Captain America: Civil War - 10 Things You Need To Know About Baron Zemo
5. He Was Almost In The First Avenger
There’s an alternate universe somewhere out there where Baron Zemo is already a part of the MCU. That’s because Captain America: The First Avenger writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have admitted that in the initial draft of the script, both Zemo and Baron von Strucker were present.
In this draft, their roles would have been severely limited, with them acting like little more than henchmen for the Red Skull. Thankfully, the writers thought it would be best to leave them out for a future appearance where they could be afforded larger roles.
It’s a good thing that they had such foresight because Zemo is arguably Cap’s greatest foe next to the Red Skull. To have wasted him in a minimal role would have been a travesty. Instead, their patience paid off, and the character is now the full-fledged antagonist of his own movie. While von Strucker was still limited to a fairly minor supporting role in Avengers: Age of Ultron, chances are that Zemo was spared for something greater.