Arnim Zola

**Dr. Arnim Zola** is a major antagonist from *Marvel Comics*, most commonly appearing as a supporting antagonist to Captain America. He is a Nazi scientist from Switzerland and member of HYDRA under the Red Skull. He was also responsible for the creation of Hate-Monger.

## Biography

### World War II

Zola was a Swiss genetic scientist who sought to create a master race of beings. As such, he supported the Nazi party during World War II, and worked for Adolf Hitler, the Red Skull, Baron Zemo, and the Second Baron Zemo. Zola created a process in which a person could clone themselves and transfer their mind into either the clone or a robotic body, making them virtually immortal. Zola did this to himself, and transferred his mind into an ESP box in a robot form, his human face a 3 dimensional projection on a screen.

### Modern Era

After placing his mind into the ESP box, Arnim continued to live on into the modern era. He continues to help HYDRA to thrive, and still battles against Captain America among other Avengers. Some of his schemes include trying to steal Dr. Bruce Banner's discoveries and battling the hero known as Shamrock. Both occasions ended in an explosion, which Arnim ended up surviving. After the disaster caused by Onslaught, Arnim collected human bodies from the rubble. He ended up creating the hero Jolt, which of course ended up turning against him.

Around the world, Arnim continued to perform experiments on humans, and even ended up quarreling with Deadpool. He would even take the bodies of dead villains and use their DNA to create "proto-husks". Continuing to work with Redskull, Arnim also worked alongside Johann Fennhoff. He was most notable for his part in Kronas Corporation, where he brainwashed a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Sharon Carter into assassinating Captain America. After this he subjected her to many experiments, learning along the way that she was pregnant with the Captain's child. After she escaped and took revenge by shooting Redskull in the chest, Arnim implanted Redskull's mind into a body similar to his.

Arnim later ended up experimenting with Doctor Doom's Time Platform in an attempt to retrieve Steve Rogers before Sharon got to him. Later during this series, in Latveria, Arnim ended up resembling something meant to bring back Captain America.

In the town of Vliet, Arnim had turned the townsfolk into monsters. An early Dutch man retrieved the Spear of Destiny, and made a deal with Shuma-Gorath to return the village to normal in exchange for the lives of the Invaders. The wish was granted, and when the Invaders arrived, the man attempted to attack them. The Invaders offered to cure them with modern medicine, but after they did, the townsfolk wished to pass onto the afterlife. The man wanted to break the deal but Arnim killed him and took the spear. Arnim later lost it during the battle.

### Dimension Z

Arnim escaped to another dimension called "Dimension Z". He ruled this dimension, and had it filled with his own creations. This dimension moved at a faster pace than Earth. Here, Zola built a fortress and claimed it to be "Zolandia". Eventually Captain America found him with an army of genetically engineered soldiers to conquer Earth, making out with one of which after a battle. For an entire decade, Captain America was stranded in the dimension, where he raised the former infant that he had taken. They teamed up with a friendly nearby force to stop Zola's forces. By this time, Zola had a daughter named Jet Black, who now commanded his forces. Among his troops were Captain Zolandia, a clone of Captain America. Zola later captured and brainwashed the boy (named Ian), who was shot by Sharon Carter. Sharon destroyed the city, sacrificing herself so that Captain America could escape. Arnim was later revealed to still be alive, and was waging a war with his mutant creations on New York. He escaped from this along with his daughter.

### Hydra's Resurgence

Madame Hydra appointed Zola to the High Council of Hydra, where Steve Rogersbecame it's head after Red Skull's death. After it took over the United States, he maintained his rule along with the other members. He sent forces to *Wakanda* to retrieve a valuable cube, but was unsuccessful. When the fall of the Council came, Arnim became an employee of an organization called "Absolution Solutions", where his experiments continued. He was able to brainwash Quicksand and force her to go after a mutant with incredible powers. This was unsuccessful. Zola was forced to use Quicksand's remains to help get her reconstructed. Quicksand almost killed Zola for this, but decided not to.

## Other Media

### Ultimate Universe

Arnim has the same backstory as his original up until his demise, which was one of his creations falling on top of him. After this, he was recruited for the post-war super soldier program. They later mapped his brain to computers as he had been diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer. Eventually, the Marauders found his AI and stole it along with other weaponry. He eventually convinced the organizations leader to allow him to experiment on him. He mutated him, making him twenty feet tall and installing his AI brain onto the mutant. He dubbed it Siegsoldat-X.

After this, Arnim became their leader, and he had them fetch innocents for him to experiment on. The media caught onto the corpses of the experiments and dubbed them "ghost corpses". Captain America learned of Arnim's survival, so he and the Falcon tracked them to their base of operations. Here, they were able to defeat Zola and crush his AI for good.

