Anyone else think it's weird that Zemo didn't have more fight scenes in the MCU?

I get that they wanted him to be more brain than brawn, but he was part of Sokovian Special Forces said to have a 100% success rate in missions. And there was one scene in FATWS where we see him actually fight hand to hand but it was obscured and they cut away to focus on Sam, Bucky and Sharon and then cut back to Zemo when he finds the nice car. (It's also the only time he actually wore his mask, make of that what you will). Zemo is more active in FATWS than he was in Civil War, but it mostly comes down to him shooting a gun and failing to kill Karli, through a wooden table. I just think in a show which prioritises hand to hand combat (to varying levels of quality), it's weird that a major player only gets one real fight and they seem scared to show it. Am I the only one who feels this way?

Commentaires

graveybrains2025-12-29 15:56

He's a dancer, not a fighter.

![gif](giphy|zu3MWDMUU9581jLT6v)

SkekJay2025-12-29 15:58

Look out Star Lord, Zemo is here

Wooden_Passage_26122025-12-29 16:00

![gif](giphy|HJmdMf5twG927zoQcG|downsized)

Direct-Reflection8892025-12-29 18:03

![gif](giphy|GI4Ri8CGJVxOo)

Wooden_Passage_26122025-12-29 18:05

![gif](giphy|wv34jEfv17OmI)

Wooden_Passage_26122025-12-29 18:06

![gif](giphy|VF0G6SrLUYInfnTTNW|downsized)

HarambeWest20202025-12-30 03:02

Rip fat chris

graveybrains2025-12-29 16:01

They are lucky Hammer's still in prison.

![gif](giphy|CNoNiXVQK83yoSI2S9|downsized)

unsupported2025-12-29 16:02

![gif](giphy|4iUE6VT76TUIg2LbHQ)

graveybrains2025-12-29 16:14

![gif](giphy|VIybTqiAz8E5W)

No-Thought75712025-12-29 23:49

![gif](giphy|cgLnOHV8mhaGk)

Expert_Succotash26592025-12-30 00:50

![gif](giphy|7JduIzmjDhw92qtFaa|downsized)

Jertimmer2025-12-30 07:42

![gif](giphy|Yr5hvZXBNw9xLVXsZc|downsized)

HanTrollo7102025-12-30 15:02

Man, the Xavier School sure looks different there

SkekJay2025-12-29 16:03

As far as we know, we haven't seen him in over a decade. For all we know Val pulled some strings and he's working for Oxe, but then she'd probably have him killed, actually forget that last part

graveybrains2025-12-29 16:15

I mean, he did seem pretty happy in prison, and he probably got a lot more than 11 years

SkekJay2025-12-29 16:20

What was he charged with? He did break out Whiplash but that was in Italy so the States wouldn't have charged him with that, probably some conspiracy to kill people with Whiplash and the Drones, despite that not being his intention. He definitely deserved prison, but I'm just not sure what he got charged with

graveybrains2025-12-29 16:23

I think supervillainy in the MCU doesn't get you charged, it's more like disappeared.

SkekJay2025-12-29 16:24

True, but as far as we're aware he's just in prison

graveybrains2025-12-29 16:43

And a state prison, no less. He and Trevor are in Seagate.

Shady.

SkekJay2025-12-29 16:58

Damn, wouldn't surprise me if Hammer *"got lost in the paperwork"* over the years

Kagir2025-12-30 08:08

I believe that actually was France, seeing as Tony was talking to the guard in French.

SkekJay2025-12-30 09:38

Ah thank you, it's been a hot minute since I've IM 2

Romza18222025-12-30 09:09

this should have a version of the john hamm meme

eltrotter2025-12-29 15:59

Doesn’t seem very weird to me.

By the time we see Zemo his special forces days are behind him and he seems to mostly prefer subterfuge instead. As you say, he’s more brains than brawn, it really is as simple as that.

SkekJay2025-12-29 16:01

Definitely better written brains rather than Leader

AdditionalMess65462025-12-29 18:47

Writers who aren't smart enough to write smart villains

They almost always fall back on vague lines about "calculations" too, lol

SkekJay2025-12-29 18:52

You just described BND Leader perfectly.

"I see the probabilities! I see it all!"

"That's great Sammy Largehead, but I just talked down a Hulk so your probabilities don't mean jack shit."

