The Jordan Peterson Marvel comics representation explained

Jordan Peterson rose to fame amongst right-wingers and philosophy/literature buffs in 2016, when he publicly refused to use his students' proper pronouns. The controversy led to more traction and interviews for him.

Peterson's courses on psychology, philosophy, and religion are available on YouTube, allowing fans to learn extensively. Leveraging his channel and political controversy, Jordan even released a book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.

This led to him being treated as a self-help guru and also getting flak from the likes of Kareen Abdul-Jabbar.

Peterson enjoyed a lot of fame, but he's also been at the center of a lot of criticism.

Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates used Peterson's philosophy to craft a version of the Nazi villain Red Skull in the Captain America comic book series. Here's everything you need to know about Jordan Peterson's influence on the Red Skull.

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How is Red Skull shown to be similar to Jordan Peterson?

Jordan Peterson's entire fame is contingent on his claim that he helps people who need it the most. In Captain America #28, Red Skull tries to radicalize a group of young men by giving them a speech similar to Peterson's:

"what they’ve always longed to hear … That they’re secretly great. That the whole world is against them. That if they’re men, they’ll fight back. And bingo – that’s their purpose. That’s what they’ll live for. And that’s what they’ll die for."

The monologue from Red Skull contains ideas that Peterson seemingly champions. Skull radicalized men on the Internet and then used them to further his own agenda.

While Captain America speaks of dreams to motivate people towards good causes, Red Skull claims that nightmares are what motivates them as part of his rhetoric. Jordan Peterson speaks of the idea of the abyss, the perils of nihilism, and existentialism as well.

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Understanding Red Skull's Peterson impression

It's safe to say that while Red Skull is shown to have similarities with Jordan Peterson, the two are not really alike. Red Skull has been a villain against Captain America since 1941 and has consistently remained a violent Nazi. Red Skull has also died a number of times.

Jordan Peterson is a Canadian Psychologist, and the closest he's ever been to a public battle is a debate with Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek (which Peterson lost in the court of public opinion). Peterson, on the other hand, does have a number of agendas he frequently pushes, which are all referred to in the comic.

A panel from Captain America Volume 9 #28 (Image via Marvel)

In Captain America Volume 9 #28, Red Skull talks about "Order and chaos," "Karl Lueger's genius," (a reference to Peterson's obsession with German psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung), and "the feminist trap," which Peterson is highly preachy about.

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Red Skull as a Captain America villain in recent times

In the latest comics, Red Skull is dead, but he has also died many times before. However, prior to his death in his most recent encounter, he transferred part of his consciousness to Aleksander Lukin. The former Soviet general also has it against Captain America. When he too died, his wife revived him through Rasputin's help.

In Coates' Captain America series, Red Skull's strategy to recruit young white men is to spread propaganda through his YouTube channel and popularize ideas that force them to consider the urgency to act. Sadly, all the recruits from Red Skull are cannon fodder, and he detonates a bomb at one of the protest rallies where all of them are present.

Red Skull has even reflected ideas from former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Whether Jordan Peterson is like Red Skull or not is a matter of debate. However, Coates' depiction of Red Skull using the same ideas as Peterson demonstrates how such a philosophy could become a tool for wrongful manipulation.