| Hydra | |
|---|---|
 Symbol of Hydra | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Strange Tales #135 (Aug 1965)[1] |
| Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | Various |
| Owner(s) | Currently: Viper Formerly: Baron Strucker Red Skull (clone) Captain America (Hydra) |
| Employee(s) | Current members: Former members: |
Hydra (sometimes stylized asHYDRA) is a fictionalterrorist organization appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Its name alludes to the mythicalLernaean Hydra,[3] as does its motto: "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place," proclaiming the group's resilience and growing strength in the face of resistance. Hydra is taken over and turned into aneo-fascist international crime syndicate byBaron Wolfgang von Strucker. Hydra agents often wear distinctive green garb featuring a serpent motif. Hydra's plans for world domination are regularly foiled byMarvel Universe superheroes and the intelligence organizationS.H.I.E.L.D.
Hydra has appeared in various media adaptations, including films, television series, and video games. It plays a major role in theMarvel Cinematic Universe.
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Hydra first appeared inStrange Tales #135 (August 1965).[4] In its original continuity, it was headed by nondescript businessmanArnold Brown, who was killed whenS.H.I.E.L.D. apparently crushed the organization. Hydra soon returned, however, headed byBaron Wolfgang von Strucker, with the support of theNaziRed Skull; Hydra's changing origin is one of Marvel's earliestretcons. After its initial defeat, several of its branches, such as its scientific branchA.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) and theSecret Empire, became independent.
Crypt of Shadows #5, published in 1973, reprinted a story fromMenace #10 (1954), but with a change to a line of dialogue that erroneously implied that Hydra is premier mentioned is in a 1954 issue. In the reprint, an agent of an unspecified enemy government is changed to identify himself as working for Hydra when he paid off a scientist named Dr. Nostrum for information about acobalt bomb that turned people into monsters. Dr. Nostrum shot all the other scientists on his team after they were turned into monsters, then shot himself after his son put an image from a monster magazine on his mirror.
"Hail, Hydra! Immortal Hydra! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off a limb and two more shall take its place! We serve none but the Master—as the world shall soon serve us! Hail Hydra!"
The earliest origins of Hydra began in theAncient Egypt whenImhotep led an army to defeat theBrood.[5][6] Part of Imhotep's organization went eastward to become a secret society of genuises called theBrotherhood of the Spear, based on Imhotep's spear, while the other half became theBrotherhood of the Shield, based on Imhotep's shield.[6][7] Over time, the Brotherhood of the Spear became corrupted and fell to "the Beast".[8] It spread out, ingraining itself like a multi-headed serpent into all facets of human society, from science to magic to politics. As time wore on, the organization's name changed and it included theCathari sect, as well as theThule Society.[9] The Nazi sub-group, funded by the Thule Society, is brought into the main Hydra fold after the end ofWorld War II.[5]
One of the Nazi members, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, quickly seized control of the Hydra organization and restructured it to be dedicated toworld domination throughterrorist andsubversive activities on various fronts, resulting in a globalneo-fascistNew World Order. To this end, Baron von Strucker used his personal fortune, based on his recovered hoard ofNazi plunder from World War II, and funds established by the original leaders of theJapanese secret society that became part of the old Hydra.[5] However, after von Strucker's first death, Hydra broke into factions (such asA.I.M., the Secret Empire, THEM, etc.) that each adopted its own reorganized modus operandi.[5] Eventually, this fragmentation would lead to a Hydra civil war, even after von Strucker's resurrection.
