A week ago, the third episode of Marvel’s hit new series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier — entitled “Power Broker” — premiered. To summarize, Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes (well, mostly Bucky) broke Daniel Brühl’s notorious Helmut Zemo out of prison to assist them with tracking down the source of the mysterious and concerning new Super Soldier serum that has powered up the Flag-Smashers.
We haven’t seen Brühl in the MCU since the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War, the events of which unfolded in such a way due to Zemo’s villainous scheme to enact revenge on the Avengers after the death of his family in Sokovia during Avengers: Age of Ultron. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier‘s expansion of character development doesn’t stop with our main characters, because the series has also begun to unfold more about the MCU’s version of Zemo (who has always been a departure from his comic counterpart). He also happens to be quite a rich Baron; his family was royalty before Sokovia was destroyed. Thus his global travels with Sam and Bucky took place on his private jet, and he donned what’s already become an absolutely iconic fur-collared jacket.
After narrowly dodging bounty hunters and bullets left and right, Zemo, Bucky, and Sam found a brief reprieve with Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter, who’s now living off the grid in Madripoor making a living selling stolen artwork after the events of Civil War. The three had to bide their time during a wild party that Sharon is throwing. However, the actual definition of biding time may or may not have … varied … between select parties.
As the party raged on and Bucky and Sam casually lingered, Zemo decided to go for a much more bold approach — letting loose on the dance floor. Though the clip of Brühl vibing to the beat was no more than a couple of seconds long, the internet has been losing its mind over it from the moment the episode aired. Brühl has spoken about the scene several times in interviews over the past week. In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, he confirmed that not only was Zemo’s dancing improvised, but the clip was longer, too. “I felt the beat and was like, Zemo has been sitting in a dodgy German prison cell for years. So, he needs to let off some steam and show his moves. Let’s go for it!” Once fans learned that there was apparently more unseen footage of this unforgettable moment, it was game over. #ReleaseTheZemoCut took over Twitter, demanding justice for a scene that deserves to be appreciated in full.
And thus, on this fine Thursday afternoon less than 24 hours before the premiere of the next episode, Marvel Studios has delivered. THE ZEMO CUT HAS BEEN RELEASED!
But wait … there’s more. Marvel has also released an extra special video on YouTube entitled “One Hour Dancing Zemo.” Yes, you heard that right. An hour-long loop of Daniel Brühl tearing up the dance floor. Some would most certainly call this Christmas in April.
Things may not be looking too hot for Zemo moving forward due to the arrival of Wakanda’s Ayo, but we’ll always have Madripoor. (Seriously though, Marvel, can we get a Thunderbolts series?)
Catch the next episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier exclusively on Disney+ Friday, April 9, and make sure to follow along with our weekly coverage!