AdditionalMess65462025-12-29 19:39

"I calculated an 87% probability of you opening that door at this exact moment,"

*chair spins around*

["God dammit, not again."](https://youtu.be/GvxkBJv1R4A?si=IzIbxRIu5sSK8muv)

LeonardTringo2025-12-29 19:12

"probabilities!"

Im_At_Work_Damnit2025-12-29 22:44

Or even worse, making the protagonists dumber in order to make the villain seem smarter.

Rocketboy13132025-12-30 15:30

It is easy to write BS super science. It is impossible so you just say, "he figured out how to make a ray gun/time machine/flying car or whatever."

Smart social sciences are hard because it has to actually work or people will look at it as stupid. The superhero registry in Civil War is so poorly explained (and the expanded lore is NONSENSE) and it results in a conflict where everyone is acting out of character toward nebulous goals in relation to a law that is poorly written, to preservea status quo that does not make sense on its own.

nocturnalfrolic2025-12-29 16:02

Zemo does not fight.

Zemo incepts.

Also Zemo is a Madripoor dancing expert.

repalec2025-12-29 16:13

I'm not, given he's a baseline human and his two appearances were in Civil War (and thus his enemies would have been -every single Avengers available-) and FATWS (where his enemies would've been the super-serum-infused Flag Smashers).

SkekJay2025-12-29 16:14

I'm more focused on the Madripoor parts where the enemies were regular people that Sharon takes on pretty easily, Zemo's one fight scene gets cut short for some reason

FX1142025-12-29 18:50

The scene might have just not been working, so they took it out.

SkekJay2025-12-29 18:51

That just makes me curious to see what it looked like and what didn't work. Probably the geography of the fight or the stunt work being stop and go where people just waited for their hits. Probably couldn't schedule Brühl for the reshoots if they cut it

FX1142025-12-29 19:00

It could have also just been too might fighting and they needed to pace the whole sequence up.

SkekJay2025-12-29 19:19

Maybe, but I feel like they should've cut some of Sharon's fighting since she got other scenes to show off, where Zemo got none.

Jagermonstruo2025-12-29 16:22

Puts on mask. Shoots some dudes. Takes off mask. Never explains mask. Rides off into the sunset/the Raft

SkekJay2025-12-29 16:27

I question what the point of the mask was given he barely wears it, it's almost like they just included the mask to make fans do the Leo Pointing Meme with no meat behind it

MothmanIsALiar2025-12-29 16:31

>what the point of the mask

Aura

SkekJay2025-12-29 16:36

For a second, and Zemo had enough aura without the mask thank you very much

rvdp662025-12-29 23:26

It was in his grandfather's car. He figured he'd need to do some death squad shit so he took it.

Not everything need a silmarillion chapter.

SkekJay2025-12-29 23:27

You're right, but it does need a better pay off than wearing for half a minute then immediately taking it off

AntonChigurh89332025-12-30 02:24

"Why the mask?"

"To hide my face. Good chat"

https://youtube.com/shorts/FeKp0a1EOpU?si=6dCLlYT2w_h7LVtO

DrKojiKabuto2025-12-30 02:09

Chad

Antrikshy2025-12-30 07:50

Based

PeterTingle6162025-12-29 17:49

[deleted]

SkekJay2025-12-29 18:36

Heinrich (Helmut's father) was the Nazi, not even really Hydra, just plain old Nazi, and Helmut was raised with Nazi ideals but has since denounced them, specifically in the Zemo Born Better mini series which sees Zemo Time Slip through his ancestory and find out what history got right, ans what it got wrong. In the final part he talks to his father and out right denounces Nazi ideals. Check it out it's a good read

PeterTingle6162025-12-29 18:42

[deleted]

SkekJay2025-12-29 18:53

No problem, I read it over a couple days and it just like four issues so it's not exactly a big time sink

Mizerous2025-12-29 18:57

Actually in One World Under Doom Zemo is back to being a Nazi supporter

SkekJay2025-12-29 19:17

Well shit, there goes all that character development in the 2000s.

Careless_Royal82092025-12-29 17:59

Daniel Bruhl as Baron Zemo is top 10 casting, but the character is nothing like in the source material! He's a Nazi who killed Bucky (until the Winter Soldier retcon) who created the Masters of Evil! Helmut Zemo wants revenge on Cap for his father's death, and is a neo-Nazi who reforms the Masters. This guy is sympathetic because his family was innocent and were killed by Iron-Man's hubris! Also the MCU fucked up Ultron, too!

