There have been a couple of different versions of Baron Zemo in the comic books. The first was around during WWII, with his son later taking over the mantle. The one thing they have in common is that they both wore a distinctive purple mask to cover up their scarred faces (the original Zemo’s mask was stuck to his face following a battle with Captain America).
The present day Zemo meanwhile actually started up the Thunderbolts, a group of villains masquerading as heroes who ultimately ended up becoming good guys. The point is, there’s an awful lot of material Marvel Studios can turn to for the character’s big screen debut in Captain America: Civil War, and as a result, he’s something of a mystery as of right now.
However, one thing we do know is that Daniel Bruhl’s take on Zemo won’t include the mask!
In a recent interview the actor confirmed that, “He does not wear the mask,” adding that his take on Zemo in Captain America: Civil War will be “different than what you’d think” and is only “loosely connected” to the version fans know from the source material. “That’s what I like about the Marvel guys. “Some of the characters and things they’re dealing with always reference to current events so my character is from a different area than you would think.”
It’s understandable that Marvel are going to modernise Zemo for this movie, but there’s of course nothing to say that he can’t return further down the line to square off against Captain America (while wearing that purple mask). “There’s a possibility,” Bruhl said when asked about the possibility of returing in the MCU down the line. “That’s the way it’s written…”
