Spoilers for all stories in the Marvel Cinematic Fanfiction Universe are unmarked. Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home are marked.
Schmidt: "Alexander Pierce was the head of HYDRA after my... Disappearance. He did excellent work, but that head has been cut off."
Zola: "And two more shall take his place"
— Johann Schmidt and Arnim Zola, Sam Wilson: Captain America
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In General
- Back from the Brink: As their creed implies, Hydra keeps cropping up over and over again.
- Took a Level in Badass: Thanks to Zola's decades of planning and Schmidt's new perspective from his time as the keeper of the Soul Stone, Hydra stands ready to sow more seeds of chaos around the world rather that be an all our army or an organization of moles.
Members
Heads of Hydra
Johann Schmidt / The Red Skull / Stonekeeper
For the canon tropes regarding Schmidt, see MCU: Johann Schmidt.
Birth Name: Johann Schmidt
Known Aliases: RedSkull, Stonekeeper
Species: Enhanced human
Citizenship: German (Formerly)
Original Reality: Earth-62338
Affiliation(s): Hydra
Portrayed By: Ross Marquand
Appearances: Avengers: Endgame (Dragonis Prime), Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, Sam Wilson: Captain America
"Look at us, Doctor Zola. Almost a century later, and we finally have our deepest desires. I wished to wield the powers of the gods, and I have been changed by the might of the Infinity Stones. You wished to create the perfect meld of man and machine, and you stand as a being of technological superiority."
— Johann Schmidt, Sam Wilson: Captain America
The founder of Hydra and oldest enemy of Captain America, Johann Schmidt sought the power of the gods in the form of the Tesseract. Punished for his evil intentions, he was sent to Vormir to serve as the Stonekeeper for the Soul Stone. However, due to the destruction of the original Soul Stone by Thanos and the replacement Soul Stone finding a home in Adam Warlock, Red Skull was set free, able to seek vengeance against the world that wronged him.
- Big Bad: The true big bad of Sam Wilson: Captain America. He spends the first portion of the story as the focus of Apocalypse's plans, and the second is kicked off by his assassination of the US Vice President.
- Came Back Strong: He returns to Earth with the mystical powers he always wished for, able to override Quentin Beck's magic and disrupt Mystique's shapeshifting.
- The Chessmaster: He uses his powers to force Mystique to take on his form, allowing him to escape to rebuild Hydra.
- Cool Sword: His is seemingly made to channel whatever energy he absorbed from the Soul Stone.
- Escaped from Hell: Vormir is essentially this for Schmidt as a place of endless torment. Until the Soul Stone is destroyed and he is no longer bound there, that is.
- Offscreen Villainy: He is behind the Elementals that Quentin and Peter fight.
- Older and Wiser: Schmidt's time on Vormir has given him perspective that Alexander Pierce's methods of weaponizing fear are more more effective than all out war.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Skull seems to have grown fond of these, bailing out of situations that brought him into conflict with the Avengers both in Prague and in Washington DC.
- Villainous Friendship: He resurrects Zola in the way he so desperately wished to be, and calls Zola a fellow head of a new Hydra.
Dr. Arnim Zola
For the canon tropes regarding Zola, see his section in MCU Hydra Leadership.
Birth Name: Arnim Zola
Known Aliases: None
Species: Human (Formerly), Artificial Intelligence
Citizenship: German (Formerly)
Original Reality: Earth-62338
Affiliation(s): Hydra
Portrayed By: Toby Jones
Appearances: Sam Wilson: Captain America
"What is our first course of action, Herr Schmidt?"
— Arnim Zola, Sam Wilson: Captain America
Hydra's lead scientist and the right hand man of Johann Schmidt during World War II, Arnim Zola was diagnosed with a terminal disease. In desperation, he uploaded his mind to a computer network in order to further his work for Hydra. Despite his apparent destruction during the Insight Crisis, he managed to survive until he was rediscovered by Johann Schmidt.
- Adaptational Badass: Trapped in a computer in the MCU, he is given a robotic body in the MCFFU.
- Brain Uploading: He was first uploaded to a computer, and then to a robotic body.
- The Dragon: To Red Skull.
- Mythology Gag: Zola's robotic body is not only an homage to the comics, but to this
piece of concept art from Ant-Man. - Spared by the Adaptation: Zola is retconned to have survived the destruction of Camp Lehigh.
- Villainous Friendship: Zola respectfully calls Red Skull "Herr Schmidt" and rejoins his old leader once again.
Operatives
Yelena Belova
For the canon tropes regarding Belova, see her section in MCU: Avengers – Allies.
Birth Name: Yelena Belova
Known Aliases: Black Widow
Species: Human
Citizenship: Russian
Original Reality: Earth-62338
Affiliation(s): Hydra
Portrayed By: Florence Pugh
Appearances: Sam Wilson: Captain America
"I know her. Yelena Belova. She's a Widow, like Natalia. And I trained her for HYDRA."
— Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson: Captain America
A Black Widow and Hydra operative trained by the Winter Soldier.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: As with all Black Widows, it's an Animal Alias.
- Assassination Attempt: She tries to kill the President of the United States, but only manages to kill the Vice President.
- Code Name: On of multiple people to go by "Black Widow".
- Cold Sniper: Trained by the Winter Soldier with all of his tricks, including his remarkable aim.
- Color Character: Black Widow.
- Murderous Thighs: Evidently a standard piece of Black Widow training is thigh chokes.
- Spy Catsuit: Naturally.
Ashley Olivier / Longbow
Birth Name: Ashley Olivier
Known Aliases: Longbow
Species: Human
Citizenship: Unknown
Original Reality: Earth-62338
Affiliation(s): Hydra
Portrayed By: Indiana Evans
Appearances: Sam Wilson: Captain America
"The name's Longbow."
— Ashley Olivier, Sam Wilson: Captain America
An archer trained for Hydra by Taskmaster.
- Expy: Of Bowman, a member of the Hydra Four in the Marvel comics. Both are Hydra archers.
- Homage: Her surname, Olivier, is the French form of Oliver, the name of DC Comics archer Oliver Queen.
- The Straight and Arrow Path: Wields a bow in combat.
"Hail Hydra."
— Yelena Belova, Sam Wilson: Captain America
