Here's your first look at Baron Zemo in Captain America: Civil War

It's been years since we learned that Daniel Bruhl would play the villainous Baron Zemo in Captain America: Civil War. Since then, there's been practically no news on his role in the sequel, with most marketing efforts instead focusing on the whole Cap vs. Tony angle. As expected, the anticipation toward his eventual unveiling has steadily mounted. And now with our first look at the evil genius, it's easy to understand why he's been kept out of the trailers. Take a peek at the snap below:

If we'd had no idea who Bruhl was playing, we might assume by gazing at this image: "He's probably just a nondescript Hydra lackey who has about a minute of screentime." As one of the film's bad guys, he doesn't strike you as particularly evil does he? Apparently, that's all a part of his ruse as Entertainment Weekly, who debuted the image, describes him as "a mysterious, manipulative figure who is positioning the heroes against each other." So Civil War's version of Lex Luthor, then.

It's already been established that Bruhl's take on Helmut Zemo won't be an exact replica of his comic book counterpart. That explains why he's seen without the character's iconic purple mask. But, as director Joe Russo says: “He’s still similar to what you know of Zemo, a revenge character."

Revenge, eh? But for what?

Directed by Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, and starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, and Sebastian Stan, Captain America: Civil War opens in UK cinemas on April 29, 2016 and May 6, 2016 in the US.

Images: Marvel

Gem Seddon is a freelance writer working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.