Controversial comments made by Johann Schmidt, a.k.a. the Red Skull, have been the subject of much online chatter in recent weeks. The known supervillain and former Hydra leader has made statements that some consider to be racist or endorsing of violence. But others argue that Schmidt’s comments are perfectly reasonable if one listens to the whole conversation to understand what he really meant.

“When Schmidt said ‘Death to mutant criminal scum,’ he was clearly only talking about the mutants who are criminals,” explained Reed Wesley of Washington, D.C. “He’s got no problem with mutants who obey the law.”

“Schmidt did say, ‘If I see a pilot who’s a mutant, I’m gonna wonder if he’s qualified,’” said Martin Conrad of Eagle, Alaska. “But, if you listen to the whole conversation, he’s just talking about mutants with dangerous powers. He doesn’t want someone bursting in the cockpit what? or blasting a laser through the plane.”

“Schmidt never told those Hydra agents to attack the Avengers. When he said ‘Destroy the Avengers!”, he was clearly just speaking figuratively,” said Jeremiah Kelly of Radford, Virginia. “Besides, right after that, he told them to act peacefully.”

So, there you have it, folks. The Red Skull has really just been misunderstood this whole time. He isn’t racist, violent, or evil–and if you say he is, you’ll lose your job!