Warning: This post contains Black Widow spoilers.
The MCU fleshed out its world history by introducing Red Guardian in Black Widow — but also contradicted the version of Zemo offered by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Played by Daniel Brühl, the popular antagonist debuted with the belief that The Avengers were to blame for the deaths of his family. In revenge, he used Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) to drive a wedge between Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). As a result, Baron Helmut Zemo successfully (briefly) toppled Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Brühl would later reprise the role of Zemo in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Broken out of prison by Bucky, Zemo helped him and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) investigate a new super-soldier serum. As he danced his way into even more fan's hearts, Zemo's overall motives and backstory were also retconned. For starters, he was afforded the kind of wealth to rival even Batman. More importantly, Zemo's animosity was no longer centered specifically on The Avengers. Instead, things were reconfigured so that Zemo's argument was against super soldiers in general. Their mere existence was anathema to him. As such, a question has ultimately emerged: why did he never target Red Guardian for elimination?
Played by David Harbour, Red Guardian was introduced in Black Widow as a figure with an already broad history. As well as briefly serving as a surrogate father to Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), he had been Russia's principal super-soldier since at least the 1980s. Unlike most, Red Guardian was seemingly not crafted in secret. His identity was so widely known that he had fans who wrote to him and even action figures made in his image. Equally, he believed that he was on Captain America's radar. So, why wasn't he on Zemo's? That question was given extra weight by the fact that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier established Baron Zemo as a hunter of super soldiers on behalf of Sokovian special forces prior to his grudge against The Avengers. This Zemo would have relentlessly hunted Red Guardian as soon as he got wind of him.
Of course, it could be argued that Red Guardian being in prison and largely disowned by his motherland was the reason that Zemo hadn't. After all, despite possessing enhanced strength and the like, Alexei had seemingly never tried to escape. Either that or his powers weren't so great that they couldn't be countered easily by even those at the prison facility. Despite what he himself would espouse, Black Widow's version of Red Guardian was not entirely a capable or serious threat. Each of those things could somewhat account for the mission not being undertaken. It could even be that Zemo believed Red Guardian to be a propagandist myth. That being said, those explanations would contradict The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's characterization — with that Zemo at least investigating fully.
In Zemo's words, "super soldiers can't be allowed to exist." He was obsessed with that mission to the point of zealotry. The various other members of the Winter Soldier program were incapacitated but Zemo always sought to kill them anyway. Similarly, the surviving Flag-Smashers were en-route to The Raft but Zemo still stepped in to have them killed. Zemo even killed Doctor Nagel merely for creating more super soldiers. For him, death is the only answer. As such, none of Red Guardian's circumstances should have mattered, only that he was vainglorious and everything Zemo believed wrong with super soldiers. Red Guardian's mere existence would have gnawed at this version of Zemo, spurring him into violent action.
Of course, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was marred with inconsistencies when it came to Zemo's zealous beliefs. As seen with Bucky Barnes, he was capable of offering a pass. Hopefully, it can be clarified why Red Guardian might have received such in one of the MCU movies following Black Widow or future Disney+ series. If not, the events of the Black Widow solo movie will simply serve as yet another Zemo contradiction and a further testament to the ever-increasing continuity issues of the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself.
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