And it's worth noting they're lying about this. Marvel has recently started just... straight up lying to people about developments like this. In the past they'd use clever language or just be silent. But during Superior Spider-Man, they trotted out Dan Slott to swear blind that this was the new status quo and there would be no reversion at the same time he was breaking scripts about Peter's comeback.

(Sidebar: I liked Superior Spider-Man. It would have been very bad as the new status quo but since it wasn't, it was very good.)

So yeah, there's gonna be some bullshit retcon on this. I... I try and be patient with stories of this sort, because sometimes they end up being really good, but it is a bad idea for all the reasons Ben and others have said. This idea barely worked a decade ago when they played the "SHIELD is actually part of Hydra" card, because SHIELD, lets face it, has always been sinister as fuck, but even that didn't work if you squinted hard at it (why has Hydra been letting Nick Fury kick their asses for a half-century if they're actually his bosses?) and trying to extend that to Cap is an utter shitshow. The man can lift Mjolnir, for god's sake.

Right now the smart money is that Red Skull is hiding in his head, again, but still.

I would like to point out that blaming Marvel's writers for this may not be entirely fair. Yes, their names are the ones on the comics... but Marvel is exercising tighter-than-ever control over their core properties these days, and refusing an editorial directive from them is a great way to never work for them ever again, especially if you aren't a big name.

It's not for nothing that their biggest creative successes lately, at least in my view, are in peripheral properties where the creative teams aren't in handcuffs because they aren't working on tentpole franchises being run by idiots. Squirrel Girl. The new Patsy Walker book, which is written by Kate Leth and is 100% pure love. Ms. Marvel. Gwenpool. Radioactive Spider-Gwen, which is a book that dared to just say "fuck it, we're giving her a handheld dimensional teleporter so she can be mentored by Jessica Drew."

(Somehow, All-New Avengers is managing to also be great, but I'm waiting for them to fuck it up.)

So I'm trying not to be too hard on Nick Spenser, who does have bills to pay.

-Merc
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