According to the files discovered byNick Fury, Hydra is split into four independent sectors:
Nick Fury has theorized that his previous successes against Hydra were either feints to make him believe that he is making headway against the group or manipulation by Hydra to eliminate any possible competition or possible rogue sub-organizations.[10]
In the aftermath of the Secret Invasion and Baron von Strucker's second death, there followed a series of power struggles, which eventually left Hydra without a formal leader.[11] The splintering of Hydra accelerated, with various cells operating seemingly independently.[12][13][14] Eventually, the Red Skull, returning to his Nazi beliefs, started building a new Hydra from the ground up. However, this brought him into conflict withBaron Zemo, who is attempting to control what remains of the old Hydra.[15][16]
The Red Skull convinced his now-aware Cosmic Cube, Kobik, to cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D. in creating Pleasant Hill and discovered that Kobik could alter people's memories to make them believe they had been members of the Hydra of which the Red Skull had told them stories.[17] However, the Red Skull failed to realize that the Hydra he is building and the Hydra Kobik had created false memories of were two different things, with the now-Hydra Captain America disobeying the Red Skull and planning something else.[16]
As advanced as any on Earth, Hydra's technology is based in part on artifacts of the alien Gnobians discovered by Baron Von Strucker in 1944.[volume & issue needed] Hydra uses advanced experimental vehicles and devices along with conventional military vehicles, seacraft, aircraft, pistols and standard concussive force blasters, and communications equipment.
Hydra personnel are issued cowled jumpsuits, which have included a number of designs over the years. Originally, the jumpsuits were green with a yellow H design,[volume & issue needed] and later incorporated a red and brown color scheme,[volume & issue needed] but in time were changed back to green with a serpent motif.[volume & issue needed]
They tested on James Buchanan Barnes, creating the Winter Soldier in the process.[volume & issue needed] The Winter Soldier then went on to kill over a dozen unnamed people over the span of 50 years.[volume & issue needed]
Hydra's history as depicted inMarvel Universe continuity is a long, tumultuous and convoluted one, spanning millennia, and going back to theThird Dynasty of Egypt, with all references to the ancient group, the Brotherhood of the Spear, disappearing around theRenaissance.[5]
The terrorist organization Hydra was born inJapan, with aid from Nazi Germany, duringWorld War II. One of the Nazi organizers was theRed Skull. When another Nazi,Baron Strucker, had a falling out withAdolf Hitler, the Red Skull helped Strucker escape Germany to Japan, where Hydra was being formed by merging several underground Japanese secret societies, including a faction of theHand, with several fugitive members ofNazi Germany andImperial Japan, to become the modern Hydra. This incarnation of Hydra operated in Japan, directed by aJapanese militarist called theSupreme Hydra. However, Strucker seized control of the organization, became the Supreme Hydra himself, and constructed the Hydra base Tsunami - called Hydra Island.[18][19][5] The original Hydra Island is invaded by theLeatherneck Raiders and the Japanese Samurai Squad, and the base is destroyed.[20] Strucker then slowly steered the organization towards the goal of world domination. That campaign brought him into conflict withCharles Xavier and the futureMagneto, among others.
Hydra becoming more brazenly public in its operations led to the creation of the original agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., specifically to counter Hydra's threat to world security. After Hydra apparently assassinated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first executive director, Col. Rick Stoner,Nick Fury is appointed as executive director. Hydra agents attempted to assassinate Nick Fury before his appointment as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director, but failed.[21]
After several failed Hydra campaigns, including the failure of the world blackmail attempt using the Betatron Bomb, the creation of the Overkill Horn (designed to detonate all nuclear explosives worldwide), and the bio-engineered "Death-Spore" Bomb, which led directly to Strucker's first death at the hands of Fury, and several deceived Hydra operatives.
In the wake of Strucker's first death, the surviving elements of Hydra broke into factions that each adopted its own reorganized modus operandi. Several of these factions developed "super-agents" that would occasionally break away in turn to become freelance operatives, or, in some rarer cases,superheroes, such as the originalSpider-Woman. During this era, Hydra's collective threat is mitigated by not only occasionally infighting among themselves, but their operating policy of punishing failure with death, often led to their killing of each other more often than their intended victims. Hydra frequently found itself defeated by S.H.I.E.L.D., various superheroes, and even apparently unpowered civilians, like the motorcycle racing team,Team America.
