Baron Zemo Originally Had a Much Darker Intro in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
Even though Daniel Brühl's version of Baron Zemo wasn't the version we all know from the comics, I still really liked what they did with the villain in Captain America: Civil War. He was a very complicated character who was a very smart, brutal, and deeply disturbed.
In the film, we are first introduced to Helmut Zemo when he stages a car accident outside of the home of Vasily Karpov, a character who was heavily involved with The Winter Soldier Program. Zemo ends up getting into the home of Karpov, obtains the Hydra manual (which contains the code words to control Bucky Barnes), and then tortures Karpov for information on "mission report: December 16, 1991." Karpov doesn't give in, so Zemo kills him.
There was a completely different introduction to Zemo that was a lot darker, but it was changed because the Russo Brothers wanted more story out of the character. The information comes from Joe Russo in the audio commentary that was provided on the Digital HD release of the film. He says:
"We had an original scene where Zemo was at an auction, a black market auction. And that's how he got his hands on the book, was at this auction. He killed everybody in the auction by gassing the auction. But we just didn't get enough story out of him; it was too mysterious of an opening scene."
Anthony Russo gives more of an explanation as to why they didn't go that route, saying:
"It did not connect him to the opening of the movie cleanly. This one does -- you get the red book, and you literally get Karpov, which is perhaps the most important thing."
Even though the original intro would have been more shocking and crazy, I think they made the right choice doing what they felt was best for the development of the character. Would you have preferred that alternate introduction, or do you like how the Russos ultimately handled it?
Via: Cinema Blend