About
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“Hail Hydra” is a catchphrase taken from the motto of the fictional terrorist organization Hydra (alternative spelling: HYDRA) in the Marvel Universe. While the quote has appeared in a number of Marvel franchises since 1965, it spawned an image macro series of two characters, one whispering to the other, shortly after the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier in April 2014.
Origin
“Hail Hydra” is the salute used by the fictional terrorist organization of the Marvel Universe named Hydraand the opening line of the group’s official motto, which reads: “Hail Hydra! Immortal Hydra! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off one limb and two more shall take its place! We serve the Supreme Hydra, as the world shall soon serve us!” It was first used by the organization’s members in the very same issue of Hydradebut appearance, Strange Tales #135 published in August 1965, which also marked the introduction of S.H.I.E.L.D., the counter-terrorist organization nemesis of Hydra).
(Hydra soldiers from Captain America (Vol. 6) #5, February 2012)
On April 4th, 2014, the film Captain America: The Winter Soldier[1], part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise and sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), was released. In the film, Captain America discovers that S.H.I.E.L.D., the peacekeeping organization he has been working for, had been infiltrated by Hydra decades ago. The scene parodied by this meme features the reveal to the audience that the character of Senator Stern (portrayed by Garry Shandling) is a Hydra member when he whispers to fellow agent Jasper Sitwell (portrayed by Maximiliano Hernández) the Hydra salute after a meeting.
(Garry Shandling portraying Senator Stern in Iron Man 2)
On April 6th, Twitter user Avinash Gupta[2] tweeted out the first image macro, which shows a doll of the Sesame Street character Ernie whispering “Hail Hydra,” to a Bert doll.
So guys, did you enjoy Captain America, The Winter solider? pic.twitter.com/jmAnUdzHtK #HailHydra
— Avinash Gupta (@avirandom) April 6, 2014
Spread
In less than 24 hours, the hashtag #hailhydra[3] was tweeted out over 2,200 times. On April 6th actor Clark Gregg[9], who plays Phil Coulson, a big fan of Captain America in several Marvel films, retweeted an example of the meme featuring “My Little Ponies.” On April 7th, MTV[4] published an article titled “‘Hail HYDRA’ Is The Best Meme From ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’” which explains the meme and collects some of the best examples. On Tumblr users tag their examples #hailhydra[8], with one popular post[7] featuring the original Sesame Street example gaining over 2,000 notes in less than 24 hours. The same day AMC’s official Twitter account[5] tweeted out examples of the meme including ones featuring stills from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Lion King and The Dark Knight Rises.
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]IMDB– Captain America: The Winter Soldier
[2]Twitter – Avinash Gupta
[3]Topsy – #hailhydra
[4]MTV– ‘Hail HYDRA’ Is The Best Meme From ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’
[5]Twitter – AMC Theaters
[6]Twitter – Strange Tales
[7]Tumblr – Journey Into Suspense
[8]Tumblr – hailhydra
[9]Twitter – Clark Gregg