Strucker is revived, and he reunites several of the Hydra factions under his leadership, renewing his campaign against S.H.I.E.L.D. and humanity for several more years. Despite his reorganization of the group, various independent Hydra factions continued to operate around the Marvel Universe, and a Hydra civil war would later result. WhileBaron Zemo had Strucker placed in stasis for his own ends, theGorgon and Strucker's second wife, Elsbeth von Strucker, mystically created a clone of Strucker, whom theyset up to fail, allowing for a public execution of him, after which, as part of an alliance with theHand, they utilized an army of brainwashedsuperheroes andsupervillains, includingNorthstar andElektra, to launch a massive assault on S.H.I.E.L.D. The assault is repelled, andWolverine went on to kill the Gorgon.
Hydra later planned an all-out attack on the United States by smuggling missiles into New York for use in a planned bio-weapon assault on theOgallala Aquifer. They formed a distraction through using a team that had the duplicated powers of several Avengers, (Iron Man andCaptain America, and former AvengersThor andHawkeye), but were inevitably foiled bySpider-Man and the otherNew Avengers.
Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. during the events ofCivil War, Hydra stormed the S.H.I.E.L.D.Helicarrier and frees her. Spider-Woman, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and member of theAvengers, had been working undercover for Hydra under the orders of Nick Fury, now deposed as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. following the events ofSecret War, to whom she is still loyal. Hydra revealed that they knew of her betrayal, and wanted her to replace theViper as their current leader, as she is unstable. Spider-Woman refused their offer, destroying in an explosion the Hydra base to which she had been taken.
As Spider-Woman revealed her true identity as QueenVeranke of theSkrull Empire, Hydra is left with a void in its control organization, filled by Congressman Woodman. Under his rule, the youngHardball, empowered by thePower Broker, is appointed as adouble agent, acting both as anInitiative recruit and as a Hydra spy, with the role of gathering information about the Initiative and doing errands for Hydra in exchange for secrecy and the expensive health care needed by his brother, a former UCWFwrestler, who is crippled in the ring.
Hardball, however, deeply hurt and shamed by the compromises Woodman forced him to endure andKomodo's attempt to bail him out of Hydra by telling his secrets to his field leaderGravity, mercilessly killed Congressman Woodman in front of his subordinates. His ersatzcoup d'état paid off, and Hardball is appointed as the new Supreme Leader of the organization, severing every tie with his former life.[22] His joining Hydra, however, is revealed to be caused simply by his having nowhere else to go. He surrendered to the Shadow Initiative, and is sent to the Negative Zone prison, destroying his Hydra cell.[23]
After the events of "Secret Invasion", Nick Fury discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. is under the control of Hydra, and apparently had been from the beginning. He also discovered a number of organizations under Hydra's alleged control, including the United States'FBI Science and Technology Branch, theNSA, and theU.S. Department of the Treasury, along with the RussianMain Intelligence Directorate andForeign Intelligence Service, and theCanadian Security Intelligence Service.[5]
Meanwhile, after having destroyed Hydra's undersea headquarters, Ichor, due to its having been infiltrated by the Skrull invasion force, Strucker rebuilt Hydra from the ground up, and after his discovery that Fury had learned the truth, reconvened the other main heads of Hydra: the Viper, Madame Hydra,Kraken, and theHive, as well as resurrecting theGorgon for the purpose of showing Hydra's "true self" to the world.[10]
Hydra (alongside A.I.M.) later appeared in an alliance withH.A.M.M.E.R.[24] Following the defeat of Norman Osborn, H.A.M.M.E.R. disbands, with Madame Hydra using the remaining members to reinforce Hydra.[25]
