Although they haven't managed to cause as many "major incidents" as their comic book counterparts, it's undeniable that the Hydra organization in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is equally a time-honored, well-established veteran villainous terrorist organization with a proper lineage.
Its origins can be traced back 1,400 years ago.
At that time, the Eastern nation of China was in the Sui and Tang dynasties period and in terms of national power it could be called the world number one.
In the distant West, it was during the so-called "Dark Ages" of the medieval period and moreover it was the early period when things were most ignorant and many rules had yet to be formed.
The Frankish Kingdom, the Kingdom of Britain, the Visigothic and Ostrogothic Kingdoms, the Byzantine Empire, and other powers stood upon the land fighting each other as fiercely as a blazing furnace.
At that time, even the mighty dynasties and empires that flourished for a while might not necessarily escape unscathed under the great tide of the times and the common people at the bottom need not even be mentioned.
The more desperate the environment, the greater the need for spiritual sustenance.
Without doubt, Europe during the "Dark Ages" was the perfect soil for the birth and growth of religions.
The Hydra organization which was almost cult-like was born under such circumstances—because their leader "Hive" demonstrated extremely powerful abilities just like the "Almighty Lord" depicted in the Bible.
The other Inhumans under his control also possessed different supernatural abilities, like various angels.
Thus, whether seeking his protection or wanting to borrow power from him to compete for more benefits for themselves, many ordinary people without supernatural abilities also joined this organization.
The Inhumans controlled the upper echelons, while the large number of ordinary people formed the basic foundation.
Hydra power grew stronger and stronger.
Eventually, they not only penetrated deep into civilian society but many nobles were also won over.
However, this flourishing development didn't last too long.
After all, Hive as a leader wasn't a figure with overwhelming personal charisma who could attract countless people to follow him devotedly unto death.
His ability to become the head was entirely due to his own supernatural abilities.
Poor at governance, relying entirely on personal force to subdue subordinates... if it had remained the original small group engaging in minor troublemaking, that would have been fine.
But as the organization gradually expanded, more needs arose and more and more details required attention.
With Hive leadership abilities equivalent to those of an ordinary person, he naturally could no longer continue to receive the support of his subordinates.
Unable to convince everyone when distributing benefits, his daily actions also revealed a contempt that didn't regard his subordinates as human beings.
One could endure it for a while but not forever.
As Hive repeatedly acted perversely, large-scale rebellion finally erupted within Hydra.
I won't describe the specific process in detail, but in any case during this upheaval, Hive was exiled to another planet falling from an "cult leader" who had enjoyed fine food and luxurious clothing to a vagrant who had to gnaw on dirt to survive.
Conversely, the Hydra organization remaining on Earth also fell into its most vulnerable state due to that civil war—the most powerful Hive was exiled and the Inhumans with extraordinary abilities died one by one or were wounded.
Among those who remained, most were ordinary people without any special abilities.
Facing the increasingly aggressive Christian forces, these surviving ordinary people simply couldn't cope.
In fact, precisely because they learned their lesson from Hive, a large portion of the nobles who had originally followed Hydra rebelled and went over to the Christian side.
After all, that side only shouted God name with their mouths; no one had actually seen God.
By defecting to that side, the nobles didn't have to worry at all about some so-called divine being suddenly jumping out to snatch away their piece of the cake.
This internal and external cooperation created enormous pressure on the struggling Hydra.
So, to preserve the last bit of their legacy the final group of die-hard elements gathered together for a meeting and ultimately made the decision to take Hydra completely underground.
Initially, it was out of desperation but after tasting the sweetness of "making a fortune in silence".
In any case, from the moment they went underground for development, Hydra established the operational principle of "never expose ourselves lightly" and firmly carried out this principle.
Starting from the 7th century AD, they hid in the shadows and developed quietly.
More than a thousand years passed and Hydra not only recovered fully but their strength even exceeded that of when they were managed and led by Hive with the Inhuman race.
It was precisely because of the foundation accumulated over a thousand years that the Red Skull during World War II was able to create such a huge commotion.
That's right, if it weren't for the strong support of other snake heads, relying on Red Skull alone... to be honest, even though that hot-headed little mustache man at the time was easily fooled and gave him great freedom to act, if the other snake heads hadn't secretly smoothed things over and recruited many personnel for Red Skull use, with his militant style how could he possibly have developed Hydra branch hidden within "that brittle" to such a large scale?
Here's another example.
On the day Steve Rogers participated in the experiment, Hydra agents launched a surprise attack at the experimental site and caused the death of Dr. Abraham Erskine.
Given the full-scale confrontation between the United States and "that brittle" forces at the time, even if Red Skull agents could cross the ocean to reach America, they couldn't have so easily passed through the Strategic Scientific Reserve screening to get the opportunity to observe at the experimental site.
Today, this Hydra branch rooted in America has become increasingly robust.
After all, it completely absorbed the legacy left by Red Skull plus the branch that was originally developing in America.
From a scale perspective, it at least has the weight of two heads.
Of course, whether one head or two heads regardless of how large the scale or how strong the power, the principle of covert operations remains as consistent as ever.
At least, before the "Insight Project" begins implementation they must maintain a low profile.
"Sitwell, have you handled the loose ends properly?"
After conversing with Nick Fury for a while and subtly gathering the intelligence he wanted from him, Alexander Pierce returned to his office and called for his most frequently used subordinate.
Although Coulson team hadn't discovered any substantial evidence and hadn't yet reported to Nick Fury, as a leader on Hydra side, Alexander Pierce still didn't dare to be careless in the slightest.
As soon as he learned of the operation failure, Pierce had issued orders for Sitwell to handle erasing the traces.
"The 'Barracuda' who led the team, I've arranged for him to go to Africa. Considering his former identity and the commotion caused by this operation, he'll stay there for one to two years."
Adjusting his glasses, a gleam of light reflected off his bald head.
When not encountering life-threatening situations, Sitwell normally had extremely strong work capabilities: "As for those temporarily hired personnel, I've already had them all dealt with."
"Very good."
Alexander Pierce nodded with satisfaction: "We must act cautiously. Now is not the time for us to step onto the front stage."
"Yes."
Sitwell agreed, then asked for instructions: "Then should the operation targeting the 'Giant' be temporarily suspended?"