The last time we saw Zemo, he'd managed to tear the Avengers in two and was being kept in a prison cell. A lot of time has passed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Captain America: Civil War was released in 2016, and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier star Daniel Brühl has shared some insight into what the villain has been up to since his capture.
"He's had a lot of time in that prison cell to read a lot, to think a lot," the actor tells Entertainment Weekly. "So, you can be sure that he's up to no good."
Brühl went on to reveal that Malcolm Spellman, the showrunner of the Disney+ series, actually flew to Canada while he was shooting The Alienist in 2019 with a mysterious suitcase containing Zemo's classic mask.
"That was a very special, exciting moment for me. We would see Zemo now finally in that iconic outfit." Brühl added that the inclusion of the mask changed his performance in the series, teasing the character's "aristocratic background" and admitting he "felt like I'm a baron."
As for what Zemo has planned in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, it sounds like he's very much on a mission to bring an end to superheroes given what happened to his family in Sokovia.
"It is true that Zemo in the past, and possibly also in the present, is strictly against super-soldiers, because he has seen the danger that this can cause. That is why he has lost his whole family in the Sokovian war. This is something that bothers Zemo and makes him think a lot."
So, it definitely sounds like we're in store for something special with Zemo in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and the stage will hopefully be set for the villain to be a recurring threat in the MCU.
After all, the Thunderbolts do need a leader...