WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Falcon & Winter Soldier #5 by Derek Landy, Federico Vicentini, Matt Milla, & VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
Falcon and Winter Soldier have faced off against Hydra countless times, both as themselves and under the Captain America cowl. Usually, the story goes something like a megalomaniac is trying for world domination, bringing in a "foreign threat" that the heroes must defeat. In the Falcon & Winter Soldier series, the duo found that someone in Hydra's ranks was trying to change tactics for the organization including recruiting a very different kind of agent in the Natural.
The series has Falcon and Winter Soldier running into each other while both searching for the perpetrator of several murders. After the pair spoke with Baron Zemo, they found out there was an internal power struggle going on in Hydra and that the emerging leader has a new method of recruitment.
Throughout the story, the heroes found themselves in places that were rife with unassuming Hydra agents who tried to kill them. It was as if Hydra had sleeper agents hiding in every building or waiting on street corners for them. However, it was not until they visited the home of the Natural that they realize the depths of Hydra's American infiltration. The Natural, a teenage boy, was an exemplary fighter. With no superhuman abilities, he was still able to defeat Sam and Bucky on their first face off. Both seasoned warriors were thrown off by the kid's moves. When they arrived at the Natural's home, they found his parents greeting them with open arms because they were Captain America fanatics and had raised their son to be one as well.
After Sam and Bucky find the Natural, they saw how young and innocent he looked. They asked him how someone who loved Captain America to the point of obsession could kill and work for Hydra? In a nod to the real world underhanded methods of recruiting new members to the Alt-Right, the Natural said that Hydra was different now. He went on to say that "once you get to know them Hydra is pretty cool" and "they like all the same shows I like and watch all the same Youtubers." Hydra even manufactured a knock off Captain America shield for him. The Natural was under the belief that an organization whose core values stem from elitism and supremacy could change and be "cool" all of a sudden. What Hydra did was made a kid feel like he was understood by a community and convinced him their work was honorable. Hydra used his love of Captain America to twist him into believing Americans were the best and truest people in the world. The Natural believes that America is unequivocally the best and has to destroy anyone who opposes America, "just like Cap."
Sam and Bucky have been friends with the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, for a very long time and found the Natural's view of the man skewed. Bucky pointed out that Steve's parents were Irish immigrants while Sam mentioned that the scientist who "made" Captain America was a Jewish-German immigrant. Sam summed it up the best, saying that Steve Rogers represents America so well because he is not exceptional, he is just the result of America's melting pot. The differences in ideas and cultures are what makes America special.
The Natural seemed disappointed with what the heroes told him. It undermined the subversive messages Hydra had been feeding him through causal interactions that bolstered his patriotic view. This almost subliminal way of brainwashing people, by playing to their hubris, is Hydra's way to vastly infiltrate America with agents that no one would suspect.