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Captain America: The Winter Soldier introduces an intangible and dangerous enemy. However, the flaws surrounding it limit its effectiveness.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier introduced a modern learning curve for both Steve Rogers and its audience. The film is the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that a threat is presented that can’t be defeated with a punch — while the Winter Soldier was still there to provide a physical threat, the true enemy was Hydra and an algorithm that put the entire world at risk. However, upon further examination, the algorithm used by Hydra was as flawed as it was deadly.
When Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff were declared fugitives by S.H.I.E.L.D., the duo went into hiding and did their own digging. And what they uncovered was the remains of Hydra scientist Arnim Zola. But rather than find a man well past 100 years old, they found a computer that housed his consciousness. Through him, Hydra developed an algorithm that could target anyone it perceived to be a threat and kill them almost instantly. Moreover, this plan worked in conjunction with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s brand-new, fully armed helicarriers, being able to eliminate targets from miles in the sky.
After interrogating Jasper Sitwell, Steve, Nat and Sam Wilson also learn that some of the people included in the algorithm are Stephen Strange and Bruce Banner. But at this point, Strange was still a surgeon, making his mention nothing more than an Easter egg. And to make matters more confusing, when the algorithm was activated, Tony Stark, Steve and Maria Hill were all a part of the list, but they were joined by mostly random names. That means that MCU mainstays like Natasha, James Rhodes, Erik Selvig and Sam weren’t mentioned or even considered threats.
And that’s not even diving into other prominent figures who had yet to appear, such as Hank Pym and T’Challa. Granted, the King of Wakanda doesn’t live in America, but both he and Hank proved early in their lives that they would be a potential threat to Hydra. With T’Challa’s royal influence and the knowledge Hank has, those two should have been on the list. Sure, their omissions likely had to do with the fact that the stories for their respective films were still being ironed out, but in-universe, it’s still a gross oversight on Hydra’s part.
The logical reason why other heavy-hitters like Thor and Loki are not mentioned is the lack of a paper trail. As Gods, the two never had to worry about some of the listed examples like bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails and phone calls. Effectively, that makes them invisible to Zola’s algorithm, but in that factor lies the inherent flaw since Thor is an Avenger and helped in the dismantling of Hydra in Avengers: Age of Ultron. While it is only a computer and solves what it’s given, it’s shocking that Alexander Pierce or another high-ranking Hydra member didn’t purposefully or inadvertently add these names.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a fantastic way for the MCU to ground itself after the massive events of the first Avengers film. And as a result, its threat presented focused more on future enemies than a present-day global or intergalactic threat. But while the intellectual threat of Zola’s algorithm was a great way to unite the world’s leaders against a common threat, that does not discount that deeper examination reveals Hydra’s plan wasn’t as airtight as initially believed.
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