Helmut Zemo is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roy Thomas, Jenny Blake Isabella and Sal Buscema, the character first appeared in Captain America #168 (December 1973). Helmut Zemo is the son of Baron Heinrich Zemo and the thirteenth Baron Zemo in his family lineage. He is a recurring adversary of the Avengers, especially the superhero Steve Rogers / Captain America. The character has also been known as Citizen V at various points in his history.
Daniel Brühl portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in the film Captain America: Civil War (2016) and the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021).
Fictional character biography Helmut Zemo (the 13th Baron Zemo) is Heinrich Zemo's son, born in Leipzig, Germany. Helmut was originally an engineer until he became enraged when reading a report about the return of Captain America and his father's death. Helmut would ultimately follow in his father's footsteps, using his family's money and his own scientific know-how to recreate his father's work.
Helmut first appears under the alias of the Phoenix, and captures Captain America to get revenge upon him for the death of his father. He is presumed dead after falling into a vat of Adhesive X, an adhesive created by Heinrich. Helmut's face is scarred by Adhesive X, giving his face the appearance of molten wax.Captain America #168 (December 1973) Zemo forms a new incarnation of the Masters of Evil formed to strike at Captain America through the Avengers. The group invades and occupies Avengers Mansion and crippled Hercules and the Avengers' butler Edwin Jarvis. Zemo captures Captain America and the Black Knight. Zemo battled Captain America, but fell off the mansion roof.The Avengers #273-277 (November 1986 - March 1987)
Zemo hires Batroc the Leaper's Brigade and psychic detective Tristram Micawber to help him locate the five fragments of the Bloodstone in hopes of restoring his father to life. Fighting Captain America and Diamondback, Zemo's plan backfires, as he instead turns his father's corpse into a vessel for the demonic forces residing in the Bloodstone. The reanimated corpse is destroyed by Crossbones, and a distraught Zemo falls down an inactive volcano in Japan trying to retrieve it.Captain America #357-362 (September - November 1989) Zemo survives the fall, though his right hand is severely burned.
Broken and beaten, Zemo is taken in by a scientist called the Baroness, who models herself after Heinrich Zemo. The two marry and began kidnapping abused, neglected children to serve as their children. Zemo's sanity returns and he creates a new mask to hide his disfigured face from his adopted children, whom he nurtures and swears to protect from being returned to their abusive foster homes. The couple's peaceful life is shattered when Captain America discovered their home, while searching for Superia. Zemo turns on the Baroness and Superia before turning his attention to dropping Captain America into a vat of Adhesive X. The plan fails and Zemo and the Baroness fall into the vat instead. The two were rescued by Captain America and Helmut bemoaned that like his father, his face now was permanently hidden by his mask. Captain America reveals that the Avengers had since found a way to dissolve Adhesive X and would use it on him.
Zemo escapes prison, though the Baroness dies shortly after being sentenced to prison for her role in the abduction of the children they were raising. During this time, Zemo discovers that Goliath is imprisoned in the Microverse and forms a new version of Masters of Evil to free Goliath. But after rescuing Goliath, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four disappeared during the Onslaught crisis and were presumed dead. After overhearing Beetle and Goliath talk about who would replace the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, a distraught Zemo soon found a new purpose for his team: the Masters of Evil would take on new heroic identities as the Thunderbolts.Thunderbolts #1 (April 1997) Zemo would lead the group under the alias Citizen V and planned to have the Thunderbolts gain the world's trust in order to conquer it.Thunderbolts Annual (August 1997) The public took a liking to the team much more quickly than Zemo, or any of the other Thunderbolts, expected and soon most of them came to like the feeling of being heroes.
When the missing heroes return, Zemo has the Thunderbolts' true identities leaked, forcing them to flee with him into deep space to assist his plan to conquer the world through mind control. However, most of the Thunderbolts rebel and foil Zemo's plan. Zemo goes into hiding and plots revenge on his former teammates, who are now trying to win back the public's trust by being real heroes.Thunderbolts #10-14 (January - May 1998)
After another of Zemo's plans is foiled by Captain America and a new Citizen V (Dallas Riordan),Captain America/Citizen V 1998 Annual (January 1999) Zemo is killed by the new Scourge of the Underworld.Thunderbolts #39 (June 2000) His mind ends up being transferred into the comatose body of John Watkins III. Now in possession of Watkins' body, Zemo retakes the Citizen V mantle, this time as a member of the V-Battalion.Citizen V and the V-Battalion #1-3 (June - August 2001) Zemo's mind is later transferred into the body of Iron Cross, his Counter-Earth counterpart.Thunderbolts #62 (May 2002)
In the series Avengers/Thunderbolts, Zemo attempts to take over Earth again — this time with the belief that he could save the world by taking it over. Zemo now seems to be motivated by a twisted altruism rather than his original selfish desires; he feels he has grown beyond his father in that regard. However, the Avengers foil Zemo's scheme. He goes into hiding after taking Moonstone's twin alien gems.
