3. HYDRA Hierarchy
HYDRA is more than just made up of faceless goons in uniforms goose-stepping while Baron von Strucker bellows orders (although that is a big part of their deal!). Strucker needs to be part of a larger hierarchy of similarly evil characters. It would be awesome if Red Skull came back (Hugo Weaving or not) but even if Marvel decide to hold the character back a bit longer, there are other HYDRA villains who could make an appearance like Gorgon and Baron Zemo. While Strucker is a powerful character in his own right, he would be well served with specialists like Gorgon at his side. Gorgon's got the usual superpower skill set of super-strength, speed, genius intellect, and expert fighter, but also has telepathic powers, a healing factor, and, like his namesake, has the ability to turn humans to stone by making eye contact with them. He showed how formidable he was in the Wolverine storyline, Enemy of the State, where he defeated Logan. Zemo was originally Strucker's superior but if they've cast Strucker rather than Zemo it looks like the comics hierarchy is being ignored for the movies. Still, Zemo's a good character with a creepy KKK-esque hood whose history goes back to WW2 when he and Red Skull were members of the Nazi party. In the same way that SHIELD has Fury at the top with help from Maria Hill and Phil Coulson, Strucker needs useful subordinates of his own and Gorgon and Zemo are perfectly suited for the roles. Also, an expanded HYDRA cast opens up a wealth of storytelling opportunities where the characters can be worked into other Marvel movies and TV shows.