After the existence of Pleasant Hill, a top-secret community whereMaria Hill incarcerated various supervillains (after brainwashing them to believe they were regular civilians via a sentientCosmic Cube namedKobik), is exposed and subsequently shut down, the Red Skull's clone used the subsequent backlash in the intelligence community to assemble a new version of Hydra, starting withSin andCrossbones.[26] Although his efforts were still focused on rebuilding the organization, he had already scored a significant victory, after the sentient Cosmic Cube, having been "raised" by the Red Skull in the form of a young girl, to see Hydra as a great organization, altered Steve Rogers' memories so that he believed he had been a Hydrasleeper agent since childhood.[17]
"Secret Empire" is about Hydra's goal, as the mind-altered Steve Rogers uses the Planetary Defense Shield, to entrap theChitauri opposition, stranding them beyond the Shield. Baron Zemo would use the Darkhold to enhanceBlackout's powers to entrap all of Manhattan within theDarkforce, following the fight between the superheroes there and Baron Zemo's Army of Evil.[27] Having taken political and military control of the United States, Hydra proceeds to round up and incarcerate all Inhumans, and all mutants are condemned to the western California territory of New Tian. Becoming the Hydra Supreme, Captain America forms Hydra's version of the Avengers, consisting of theScarlet Witch who is possessed by Chthon, theVision who is suffering from an A.I. Virus created by Arnim Zola,Odinson, theTaskmaster,Deadpool,Eric O'Grady'sLife Model Decoy counterpart the Black Ant, andDoctor Octopus' form of the Superior Octopus. Throughout this period, Hydra encountered resistance from the Underground.[28]
Sam Wilson, the original Falcon, and currently the All-New Captain America, brought hope to the resistance with a plan to bring their real Captain America back by using the remaining Cosmic Cube, under Scott Lang and the Winter Soldier's hand on the Hydra Supreme's Cosmic Cube-infused Hydra suit. As Hydra began to fall, most of Hydra's Avengers members, Odinson, the Taskmaster, and the Black Ant, began to betray Hydra, joining the resistance, while the Vision and the Scarlet Witch were freed from the villains' control.[29]
Deadpool came to regret his betrayal of his friends, having killed Phil Coulson and Emily Preston and having lied to Emily's family, with Maria Hill having given him a painful lesson.[30] Kobik returned the real Captain America with his memories intact, and with the Hydra Supreme defeated, Hydra's reign over the United States came to an end, with major casualties being Rick Jones, Phil Coulson, and the Black Widow, who had been killed.[31] The Hydra Supreme is imprisoned in the Shadow Pillar as he is visited by Captain America to bring up the fact that he will stand trial for his crimes. After leaving, the Hydra Supreme is chained up as one of the guards whispered "Hail Hydra" into his ear.[32]
Due to the Hydra Supreme's imprisonment, Baron Zemo had to keep Hydra active. He planned to spring the Hydra Supreme from the Shadow Pillar, only to meet opposition from the Punisher in the War Machine Armor. After the attempted jailbreak is thwarted, the Hydra Supreme is apprehended, while Baron Zemo got away.[33]
During the "Spider-Geddon" storyline, Arnim Zola led a bio-duplicate of the Gorgon and some Hydra agents to the Superior Octopus' lair, where Arnim Zola tried to get the Superior Octopus to help rebuild Hydra. The Superior Octopus turned him down, stating that he had upheld his bargain to Hydra, as Arnim Zola claimed that one does not leave Hydra until their death. After defeating the Hydra Agents, the bio-duplicate of the Gorgon, and Arnim Zola, the Superior Octopus had Arnim Zola spread the word to Hydra to never come after him again.[34]
