SPOILER WARNING: This article contains spoilers for "Captain America: Steve Rogers" #11, which is on sale now.


Believing Steve to be a friend and ally, Dr. Erskine invites the young man over to his house for a quiet night of dinner and listening to records. What Dr. Erskine doesn't know is that Steve has been sent by Hydra to kill him -- and he brought a gun. As Abraham prepares dinner, Steve prepares to pull the trigger.

Captain America: Steve Rogers #11
"Captain America: Steve Rogers" #11 interior art by Jesus Saiz

Dr. Erskine can sense that Steve doesn't want to pull the trigger, though; it's written across his cowering face. This young Steve may be a Hydra agent, but he isn't mentally ready to murder a kind man like Dr. Erskine.

"I have to do this," Steve says. "These are my orders -- I have to do this."

Dr. Erskine tells Steve that there is good in him, and that's why he was chosen to be the recipient of the Super-Soldier serum. "You are many things -- but you are not a killer," says Erskine. "Find the part inside yourself that knows this is wrong -- this is not what you were meant to do, Steve."

Steve briefly -- one panel -- flashes back to the death of his mother. His mother tried to defy Hydra and run away with Steve, to get him away from the organization's influence. It didn't work, though, and Hydra tracked her down, killed her, and took Steve. When Erskine tells Steve this isn't what he was meant to do, Steve realizes that even if that's true, it's what he has to do. He can't escape Hydra. He closes his eyes, prepares to fire -- and a gunshot rings out.

But it's not from Steve's gun.

Instead, Helmut Zemo arrived at Erskine's place during the confrontation and pulled his trigger. Steve, stuttering, says he couldn't kill Erskine. Zemo tells Steve that as far as Hydra is concerned, he did. Zemo then asks where Erskine keeps his notes on the Super-Soldier serum, and Steve tells him that it's all in his head; Abraham didn't keep notes. Fortunately for Hydra, Zemo came prepared with a device capable of stealing secrets from Erskine's dying mind.

Captain America: Steve Rogers #11
"Captain America: Steve Rogers" #11 interior art by Jesus Saiz

With the secrets stolen, Steve wants to go back to Hydra with Zemo. That's not what Hydra wants to happen, though. "You have been chosen to be their Super-Soldier, Steven," says Zemo. "Events will proceed in that direction." Steve wonders how Project Rebirth can continue without Dr. Erskine, and Zemo tells him that the Allies have captured a Hydra scientist that will be able to carry out the procedure -- Arnim Zola.

Captain America: Steve Rogers #11
"Captain America: Steve Rogers" #11 interior art by Jesus Saiz

If the name Arnim Zola sounds familiar, that's because he's one of Captain America's most notorious foes. Originally a Nazi biochemist, Arnim Zola survived into the modern day because he transferred his brain into a giant purple and orange robot, one with a massive monitor on its chest that projected Zola's likeness. Just like with Baron Zemo, the Cosmic Cube has altered Steve Rogers' past and turned one of Captain America's greatest enemies into an ally.

The issue ends as it began, in 1940 at Project Rebirth. Steve stands, ready to receive the Super-Soldier serum, and that's where Arnim Zola enters and tells Steve that he's about to become "Hydra's greatest spy" -- although Steve doesn't exactly look thrilled with the new gig. You can see the worry on his face, similar to the worry he felt when he tried to kill Dr. Erskine.

We now know that in Steve Rogers' altered mind, Hydra is responsible for every formative event in his life. Not only did they recruit his mother and later whisk him away to school, where they essentially raised him. Hydra has also taken credit for Steve's transformation into Steve Rogers. Hydra's control over Rogers is total. We also know now that Steve has been operating as a Hydra spy within the U.S. government even before his transformation into Cap.

Now that we've seen how Steve remembers the defining moment of his origin, it'll be interesting to see how much further into Cap's origin "Steve Rogers" will go. Will we see Hydra Cap's World War II missions? Will we see his final mission as Captain America in World War II, a mission wherein Steve's partner Bucky was killed by the father of Steve's "best friend," Zemo? And will we get to see this version of Steve join the Avengers, or did Hydra play a part in Steve's memory of his rescue from his icy grave?

This storyline is now rocketing towards its next phase, which arrives this spring in Marvel's massive "Secret Empire" storyline. That story will see Steve's secret as a Hydra agent outed to the world as his plans reach their final stage. "Captain America: Steve Rogers" #12 arrives in stores on February 22.