Major Marvel Character Murdered

December’s Captain America #6 reveals Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross has been murdered, and the star-spangled Avenger is the prime suspect.

The issue begins with Alexa Lukin, head of the Power Elite cabal, conducting business in front of a television as a news broadcast flashes images of Ross, Steve Rogers, and Wakandan king T’Challa.

“This man must be handled and there can be no doubt as to why he was handled, or by whom,” Alexa says.

After issuing payment in Bitcoin to an unknown entity over the phone, Alexa greets her previously dead husband, Aleksander Lukin, who has been resurrected by the sorceress Selene and is now possessed by Captain America’s arch foe the Red Skull.

Alexa recounts Hydra’s conquering of the United States at the hands of a leader with Rogers’ face, and the subsequent return of the true Captain Americaand the defeat of Hydra.

“America is telling itself that Steve Rogers saved the country. Saved the world, even. But the world knows better, my love. He knows better. Even America knows better,” Alexa tells Aleksander.

“The people don’t trust this captain. But more than that — the Americans don’t trust themselves. Their leaders rob the citizens blind. Their police butcher men on video. Their bureaucrats poison the drinking water. They need a steady hand to guide them. Our hand.”

When Aleksander asks how she’ll kill Steve Rogers, Alexa tells her returned husband he’s not listening.

“What I am telling you is that Rogers is nothing. Rogers is just a man. Killing a man is easy. You, yourself, killed Rogers,” Alexa says.

“But you did not kill Captain America.”

Meanwhile, in New York, a housekeeper makes a gruesome discovery.

“To kill Captain America, you must kill the idea… kill the vision,” Alexa says.

Aleksander finishes her sentence. “Kill the dream.”

In Brooklyn, Nick Fury tells Steve Ross has been found dead.

“Not just dead,” Fury says. “Murdered.”

Steve is surprised by the news. Sharon Carter asks why Fury is here.

After a serious look, Fury answers.

“The President sent me. And I have to say that he sent me to ask questions, not to answer them,” Fury says.

“So I think we should start with a simple one, Cap… where were you last night?”

The once Army general Ross, who is best known for his decade-long pursuit of Bruce Banner and the Hulk, has operated in recent years as the Red Hulk.

Ross then led a band of resisters against Hydra during its takeover and became a member of the clandestine influencers dubbed the Power Elite, who count Baron Strucker, Taskmaster, Iron Man enemy Zeke Stane, and Spider-Man enemies Wilson Fisk and Norman Osborn among its members.

Next, in “Captain of Nothing,” the world’s most trusted superhero is wanted for murder as “a dark new chapter begins in the life of Steve Rogers,” warns the synopsis for Captain America #7, releasing January 16.