In Transia, WW2, Captain America and Bucky are fighting
alongside American and British troops against a German force that outnumbers
them. While they fight valiantly, they are overwhelmed and captured. Then the
sound of a large Allied force is heard coming through the forest and the
Germans panic and flee. Then the approaching army is revealed to be only a jeep
and a couple of trucks. The leader is Private Jim Morita, head of the United
States Ghost Army, whose mission is to use fakery to convince the enemy that
the Allied forces are larger and closer than hey really are. The Americans
gather that night around a campfire. They meet Dum Dum Dugan, an American who
joined the British Army, who questions why a kid like Bucky is in a war. Cap explains
that Bucky, for all his youth, is an expert in covert operations. Morita
reveals that he joined the army to get out of the internment camp his family
was sent to. And then the group is attacked by ghosts of the Nazi soldiers
killed in the earlier battle. They kill with a touch and bullets pass though
them. The troops do their best to avoid their foes. British soldier Sir Anthony
Baskerville loses a hand to a Nazi ghost. Morita knows about Yurei, ghosts that
can’t move on to the afterlife until their Earthly business is concluded. A key
detail is that they can’t cross running water. Cap and company jump to the
other side of a nearby brook and the Nazi ghosts are halted. And then they all
vanish, leaving Cap and company confused….
At Wundagore Castle, we learn that the Ghost Machine is the
creation of Baron Karl Mordo. His grandfather, Viscount Heinrich Krowler,
doesn’t think much of it and steps through a portal back to Berlin. Then the
ghost of Mordo’s father Nikolai appears, wanting to know why Mordo hasn’t
avenged his death by killing Krowler (his father-in-law). Mordo says it is
because Krowler is too powerful a sorcerer for him to challenge; he needs to
increase his own power….
Cap and Bucky head to the nearby village of Loc Cludet to
investigate the ghosts while Dugan and Morita go their separate ways. Cap and
Bucky discover the village is occupied by a German armored car unit. They call
in Morita whose unit fakes a battle and a call for help by the Americans,
leading the Germans to depart for the fake battle, while Morita sets up
inflatable tanks to scare the Germans from returning. The only person to greet
the heroes is an old man named Andrei Maximoff who takes them home where they
won’t be heard. They meet his granddaughter Sofia and Bucky recognizes them as
Gypsies, which word, Sofia points out, is offensive. The Maximoffs tell them
that ghosts of villagers who have died have recently returned which points to
the castle up on the hill. Sofia volunteers to take Bucky into the castle that
night with Cap to follow….
Baron Mordo detects the presence of the bitter Anthony
Baskerville and visits him via magic portal, offering to restore his hand in
exchange for his service. That night, Baskerville arrives at the castle and Mordo
gives him a magic hand, drawing on Mordo’s own power….
Sofia, former employee at the castle, sneaks Bucky inside
and they discover Mordo’s Ghost Machine, watching as Mordo conjures up the
ghosts of WWI dead, sending them into the village to terrorize the inhabitants.
There is no running water in the village so Cap hurls his shield, breaking a
water tank, causing a stream to run through town, cutting off the ghosts. At Sofia’s
direction, Bucky detonates a tank of hydrogen, damaging the machine so that the
ghosts in the village suddenly vanish. Bucky and Sofia escape and Mordo sends
Baskerville after them. Baskerville can turn his magic hand into multiple
weapons, nearly overpowering the two heroes until Sofia drops a huge tapestry
on him, trapping him until they get away….
They report back to Cap about Mordo, Baskerville, and the
Ghost Machine. They also relate how Mordo is planning to attack Brasov, a city
two hundred miles away where Dum Dum Dugan and the British army are meeting up
with a large Allied force. Andrei suspects Mordo will use his Ghost Machine to
raise the dead who perished in the WWI battle at Brasov. Cap ponders their next
move….
As Mordo repairs the Ghost Machine, Viscount Krowler looks
in via portal for a progress update. Baskerville reports that the saboteurs
have gotten away; Mordo orders security measures increased. Krowler show him
how to defeat Captain America: he casts a spell animating the suits of armor
throughout the castle and sends them into Loc Cludet. Cap realizes that the
armors are not threatening the villagers but are seeking out Cap, Bucky, and
the Maximoffs. There is a fight, the armors are wrecked but Alexei is killed.
Cap calls in Jim Morita and his team, presenting them with some special
equipment delivered by Stark Industries. Cap radios Dugan with a warning to
hold out as long as they can while Cap and company raid the castle. Cap, Bucky,
and the mourning Sofia head to the castle on motorcycles….
At the castle, Krowler arrives by portal to supervise the
operation. Mordo turns on the Ghost Machine, sending the dead to Brasov where
the Army employs huge fans to scatter the ghosts. Morita’s team turns on their
ghost machines which project holograms of monsters to terrify the Nazis at the
castle, allowing Cap and company to crash in. They fight their way to the lab
where Cap confronts Mordo and Krowler. But the baddies are protected by a magic
shield. And Mordo reveals his real plan, surprising his grandfather and his
father’s ghost: the terror in Brasov provides the psychic energy to open a
doorway to bring Dormammu into this world and he will give Mordo all the power
he craves to take vengeance on his grandfather….
Bucky and Sonia encounter Baskerville and he gives them a
tough time with his magic hand until Andrei’s ghost arrives and overpowers
him….
Cap, Krowler, and Nikolai plead with Mordo to stop. Dormammu
is nearly through into this world when Bucky arrives and sticks Baskerville’s
magic hand into the force field which shuts it down. As Cap is about to destroy
the Ghost Machine, Sofia pleads with him to stop as it brought back her
grandfather but Alexei tells her it’s all for the best and Cap hurls his
shield, wrecking the machine. It forces Dormammu back into the Dark Dimension
and destroys much of the castle. The ghosts in Brasov vanish….
The next day, Cap says goodbye and thanks to Morita, Bucky
says farewell to Sofia who will continue to fight in the Resistance. Dum Dum
Dugan expresses appreciation for Bucky. Baskerville hunts for Mordo. Baron
Mordo is hiding in the woods when his father’s ghost advises him to seek out
the Ancient One in the Himalayas. And Cap and Bucky ponder what they are going
to do when the war ends….