Captain America’s secret weapon revealed at the halfway point of the SECRET EMPIRE epic. Steve Rogers is about to unleash his biggest big gun but the Underground may have gained an ally who could crack the walls of Hydra wide open.
Each chapter has ended with a powerhouse moment but issue five will leave fans scratching the heads, cheering and thrilled for what’s next in the war against Hydra.
A dead hero makes a shocking resurrection but how?
Before we break down the big moments and questions here’s a SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not read SECRET EMPIRE #5 yet stop reading now.
Seriously.
OK.
Here it comes.
I’m still in mourning after a hero fell in CIVIL WAR II. Maybe you read my eulogy.
While a Hydra armada locates and blasts the Underground headquarters, Steve Rogers enters a massive vault with a man sitting at a simple desk.
BRUCE BANNER!
Banner sits at a desk and seems to be surprised to see Steve. An ominous image of an angry Hulk in the shadows looms over Banner.
Steve addresses his “old friend.”
What is going on here?
You may recall Bruce Banner was MIA after SECRET WARS and Amadeus Cho was the Totally Amazing Hulk. During CIVIL WAR II we learned Banner ride himself of the gamma radiation. A vision of a rampaging Hulk killing the Avengers led Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to Banner’s secret lab where a cured Banner was experimenting…with gamma radiation.
Confronted by his old friends, Banner appeared to get angry then was shot and killed…by an arrow from Hawkeye. IN flashback we learned Banner went to Clint Barton with a special arrow and a plea to kill him if the threat of the Hulk’s return ever appeared. Hawkeye was acquitted. Banner was dead.
How is Banner alive? What does he remember? What does he know about the state of the world – a world controlled by Hydra with Rogers in command?
Will Hydra Cap be able to unleash the Hulk as his ultimate weapon of mass destruction to wipe out the heroes of Underground forces?
Will Banner/Hulk seek out Hawkeye for revenge (HULK SMASH HAWKEYE!)?
Will Banner’s SECRET EMPIRE comeback tie into his appearance in GENERATIONS and team up with Amadeus Cho?
Captain America may have a powerhouse super-weapon in the Hulk.
The Black Widow may have something even stronger but not in terms of sheer power. Natasha may secured a traitor. Black Widow appears to have leverage on Viper. To save herself and keep her covert schemes secret, will Viper slither over to the Underground?
Nick Spencer gives readers more shockers.
Ironheart and Falcon invade a Hydra installation on Black Widow’s orders to find a man “who would win us the war.”
An old man in a oxygen mask pleads for help. Is this the real Steve Rogers? Kokik transformed an aged Rogers back into a youthful, super powered Captain America again but with a rewritten past as a Hydra operative. Did Kobik pull a Phoenix Force? In X-Men retcon history the entity placed Jean Grey in a cocoon and took her form as the Phoenix. Did Kobik hide the original Steve away and create his Hydra copy? Did Kobik create this aged Rogers as a copy?
A non-costumed other Steve Rogers (or is his the real Steve?) has been traveling in this dreamlike forest on a quest for his identity. Steve was joined in his dreamscape by what appeared two companions. At first I thought they were Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. Now I wonder if they are Bruce Banner and James Rhodes – both recently deceased in CIVIL WAR II? The trio talked, hunted, bonded over a campfire until the dream became a nightmare. Wilson and Barnes were attacked by a mystery assailant claiming to be his “salvation” and we turn the page to see…the RED SKULL who is “going to free you from his place Herr Rogers.”
There are cracks in the Hydra shield. They say it’s always darkest but we’re still halfway through. Old friends, possible traitors and the mystery of the Steves could lead to a bitter victory for the Underground.
By Editor