‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ Primer: Where We Last Left Off with Zemo

Falcon and the Winter Soldier will soon find themselves in the company of an old foe —Zemo, the man who once tried to tear the Avengers apart for his own agenda. Before Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, let’s take a look back at one of the few people to ever get the upper-hand against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Zemo was a colonel who lost his family during the Ultron attack. Blaming the Avengers for the painful tragedy, he had been plotting his revenge against Super Heroes ever since, with Bucky Barnes as the focal point to his plan.

Zemo tracked down Bucky’s Hydra handler from his time as the Winter Soldier to Cleveland, Ohio. Zemo tortured the man and eventually killed him, finding the notebook with the codewords used to activate Bucky’s Winter Soldier programming.

With the United Nations present during the signing of the Sokovia Accords in Vienna, Zemo detonated a bombing framing Bucky as the assailant. Knowing that he could not take on the Avengers by himself, Zemo intended to have the Avengers tear themselves apart, knowing that Captain America would defend his best friend’s innocence from the world.

After killing a government-appointed psychiatrist, Zemo infiltrated the base where Captain America, Falcon, and Bucky Barnes were taken following their capture by the CIA. As Zemo interviewed Bucky, he activated Bucky’s dormant programming, turning him back into the killing machine known as the Winter Soldier. Zemo evaded capture and found his way to Siberia. He located the hidden Hydra base where more Winter Soldiers were created and kept in stasis. Rather than unleashing them onto the world, Zemo assassinated them all, awaiting the Avengers’ arrival to reveal his actual plan.

When Captain America, along with Bucky, and Iron Man arrived, Zemo played security footage from a 1991 mission for the three heroes. The footage revealed Bucky, during his brainwashed time as the Winter Soldier, murdered Tony’s parents, Howard and Maria Stark. Outraged, not only by the revelation but by the betrayal that Steve knew and never told him, Tony attacked both of them.

Zemo, having seen the implosion of the Avengers as a team first-hand, once again evaded capture. He attempted to take his own life but failed due to interference of the Black Panther, who wanted him to answer for his crimes—the murder of the King of Wakanda, and his father, T’Chaka during the signing of the Sokovia Accords.

As Zemo sat in the cell initially used for the Winter Soldier, he had a smile on his face. When CIA agent Everett Ross asked him how it felt to fail, Zemo merely replied, “Did I?”

You can see what new plan Zemo has for our heroes when Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier premieres March 19 on Disney+! 

Marvel Studios' The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, a six-episode series, will start streaming on March 19 on Disney+!

Want more 'The Falcon and The Winter Soldier'? Follow the series on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more details! And be sure to follow Marvel on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Looking for more Marvel movies and shows to stream? Check out everything on Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ right here, and where to find all your favorite Super Heroes right here. Sign up for Disney+ and start streaming now!