SkekJay2025-12-29 18:34

Helmut hasn't been a Nazi in the comics since the 2000s, source is the Zemo Born Better mini series where he Time Slips through his ancestors and comes to despise his Father's Nazi ideals. It also has him wearing his mask without the crown aspects and is much more MCU looking.

Tof123452025-12-29 18:19

Really disliked his character. Had zero aura and was just annoying.

MX24192025-12-29 19:51

That's my issue with him as well. He definitely has the speech etiquette of how Zemo presents himself to others but for him to be a war veteran or special ops training and he doesn't show it? It was disappointing. This is where at times I'm frustrated with the MCU. They'll have the character by name but won't show his or her feats besides maybe one or two things they can do. I like Bruhl as Zemo but they need to do more with his character outside of just being clever and one step ahead of everyone. I know Bruhl is older but they can have a stunt double do his fight scenes. Show off his sword skills.

SkekJay2025-12-29 21:30

I was thinking the same with the doubles, but they had the mask! That's the perfect way to get away with doubles without having to be careful with camera angles or framing. That's like an entire reason to do the mask, and all you have to do is get a double who has a vaguely similar head shape to Brühl and you'd be sorted

MX24192025-12-30 00:31

Yup I agree with you. Simple solution.

SkekJay2025-12-30 00:35

Someone must really be overcomplicating this at Marvel

Crazy_Mann2025-12-29 20:44

He had a gun, he used a gun

Coilspun2025-12-29 20:56

It's not necessary for the narrative, so, no.

ZekeLeap2025-12-29 23:12

I think his “stronger man than me have tried” line sums it up.

SkekJay2025-12-29 23:32

It works for Civil War where he'd be going up against some of the strongest heroes at that time, but in FATWS where for half of the time he's up against regular ass humans with barely any training

atomcrafter2025-12-30 06:16

He's also along for the ride on someone else's mission.

SkekJay2025-12-30 09:38

True, but so was Sharon

Afraid-Housing-68542025-12-29 23:30

Yeah, but Zemo is one of my favorite villains because of how sinister he is, and what he was able to accomplish.

chrisarrant2025-12-30 01:11

It feels like they didn't want to make Zemo a physical threat to the heroes, but instead a tactician. His SSS 100% success rate could be due to not hand-to-hand combat, but more tactical missions.

SkekJay2025-12-30 01:45

Fair, but then they show that he is somewhat capable in combat a few times so it's like they half committed

Skreamie2025-12-30 01:56

Would be sick to see him bust out some CQC rather than the superhero or Kung Fu style

XComThrowawayAcct2025-12-30 02:45

Y’know, there are times when I wonder why Marvel keeps making sloppy CGI-laden fight-fests. Then I come to Reddit.

Armandonerd2025-12-30 04:33

I actually wanted him to be in Thunderbolts. Missed opportunity.

SkekJay2025-12-30 09:40

He was planned to be, he was meant to be the master manipulator but he didn't fit the story since he'd be in prison.

Heisenburgo2025-12-30 04:59

in Okoye's voice: "Why wasn't he in Thunderbolts this whole time?"

CaptHayfever2025-12-30 05:21

He won in Civil War because he *avoided* the fight scenes.

semperknight2025-12-30 06:20

This dude single handily split the most powerful superheros on Earth apart.

Bludhavens_Best2025-12-30 06:28

Yeah that version of Zeno couldn’t run ones with anyone

CadeCoquin2025-12-30 06:40

I actually like that he was a purely cerebral, manipulative villain. Him and Thanos are the only opponents to have beaten the Avengers so far, which goes to show how good he was at fighting without "fighting".

AsherthonX2025-12-30 06:48

Zemo was the best part of that show.

Also he’s a intellectual villain in the MCU not a brawler

Anonymous-Muse2025-12-31 05:18

If they ever bring him back in the future he needs to be an antagonist of a phase along with Screaming Mimi, Beetle, Fixer, Moonstone, and the rest of the Thunderbolts.

usmannaeem2025-12-31 16:53

Most annoying villain in the cinematic universe, my personal opinion. Glad he did not.

Matthewcts_2026-01-02 01:19

I think it was more weird he ended up being some weird super villain who wears a mask and has a quirky personality