap having to confront America's post-war failings. Plus, the exposition writes itself. Robert Downey Jr. does a cameo, "I looked him up in my dad's files; get this..." and there you go fangirls, a nice Steve/Tony scene. Maybe he died in SHIELD custody, but actually transferred his consciousness to a machine, adding a little mystery component to the plot. "It can't be Zola! He died!"
Still, Zola's more of a fun miniboss than a real Big Bad. He could work as a fake-out villain for, say, a returning Red Skull or whatever, but the marquee being Chris Evans vs. Toby Jones? Nah.
2. The Zemos. As a way of getting a WW2 villain to modern-day, you can't have too many people gaining immortality. So Cap facing the son of an old enemy not only sidesteps the problem, but brings in lots of thematic subtext of legacies, the sins of the past, et al. You could have the elder Zemo as a WW1 veteran, one of the 'Desert Fox' types who wasn't really feeling Hitler's Germany but went along with it out of duty. You know, a worthy Adversary. Cap teams up with him against HYDRA, which at that point in the war is going bugfuck crazy, and so feels a responsibility to redeem the younger Zemo (which is the kind of Superman emotion Captain America should be going for anyway). Or you could have Heinrich Zemo as a complete bastard, concentration camp commandant who gets Batman '89ed by Cap (he's captured, he makes a break for it, Cap shoots him down... but could he have just shielded him into unconsciousness?). Helmut blames Cap for his father's death and goes apeshit upon hearing he's still alive. Baron Zemo's gone from antihero to villain so many times that as long as he's a badass in a purple hoodie, it'll be a faithful adaptation.
3. Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Okay, he's more of a SHIELD villain, but Cap has a history of being a SHIELD troubleshooter. You could get a whole movie out of him working with a SHIELD agent like Sharon Carter, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, whatever. Strucker could be a geriatric Nazi hiding out in Brazil, still running the remnants of HYDRA. Let him hold Winter Soldier's leash for the fight scenes (as Cap punching an octogenarian in the face doesn't make for a very good showdown) and any elderly German character actor could have fun cutting loose. You know you want to see Max von Sydow shouting "HAIL HYDRA!" to his army of octo-bots.
1. Armin Zola. I heard that in the Ultimates continuity, Zola was basically used like the Nazi rocket scientists after WW2, forced to work for SHIELD and finally put in a robot body. That would work for the slightly-dark movieverse in terms of Cap having to confront America's post-war failings. Plus, the exposition writes itself. Robert Downey Jr. does a cameo, "I looked him up in my dad's files; get this..." and there you go fangirls, a nice Steve/Tony scene. Maybe he died in SHIELD custody, but actually transferred his consciousness to a machine, adding a little mystery component to the plot. "It can't be Zola! He died!"
Still, Zola's more of a fun miniboss than a real Big Bad. He could work as a fake-out villain for, say, a returning Red Skull or whatever, but the marquee being Chris Evans vs. Toby Jones? Nah.
2. The Zemos. As a way of getting a WW2 villain to modern-day, you can't have too many people gaining immortality. So Cap facing the son of an old enemy not only sidesteps the problem, but brings in lots of thematic subtext of legacies, the sins of the past, et al. You could have the elder Zemo as a WW1 veteran, one of the 'Desert Fox' types who wasn't really feeling Hitler's Germany but went along with it out of duty. You know, a worthy Adversary. Cap teams up with him against HYDRA, which at that point in the war is going bugfuck crazy, and so feels a responsibility to redeem the younger Zemo (which is the kind of Superman emotion Captain America should be going for anyway). Or you could have Heinrich Zemo as a complete bastard, concentration camp commandant who gets Batman '89ed by Cap (he's captured, he makes a break for it, Cap shoots him down... but could he have just shielded him into unconsciousness?). Helmut blames Cap for his father's death and goes apeshit upon hearing he's still alive. Baron Zemo's gone from antihero to villain so many times that as long as he's a badass in a purple hoodie, it'll be a faithful adaptation.
3. Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Okay, he's more of a SHIELD villain, but Cap has a history of being a SHIELD troubleshooter. You could get a whole movie out of him working with a SHIELD agent like Sharon Carter, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, whatever. Strucker could be a geriatric Nazi hiding out in Brazil, still running the remnants of HYDRA. Let him hold Winter Soldier's leash for the fight scenes (as Cap punching an octogenarian in the face doesn't make for a very good showdown) and any elderly German character actor could have fun cutting loose. You know you want to see Max von Sydow shouting "HAIL HYDRA!" to his army of octo-bots.
