Arnim Zola (Marvel Cinematic Universe)



Arnim Zola is an enemy of Captain America in Marvel comics.

Zola was a Swiss genetic scientist who sought to create a master race of beings. As such, he supported the Nazi party during World War II, and worked for Adolf Hitler, the Red Skull, and Baron Zemo. Zola created a process in which a person could clone themselves and transfer their mind into either the clone or a robotic body, making them virtually immortal. Zola did this to himself, and transfered his mind into an ESP box in a robot form, his human face a 3 dimensional projection on a screen.

He was also responsible for the creation of Hate-Monger, a superpowered clone of Hitler.

Captain America: The First Avenger
Arnim Zola appears as the secondary antagonist in the film Captain America: The First Avenger, portrayed by Toby Jones. Zola is a Nazi scientist who works with the Red Skull to harness the Cosmic Cube's power (known in the film as the Tesseract). When HYDRA was organized he became his second in command and personal scientist. After HYDRA forces found the Cube, Schmidt asked Zola if he could study its power, and he accidentally discovered how to transform its energy into advanced laser ammunitions. He designed advanced weapons for HYDRA when they became separated from Nazi Germany and was valued enough by the Red Skull to help him escape by giving the scientist access to his personal automobile when Captain America raided the base, thus enabling Zola to also deliver it to safety in the process. He later staged an ambush for Captain America and the Howling Commandos onboard a train, in which Bucky lost his life, but was eventually captured and interrogated by Chester Phillips, Phillips noting that his lack of the cyanide pills normally used by HYDRA agents to prevent capture suggested that he did not want to die personally. In exchange for sanctuary after Phillips sent a fake letter confirming that he had provided the Allies with information, Zola told them everything he knew about HYDRA and revealed that Red Skull's plans were of world domination.

Captain America: Super Soldier
Arnim Zola is one of the main villains in the video game; Captain America: Super Soldier, which takes place during Captain America's time in WWII, fighting the armies of HYDRA. Throughout most of the game, Arnim is seen as a human. But around the middle of the game; Zola acquired a robot body. He told Captain America that he transfered his mind into a robot body to be immortal. Captain America fights Zola around four times in the game, and everytime, Captain America fight Zola in his robot body. At the end of the game, after Captain America defeated the Sleeper, it turns out that Zola didn't transfer his mind into a robot, but instead, he uses a video camera on his face placed it on the robot.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Zola returns in a minor, but important, role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where Captain America and Black Widow find him in an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. base and it is revealed that he uploaded his consciousness into a supercomputer before he died (sometime in the 70's.) Zola reveals that, when S.H.I.E.L.D was founded, he was recruited to work for them, but at the same time he rebuilt HYDRA within S.H.I.E.L.D and that they had been secretly been manipulating the world for many years to the point where humanity was willing to give up its freedom. He designed an algorithm to be implemented by the gunships designed by Project Insight that would wipe out several million people on planet Earth - the only ones that could do anything to stop HYDRA from establishing a "new world order". But before Rogers and Romanoff can get any more information out of Zola S.H.I.E.L.D. shows up and launches a missile strike at the base, destroying it and taking Zola with it.

It's also revealed that he was the mastermind behind Howard Stark's death, the man who was the father of Tony Stark.