TFATWS: Dr. Nagel’s Link To The Secret Captain America

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s third episode has introduced a new character. The episode is called Power Broker and it reveals the scientist who is behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest batch of super soldiers.

When it comes to Marvel Comics, Dr. Wilfred Nagel has a very important connection to Isaiah Bradley. He was the secret Captain America who fought Hydra in the 1940s and ‘50s and was rewarded for his service with 30 years in prison. His name has also been erased from the history books.

Bucky and Sam had visited Isaiah in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 2, The Star-Spangled Man. He told them that during his time in jail, he had been subjected to medical experiments and samples of his blood were taken. The following episode had Sam and Bucky teaming up with Baron Zemo, who was the cause of Iron Man and Captain America’s Civil War.

The trio track down Dr. Nagel who is revealed to be employed by HYDRA to reverse-engineer a new super-soldier serum. For this process, there was the need for a blood sample that was taken from an American test subject. That blood had traces of the serum obviously which led him to re-create the serum. But the main assumption is that the blood could be of Isaiah.

The characters of Isaiah Bradley and Dr. Nagel first appeared in the miniseries of Marvel Comics Truth: Red, White and Black. This was written by Robert Morales and Kyle Baker. When Sam, Bucky, and Zemo track down Dr. Nagel, he was hidden in a laboratory on the island of Madripoor.

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The Link Between Isaiah And Dr. Nagel

He reveals that he was working on HYDRA’s Winter Soldier program. The organization was attempting to perfect the super-soldier serum after their test subjects were proven unstable. They had to be put in ice in Siberia. But they were all killed by Zemo in Avengers: Civil War. Dr. Nagel’s work was stopped after HYDRA fell during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. However, he was again recruited by the CIA to work on their own super soldier project.

Dr. Nagel’s research was halted again as he turned to dust during the Blip. He returned, but five years later and the CIA’s super soldier project also ceased to exist. Dr. Nagel then began working for the Power Broker who is a mysterious crime boss and has not been introduced so far. He holds power over Madripoor after which Dr. Nagel could finish his work in creating a more refined super-soldier serum.

The serum gave people strength, agility, and durability just like Captain America without the side effect of changing their physical appearance. This is why Karli Morgenthau and the other people of Flag Smashers don’t look like super soldiers at first glance. The episode revealed that the Flag Smashers have stolen 20 vials of the super-soldier serum. He was working on creating more when the trio found him.

The MCU’s version of Dr. Nagel did not include him experimenting on Isaiah by giving him the Super-soldier serum. So far The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has suggested that the scientist has experimented using blood samples taken from Isaiah. However, there is also a possibility that the sample was taken from another test subject. Bucky and Steve can also be suspects in this case. But if so, that would just degrade the storyline a bit from what the series has been telling so far.

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