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This article originally ran in June 2017.
In an age of superhero movies and TV anti-heroes, fictional villains are more complex than ever before.
This week, Vulture examines villainous entertainment in all its forms.
Superman debuted inAction ComicsNo.
1 in 1938, and Im willing to bet that before No.
Watch as Batmanthreatensto kill Robin and Superboy!
Tremble as Green Lanterntransformsinto a mass-murdering jerk!
Duck and cover, everybody Spider-Manstryingto take over the world!
Of course, sooner or later, the virtuous status quo is restored.
Two words began the whole melee: Hail Hydra.
At the end of last yearsCaptain America: Steve RogersNo.
It was a surprise, though not exactly an original one.
You could be forgiven for thinking this cliffhanger was a little boilerplate.
Or you could think it was downright offensive.
If it wasnt actually broken, it was certainly shaken.
Prior tolaffaireHydraCap, Spencer was regarded as one of the industrys rising stars.
Spencer departed Cincinnati altogether and tried his luck at the funny books.
His work caught fire, especially a long-running drama about a mysterious boarding school calledMorning Glories.
It was hardly surprising, then, that Marvel would choose him as their next golden boy.
He was given the writing reins of the Captain America franchise after the departure of Rick Remender in 2015.
Then came that shocking page with those two little words.
This world is in dire need ofsaving, Cap tells a fellow Hydra agent in aSteve Rogersissue.
I wonder if things are too far gone.
But this is a war we have towin.
… ThetrueHydra isnt a collection of marauding thugs, preachingblind hatredandintolerance.
It isnt conquest for conquests sake.
So what is it?
For a cause much greater than ourselves.
That is mankinds destiny.
Clubs comics expert Oliver Sava whenSecret Empirebegan.
#Marvel has no dignity.
They took the one group wiped out by the Nazis and turned them into Nazis.
#shameonmarvel,wroteTwitter user @lastalas, echoing a common sentiment.
The house of #hydracap is having a field day exploiting the deaths of millions for publicity.
Anavalancheof antiNick Spencer tweets came tumbling down:
.
@nickspenceryou made Captain America a Nazi, and now you’re mad that a Nazi got punched.
Are you just actually a Nazi?
Yo@Marvel@nickspencerthinks punching Nazis is bad.
Might want to take him off Captain America.
Spencer responded, and the threads only got longer:
Then he can be tried and jailed for that.
@nickspencerpic.twitter.com/mDrrIzlhTH
happy free comic book day!!
Time and again, Spencer didnt hesitate to say his critics just didnt know what they were talking about.
It’s a straight line.
I think you’re pretending to speak for a lot more people than you are here.
And for the millionth time, Steve is not a Nazi.
That said, Spencers employers at Marvel have been nothing but supportive of Spencer the whole way through.
There seems to be little corporate inclination to apologize to, much less side with, the detractors.
Flash-forward to today, and youll find a very different set of attitudes toward the character.
When #HydraCap came, people were furious that someone they cared about so much had been distorted.
He was a professional, a soldier, and a father figure.
But Evans made him into a delightful and compassionately charming teddy bear.
All of a sudden, not only was Captain Americagood, he was alsonice.
He was easy to fall passionately in love with.
He was also suddenly really, really popular.
These are new fans, often brought into comics buyer-dom by their insatiable hunger for more Steve Rogers.
And what do they find when they pick up a comic about their beloved Steve?
A story in which hes a fascist asshole.
Thats not to say the story isnt interesting.
But the main people to watch here arent the critics, or even Spencer its Marvels leadership.