During the "Iron Man 2020" event,Pepper Potts infiltrates Hydra Base Omicron to look for Tony Stark's biological father Jude and get a DNA sample from him. She also meets a rookie Hydra agent named Robbie Fleckman. After a ride in the elevator, she follows a Hydra agent into a meeting with Dr. M. As Pepper gets a glimpse of Jude, Dr. M. unveils his Hydra-Bot. To demonstrate the Hydra-Bots abilities, Dr. M volunteers Robbie for the demonstration. Before he can demonstrate the cutting off of a part of Robbie's ear and the cauterizing, the Hydra-Bot goes berserk and cuts off half of Dr. M's left arm claiming that it has no need for a master. Pepper changes into Rescue as she reprimands Hydra for building a robot during the A.I. Army's activities. After rescuing Robbie, Rescue fights her way past smaller Hydra-Bots and has H.A.P.P.Y. scan the building for Jude. As Rescue confronts Jude and tries to explain why she's here, Robbie runs in stating that Hydra Base Omicron is locking down. When the Hydra-Bot attacks and grabs Jude, Robbie tries to save him by throwing a pocketknife only for a tiny part of Jude's right pinkie to accidentally get cut off. Rescue passes herself as a fellow robot to confuse the Hydra-Bot. As the Hydra-Bot starts to self-destruct, Rescue advises Robbie and Jude to flee as she claims the pinkie fragment. Upon fleeing the exploding Hydra base, Rescue contacts Bethany telling her that she's got Jude's DNA sample and to prep the lab for her arrival.[35]
During the "Gang War" storyline,Diamondback is revealed to be allied with Hydra byHammerhead during the meeting with the crime lords.[36] Diamondback visits a secret Hydra base where he speaks with Viper about the drugs that Hydra was making for him. When Spider-Woman raids a nightclub that Diamondback was speaking at, she gets overwhelmed by Hydra's latest member Green Mamba enough for Diamondback and Green Mamba to get away.[37] Spider-Woman has another encounter with Diamondback and Green Mamba when they are with Madame Hydra as she comes looking for her son Gerry Drew. Green Mamba uses his powers to knock Spider-Woman off the helicopter. Luckily for her,Madame Web was there to catch her. When Spider-Woman arrives at the ship that served as one of Hydra's bases where she confronts Diamondback and Green Mamba. During the fight, Diamondback reveals that Hydra has been keeping tracks of the "gifted and talented kids" and enlisted the biggest "eggheads" in the world to find a way to increase the aging process on the "ankle biters" to speed up Hydra's recruitment program. To Spider-Woman's surprised, Green Mamba is revealed to be an aged Gerry Drew.[38] Hydra abducted him whenRoger Gocking forgot who she was. Spider-Woman tried to reason with her son claiming that Hydra mind-controlled him to no avail. Even though Diamondback and some of the Hydra agents were defeated when Spider-Woman's allies showed up, Green Mamba got away. Spider-Woman vows to make Hydra pay for what they have done.[39]
During the "One World Under Doom" storyline, Baron Zemo and Hydra show up at Latveria to surrender to Doctor Doom who has become the Sorcerer Supreme. When the Avengers and the Fantastic Four expose the Baron Zemo that surrendered to be a Doombot Decoy, some of the Hydra agents found out and started harming civilians until Doctor Doom arrives riding a Tyrannosaurus counterpart of himself from another reality and killed those Hydra agents. Doom justified his murder of Baron Zemo and Red Skull by stating that they were Nazis and that the Nazis used Hydra to do their dirty work.[40]
An alternate universe iteration of Hydra appears in theAmalgam Comics seriesSuper-Soldier, led byLex Luthor / Green Skull. This version of the organization's agents possess black eyes instead of red coupled with the traditional yellow and green uniforms.[41]
An alternate universe iteration of Hydra appears inExiles #91-94, led bySue Storm / Madame Hydra and Wolverine and consisting of Captain Hydra andSlaymaster.[42]
Multiple alternate universe iterations of Hydra fromBattleworld appear during the "Secret Wars" storyline":
An alternate universe iteration of Hydra from Earth-1610 appears in series set in theUltimate Marvel imprint, consisting of the Viper,Modi, Commander Crimson of the Death's Head Camp, andAbigail Brand. This version of the organization operates on a vague "anti-government" stance.[45][46][47][48][49][50]
Hydra appears inMarvel Universe: LIVE!.[58]
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