### Films

#### Marvel Cinematic Universe

*Main article: Arnim Zola (Marvel Cinematic Universe)*
Arnim played a major role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He made made several appearances across multiple films. His role is pretty much the same as in the comics, but he does not get put into a humanoid suit and instead presumably dies in an explosion that was an attempt to kill Captain America.

##### *Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle!*

The Cinematic version of Arnim Zola is the main antagonist of a theme park ride called *Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle!*. He has an army of "indestructible Nano-bots" that Iron Man and Ant Man are working to try and destroy.

#### *Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.*

During the film, Arnim is wheelchair bound and questioned by Nick Fury along with his accomplices. They ask him questions, but he answers with more questions. He is eventually forced to have his mind read.

### Television

#### *Agent Carter*

Arnim makes a cameo at the end of the film to recruit Johann Fennhoff.

#### *The Super Hero Squad*

Arnim makes a cameo in the show to give a character a "weggie". In this adaption, he is in his robot suit.

#### *The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes*

Arnim Zola makes an appearance as an antagonist in the TV show *Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes*. He worked for Baron Zemo, as well as creating the monster known as Doughboy. Enchantress and Executioner later knock him out when Zemo goes to check on him, but he is also later recruited to their Masters of Evil organization. Arnim stayed away during most of the battles. After a while Enchantress came to ask where Zemo was. At first Arnim objected, concerned about Grey Gargoyle's fate. Enchantress threatened him with the same fate if he did not fess up to Zemo's location. He refuses and tried to get Doughboy to attack the duo. At first, Zola thinks that he's won, but then watches as the Doughboy solidifies and explodes. Enchantress then kills Zola through a magical blast.

#### *Ultimate Spider-Man*

*Main article: Arnim Zola (2010 Marvel Animated Universe)*
Arnim appears in both seasons 3 and 4 of the series. He is a major antagonist and the main commander of HYDRA. He teams up with Doctor Octopus.

#### *Marvel's Spider-Man (2017)*

In Marvel's Spider-Man 2017, Arnim plays a role in an episode where he sends Hyrda agents to obtain a key to the "Vibranium vault", but he is later foiled.

#### *Marvel Future Avengers*

Arnim appears in the anime "Marvel Future Avengers".

#### Spidey and his Amazing Friends

Arnim appears in season 3 of Spidey and his Amazing Friends. This version is an evil robot that can transfer his conscious into other technology.

## Video Games

#### *Captain America: Super Soldier*

Arnim Zola appears during this game in an old mansion, where he fights against Captain America. Here, he is in his robotic body, which the Captain mocks. Arnim awakens a giant robot under his control called "The Sleeper" to attack Captain America. In addition, he fights him in his robot body and with "Zola Bots".

#### *Marvel: Avengers Alliance*

Arnim Zola appears as a boss in the "Facebook" game: Avenger's Alliance. He has several soldiers to fight alongside him. In the game, he uses technology that he pulls out of his pockets to fight against the hero.

#### *Lego Marvel Games*

Arnim Zola appears several times in the Lego Avengers series games. He never adds much to the plot, his only role is an optional playable character. His robot camera head is used to fire a laser.

#### *What if...?*

##### Peggy Carter Super Soldier Timeline

Two variants of Arnim Zola appeared in Marvel's What If...? The first was in the reality where Peggy Carter became the Super Soldier instead of Captain America. He is first seen being apprehended by Peggy, who took the space stone from him. He later appears in a prison cell, which Carter visits. He tells her that he will tell her nothing, only for the scene to switch and for her to announce that he told her everything.

##### Ultron Wins Timeline

*Main article: Arnim Zola (Ultron's Timeline)*
## Powers and Abilities

Arnim was gifted with an incredible amount of intelligence. He was able to build machines very advanced for his time, including machines that could harness energy and even ones that he could graph his brain into to make him into an immortal. Arnim is a master of both technology and genetics. This allowed him to build many various machines that could assist him and others biologically. Arnim is also a great engineer, being able to design eco-skeletons and battle tanks.

In his robotic form, Arnim has the ability to take on the physical strengths of whatever he possesses. This may cause his strength to vary depending on the host. Also with this new robotic form, he has obtained immortality status. With his status at HYDRA and his intelligence, Arnim was able to create entire armies to wage war in the name of HYDRA.

In some adoptions, Arnim uses futuristic technology to fight. The device in the place of his head usually works as a laser.

## Trivia

* The Marvel Cinematic Universe had the intention to have Arnim reappear in his robotic humanoid form, even having him appear in one of the *Ant-Man* films. Unfortunately; this idea was scrapped. Concept art for this idea still remains today.
	+ This was referenced in the final episode of the first season of Marvel's animated antology series, *What If*, when he takes control of Ultron's body, and his computer face in the body's chest.
* Arnim participated in a grand derby held by the Grandmaster.
* Arnim created a clone of Hitler called Edmund Heidler.
* Arnim was contacted by the X-Men to help try and retrieve their lost powers after "M-Day".