What it is: Hydra, a sometimes-secret society
Slogan: “Cut off a limb, and two more shall take its place!”
Its story: As explained in Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra began as a group of people who worshipped Hive, the first Inhuman, and continued to send people through a portal to the planet Maveth where Hive was eventually banished. Centuries later, Johann Schmidt, a.k.a. Red Skull, led a new incarnation of the organization in a quest for global dominance, shown in Captain America: The First Avenger. However, following his defeat, the scientist Arnim Zola was recruited to work for the American government, where he secretly gave birth to a new iteration of Hydra, one which grew in secret from within S.H.I.E.L.D., eventually revealing its existence during Project Insight, where it seized control of the agency before being outed and forced into hiding at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. From there, the Avengers and the newly rebuilt (and underground) S.H.I.E.L.D. both began hunting down and eliminating Hydra terrorist groups throughout the world. The Avengers captured one of its top leaders, Baron Von Strucker, in Avengers: Age Of Ultron, along with Loki’s scepter. Representatives of the organization attempted to purchase the Yellowjacket technology in Ant-Man, but were stymied by the destruction of Cross Industries’ research facility. The last remnants of the modern incarnation of Hydra were wiped out by S.H.I.E.L.D., and the original avatar of the group, Hive, was destroyed in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s season-three finale.
Currently, Hydra is: Decimated and scattered to the winds.
Where will we see Hydra next? The organization is currently crippled, with no plans to showcase it any time soon, but you never know when some ambitious young villain will start it up again.