By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Who do you think is Marvel’s most underrated villain? The answer is Baron Zemo, The Big Bad of Captain America: Civil War. He didn’t have superpowers or advanced technology; instead, he developed a big brain and a burning hatred for the heroes who had wasted his life by killing his family. In this way, he is the most relatable villain in the entire MCU. After all, who wouldn’t want to set the world on fire if that means getting revenge on those who took everything away from you? Later, the thief came back and entered The Falcon and the Winter Soldierwhere he helped create a hilarious meme (“out of line, but right”).
Sadly, Zemo has never returned to the MCU since then. While he might make a surprise appearance, he’s not one of the many characters confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars. Now, however, the villain is back (sort of) in the last place you’d expect to find him. Zemo actor Daniel Brühl recently appeared in a German trailer for a Marvel collaboration Magic: Encounter. As an added bonus, he actually looks more comic book accurate than ever before in the MCU!
The Legend of Zemo
The entire trailer is in German, but don’t worry: the video above has English subtitles, so you can follow along. The first thing you see in the trailer is Daniel Brühl dressed as Baron Zemo. This includes wearing an impressive purple trench coat. Although this may make MCU fans think of other villains (in particular, the Purple Man appearing Jessica Jones), the outfit is meant to pay homage to how Zemo dresses in the comics, where he always wears a purple mask and (mostly) purple clothes. Brühl doesn’t shy away from commercials, but for long-time comics pros, it’s fun to see him rock his signature color.
The trailer begins with Brühl checking out his Marvel-themed Magic: Gathering Cards. Unsurprisingly, he puts together a villain deck. We then cut to the highly regarded leader of the group Magic the players. He’s alarmed that someone (in this case, Zemo) has already pulled the Thanos card, and he calls his friends to help him put together a superhero deck. The drama (including a brief supervillain speech from Brühl) is mouth-watering and mostly serves as an excuse to show off the various cards (many of which do, to Hasbro’s credit, look pretty good).
More Accurate Comic Suitability
The plot ends with Zemo calling the leader of the heroic players, wanting to meet. alone, at sunset. At first, it looks like they’re about to engage in a Wild West-style duel, using only cards instead of guns. Another man brags about all the hero cards he’s brought with him while Brühl looks down, confidently, at his Baron Zemo card. The last thing we see is a comical picture of the two sitting down and playing Magicwhen Brühl was surprised that another player was able to destroy his Loki card.
So, is this the MCU canonical appearance of Baron Zemo? No. Traders deliberately avoided giving the character a name; instead, it simply expresses who he is through the character’s possessions and his fondness for the Zemo card. The biggest tip of all, of course, is to bring back Daniel Brühl, who is having the time of his life here. Maybe you’re actually a fan Magic: Encounteror maybe you give the whole project everything. Either way, his performance in this ridiculous commercial is as good (and oddly intense) as he gets Captain America: Civil War.
Whether or not you might have bought Marvel’s Magic: Encounter cards (personally, I got out of this game when part of the release changed to licensed IPs), this sale is interesting. It captures the emotional highs and sad lows of meeting your friends (and maybe even your relief) in a fun tabletop game. Mostly, though, this sale is exciting because of Daniel Brühl. His performance is endearing and endearing, leaving Marvel fans asking Kevin Feige one question: when will he bring back Baron Zemo. indeed?
