A popular theory suggests Zemo's purple mask was inspired by Thanos in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, given both villains were the only people who had truly beaten the Avengers. Thanos, of course, gathered all six Infinity Stones and snapped away half of all life in the universe, thus bringing about five years of despair. Meanwhile, Zemo was successful in defeating the Avengers somewhat spiritually, breaking up the team into two groups, thus leaving the planet undefended.

While the portrayals of both villains were praised, Marvel Studios did take liberties with their origin stories, backgrounds, and goals. For Zemo, he was no longer working with Hydra, he wasn't solely concerned with taking vengeance on Captain America, and he didn't have his iconic purple mask. In the comics, Zemo was severely scarred after falling into a vat of Adhesive-X, and so he eventually adopted wearing the purple mask to hide his disfiguration. All of that was removed from his MCU depiction, but now at least Zemo's mask has come back into play.

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However, since Zemo's face isn't scarred in the MCU, the reasoning behind the mask must be different. A popular fan theory has persisted ever since the mask was unveiled in 2019, that Zemo modeled it after Thanos' face given the supervillain's victory over the Avengers, and it's a theory that has resurged now that Zemo is finally wearing the mask in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In a way, it makes sense. Zemo has dedicated himself to destroying the Avengers as well as Super Soldiers, and Thanos succeeded in both respects. Plus, the purple mask does look like Thanos' face.

Baron Zemo puts on his mask.

Aside from the jumps needed for this theory to work, the main element that takes it apart is the timeline. Zemo was arrested and imprisoned after the events of Captain America: Civil War, and it wasn't until two years later that Thanos made himself known to the world. So unless Zemo wasn't snapped away during the Blip, escaped prison, and created his mask during that time, the only opportunity Zemo had to make his mask was before Civil War. With that in mind, Zemo couldn't have taken inspiration from Thanos in designing his purple mask since it had already been made; all Zemo did was pick it up from his garage.

Still, there's an interesting element to Zemo wearing it now. It may not have been inspired by Thanos, but even resembling the Mad Titan would allow Zemo to inflict a level of psychological warfare on his enemies. It would explain why he felt the need to put on the mask before attacking the bounty hunters that were coming after Sam, Bucky, and Sharon. Up until that point, it wasn't like he was trying to hide his identity from anyone, especially those in Madripoor.

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