Despite being loyal to Hydra, it's clear Steve Rogers has some differences with the organisation's supreme leader, the Red Skull. Well, in Captain America: Steve Rogers #15 today, the villain - who no longer has Professor X's psychic powers following a recent Uncanny Avengers story arc - met his maker at the hands of the traitorous Avenger as we finally learned the secret history between the two.
We've known for a while now that the Skull used a Cosmic Cube to rewrite Steve's life to his liking, but the series has slowly been revealing Cap's new history as he remembers it. Steve actually wanted to take down the Skull during World War II alongside Hydra but was stopped when the villain captured Helmut Zemo, Steve's best friend, and forced him to join his cause.
Back in the present day, Steve is finally able to make his move, overthrowing the Skull so Hydra can finally be its own organisation again, this time under the leadership of Captain America. Finally making his move on the villain, the Skull desperately tries to explain that Cap's mind has been altered to believe in a fake history and that his old self would never kill in cold blood, but it's too little too late as the new Hydra leader brutally murders the Skull as Crossbones and Sin watch on.
So, with that, the stage has been set for Secret Empire #0. The one man who could potentially change Steve back to his old self is dead and Captain America is now assembling a group of villains to take over the Marvel Universe! What do you guys think of this latest development?