Captain America: Hail HYDRA

**Captain America: Hail HYDRA** is a 2015 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It was directed by Joss Whedon and stars Chris Evans, Emily VanCamp, Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Aaron Himelstein, Jeremy Renner, Robert Redford, Samuel L. Jackson. It was released on October 2, 2015.

## Plot

Taking place two and a half years after *The Avengers*, Steve Rogers has been fully enlisted as a S.H.I.E.L.D. and is an elite squad with Sharon Carter, Maria Hill, Cameron Klein, Brock Rumlow and Clint Barton. The squad has located Baron Zemo on a boat in the Northern Atlantic. They travel there and are attacked by his army of HYDRA agents. While Rogers is taking them down, one of them tells him that pretty soon Rogers will be in the same position as him. Rogers is confused but manages to find Zemo. He knocks him unconscious and he is arrested. The squad goes out for drinks afterward. Rogers is shown by Nick Fury that Project P.S.P.P stands for Potential Superhuman Protection Plan and is being used to protect superhumans and humans that could possibly gain superhuman abilities at one point.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Beta Director, Alexander Pierce is visited by The Winter Soldier, an assassin hired by Pierce and the rest of HYDRA, revealing Pierce has been a HYDRA operative all this time. Pierce tells him that he is putting Phase One into motion; framing all the major S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as HYDRA. The next day, news outlets reports that Steve Rogers, Sharon Carter, Maria Hill, and Nick Fury are secretly HYDRA. The four make it to a safe house where they learn that HYDRA has been infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. since it's founding in 1948. Black Widow, Winter Soldier, Brock Rumlow, and Hawkeye attack the safe house and nearly kill them. They make it to a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base that only Fury knew about. Soon, all the HYDRA agents in S.H.I.E.L.D. have turned and killed many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Hawkeye learns of this and is imprisoned by Pierce.

In the eyes of the public, all of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been HYDRA all along. Fury tries to get news out that some of S.H.I.E.L.D. was good. Just after, Klein finds them, barely having survived an attack. The five agents make it to New York City to try and meet up with the good agents but are attacked by Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Rumlow, and Madame Hydra. The Winter Soldier's mask falls off, revealing him as Bucky Barnes, Steve's WWI sidekick that was though dead. Black Widow is revealed as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and escapes with the team. The team realize that Pierce's plan is to use Project P.S.P.P to actually kill all superhumans and potential superhumans. Rogers, Black Widow, and Carter arrive at the project base and attack Rumlow and Madame Hydra. The latter is killed but Rumlow alerts the Winter Soldier, who prepares the Helicarriers that will take out the superhumans for take off. Rogers to gets to him and manages to get him to leave HYDRA but the Helicarriers are stuck in their killing mode.

Fury, Klein, and Hill reveal everything that is going on to the public by showing files of both S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA. Rogers shuts down the Helicarriers but they crash into the city. Pierce enables them in nuclear mode and manages to kill 4 million and injure 3.5 million more. The good S.H.I.E.L.D. ensure that most of HYDRA is either killed or arrested, but a small batch continues as HYDRA. The rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. disbands the agency and either leaves the spy life or joins the CIA, creating a new S.H.I.E.L.D. within the agency. The Winter Soldier sets out to regain his memories and personality.

In a mid-credits scene, Hawkeye is freed by Rogers and Carter. In a post-credits scene, Hank Pym successfully finishes building an AI named Ultron, which speaks to Pym.

## Cast

* Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America; S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Avenger.
* Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter/Agent 13; S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Peggy Carter's niece.
* Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier; HYDRA agent and the thought-dead sidekick of Captain America.
* Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow; HYDRA agent who is in love with Barton.
* Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill; Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
* Aaron Himelstein as Cameron Klein; S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
* Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye; S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Avenger.
* Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce; S.H.I.E.L.D. Beta Director who is secretly a HYDRA leader.
* Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury; Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Martin Donovan, Frank Grillo, and Mallory Jansen appear as HYDRA agents Mitchell Carson, Brock Rumlow, and Madame Hydra. Daniel Brühl reprises his role as Baron Helmut Zemo from *Captain America* and *The Avengers*. Hayley Atwell portrays Peggy Carter; Steve's girlfriend from 1944. Paul Rudd reprises his role as Hank Pym in a post-credits scene.

## Reception

### **Box office**

**Captain America: Hail HYDRA** grossed $459 million (32.7%) in the United States and Canada and $946.4 million (67.3%) in other territories for a total of $1.405 million. The film is the fourth highest-grossing 2015 film, the second highest-grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, out of fifteen. It achieved a worldwide opening weekend of $392.5 million.

### **Critical reception**

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 75% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10 based on 315 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Proving that not every threat can be defeated by an Avenger, *Captain America: Hail HYDRA* is an eye-popping, thrilling, yet sometimes slow, adventure in the Marvel franchise."