Following the Civil War storyline, Iron Man asks Zemo to begin recruiting villains to his cause, which Zemo had already been doing, unknown to Iron Man.Thunderbolts #103 (August 2006) However, he meets up with Captain America and informed him that he really had reformed. He shows Captain America his face, once again scarred, to remind him of his earlier sacrifice, and gives him a key that would allow him to escape from the super-human prison being constructed. He also gives Captain America all his old mementos, destroyed by Zemo, which he had gone back in time and recovered.
Zemo now believes his father's Nazi ideals to be untrue, and that the only way to become superior is through righteousness. After helping Captain America, he remarks that Heinrich Zemo would be displeased with his current actions. Zemo reveals that Songbird was going to betray him and he was going to sacrifice himself in their upcoming battle with the Squadron Sinister. He told her that he would not die, but that he would become superior through his sacrifice "by living forever".
Zemo saves the Wellspring of Power from the Grandmaster, planning to use it for his own ends. Believing that all of his visions are subject to the flow of time, and that nothing was set in stone, Zemo defeats the Grandmaster. He insists that he will use his power to help the world, despite the consequences of doing so. Songbird betrays Zemo and cracks his moonstones, sending him backwards in time.
The limited series Thunderbolts Presents: Zemo - Born Better (2007) explores the history of the Zemo family. Helmut, sucked into the vacuum, wakes up in medieval Germany (1503), witnessing Harbin Zemo's death and his succession, while in the present academic Wendell Volker and Reed Richards deduce that Helmut has traveled in time. Captured and taken prisoner as a leper, Helmut manages to inspire Harbin's twelve-year-old grandson Heller Zemo to kill his own father Hademar Zemo and become Baron Zemo. After battling his own father in the past, giving him the inspiration to take up the Zemo mantle, Helmut returns to the present and manages to convince Wendell not to kill him as well, instead taking what is discovered to be his cousin under his wing, as he sets out to do something new for the world.
Having spent his time on the sidelines, watching Norman Osborn's rise to power with the intent of waiting to see what Osborn would do with control over the Thunderbolts and later S.H.I.E.L.D., Zemo reappears following the events of the "Siege" storyline. A chance encounter at the Thunderbolts' former base in Colorado with Ghost leads to Zemo learning that Bucky Barnes has become Captain America.Captain America #608 (October 2010)
Zemo recruits Jurgen Hauptmann, Fixer, and Beetle (Janice Lincoln), to expose the current Captain America's sins to the world. This includes drugging Bucky Barnes with nanites that cause Captain America to behave irrationally and attack police officers and leaking to the media, not only detailed files revealing Winter Soldier's actions. Zemo ultimately kidnaps Barnes and takes him to Heinrich's island, where Barnes had nearly died. There Zemo confesses that he did what he did, not out of a desire to finish the job his father started, but out of jealousy over how Captain America and his allies quickly forgave Barnes for his crimes, yet continue to scorn the reformed Helmut who had saved the world on numerous occasions. Zemo forces Bucky into a deathtrap, which he has modified to allow Barnes a chance to escape.Captain America #609-612 (October 2010 - January 2011)
In Avengers Undercover, Zemo becomes the leader of the Shadow Council's Masters of Evil following the death of Max Fury.Avengers Undercover #1 (May 2014)
Zemo becomes the new leader of Hydra and enters into conflict with Sam Wilson, the new Captain America.All-New Captain America #1 (January 2015) Using the toxic blood of an Inhuman boy named Lucas, Zemo plans to sterilize the human race and distribute a cure to only a small portion of those infected, thus forcibly solving the planet's problems with overpopulation and lack of resources.All-New Captain America #2 (February 2015)
During the Avengers: Standoff! storyline, Zemo appears as a prisoner of the S.H.I.E.L.D. gated community of Pleasant Hill under the identity of Jim after Kobik erases his memories. Phil, a fellow inmate, builds a device to restore his memories and uses it on himself and Jim to restore their true selves. Jim is restored to Zemo while Phil is revealed to have been a transformed Fixer.Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill one-shot (April 2016) Zemo and Fixer restore the memories of the other inmates before leading a coordinated assault on a S.H.I.E.L.D. outpost.Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Alpha one-shot (May 2016) During the Avengers' fight with Zemo and his allies, Kobik teleports Zemo and Erik Selvig to the Himalayas.Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Omega one-shot (June 2016)
After escaping the Himalayas, Zemo begins to form his "New Masters" group. He starts by recruiting Firebrand, Flying Tiger, and Plantman. They later encounter Steve Rogers, the original Captain America; Free Spirit; and Jack Flag. Zemo then tries to escape with Erik Selvig until Captain America enters his plane. Before he could kill Steve Rogers, Zemo is defeated by Flag.Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 (July 2016) After Rogers pushes Flag out of the plane, he makes the plane crash into a building to kill Erik Selvig and Zemo.Captain America: Steve Rogers #3 (September 2016) However, it is later revealed that Rogers kept Zemo in a cell.Captain America: Steve Rogers #7 (January 2017) Rogers convinces Zemo that they are childhood friends, since Rogers's reality was rewritten by Kobik to believe he has been a Hydra double agent since childhood, and recruits him in his mission to kill the Red Skull. Zemo then starts to recruit all the supervillains who escaped from Pleasant Hill, forming the Army of Evil.Captain America: Steve Rogers #11-15 (April - June 2017)