It can be a bit more forward thinking that that. This will now get a second printing (and more) to meet the demand, and that always looks good in the press. The push to digital sales no doubt is also in mind. Moreover, now it's a mystery and the hope is people will hang around to see how it works out, so you get a few months of improved sales while the arc plays out. Will is work out that way. In this case I doubt it. Newer readership seems pissed off and older readership is counting ways they can get out of it. I'll take the longshot bet that they're fulling ripping off The Crossing (the story where Iron Man was revealed to be working for Kang all along) and they'll solve it by bringing in a younger uncorrupted Cap from the past to fight his evil older self. Yeah, it's depressing to think that even if they go through with this it's been done before.Overhead said:I don't think it's even that. There was no big press release beforehand, no conversations with retailers to order in extra issue (the way DC did with Rebirth, etc) because it was gonna generate controversy and sell extra issues, etc.CrazyGirl17 said:If they're doing this just to get people to read the comic... that's pretty despicable. Hopefully this will be one of those things that gets retconned away and forgotten. Goddamnit Marvel, what the hell?!
It just seems to be a basic "Good guy is manipulated and turned evil, good guy breaks free, good guy punches bad guy in face" storyline that social media went crazy with.
Red Skull turned Cap evil(ish) 2 years ago in Axis. 3 years before that in Captain America Rebirth Captain was brainwashed into fighting for Red Skull until he was freed by the actions of other heroes.
"Captain America is brainwashed or manipulated into thinking he's Hydra" isn't some radical new storyline that they are trying to use to draw in sales, it's a basic concept that they use a lot (and not just with Cap, but certainly with him too) that has people randomly flipping out this time for no real reason.
Crap, now I've caught the parallel. Cap kills Jack Flag, last seen during the post Annihilation run on Guardians of the Galaxy, to show us he's evil. Iron Man killed Rita DeMara (a female Yellowjacket) who had been a member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy to show us he's evil. Damnit Marvel. Don't let my insane theories be right.