| S.H.I.E.L.D. | |
|---|---|
.png) The organization's logo, as shown on the issue ofSecret War: From the Files ofNick Fury #1 (May 2005) | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Strange Tales #135 (August 1965) |
| Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Type of organization | Intelligence agency Special law enforcement |
| Base(s) | TheHelicarrier Triskelion |
| Roster | |
| See: List of S.H.I.E.L.D. members | |
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictionalespionage, speciallaw enforcement, andcounter-terrorismgovernment agency appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics.[1] Created byStan Lee andJack Kirby, this agency first appeared inStrange Tales #135 (August 1965), and often deals withparanormal activity andsuperhumanthreats tointernational security.
Theacronym originally stood forSupreme Headquarters, International Espionage and Law-Enforcement Division.[2] It was changed in 1991 toStrategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate. Within media set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe, as well as multiple animated and live-action television series, thebackronym stands forStrategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.[3]
The organization has heavily appeared in media adaptations as well as films and shows that take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s introduction in theStrange Tales featuring "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." occurred during atrend for action series about secret international intelligence agencies with catchy acronyms, such as television'sThe Man from U.N.C.L.E., whichStan Lee stated in a 2014 interview, was the basis for him to create the organization.[4] Colonel Fury (initially the lead character ofMarvel Comics'World War II seriesSgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos) was reimagined as a slightly older character with aneyepatch (which he lacked in his wartime adventures) and appointed head of the organization. Some characters from theSgt. Fury series reappeared as agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., most notablyTimothy "Dum-Dum" Dugan, Fury'sbowler hat-wearingaide-de-camp.[4][5]
Its most persistent enemy isHydra, a criminal organization founded (after someretcon) byBaron Wolfgang von Strucker.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was presented as an extant, full-blown entity in its first appearance, withTony Stark in charge of the Special Weaponry section and Fury seeing "some of the most famous joes from every nation" (then "half the leaders of the free world" a page later) at a meeting of the Supreme International Council.[6] Much was revealed over the years to fill in its labyrinthine organizational history. Stan Lee wrote each story, abetted by artist Kirby's co-plotting or full plotting, throughStrange Tales #152 (January 1967), except for two issues, one scripted by Kirby himself (#148) and one byDennis O'Neil (#149). Following an issue scripted byRoy Thomas (#153), and one co-written by Thomas and new series artistJim Steranko, came the sole-writer debut of soon-to-become industry legend Steranko—who had begun on the feature as apenciller-inker of Kirby layouts in #151 (December 1966), taken over the every-other-issue "Nick Fury" cover art with #153 two months later, and full writing with #155 (April 1967).
Steranko quickly established the feature as one of comics history's most groundbreaking, innovative, and acclaimed.Ron Goulart wrote,
[E]ven the dullest of readers could sense that something new was happening. … Which each passing issue Steranko's efforts became more and more innovative. Entire pages would be devoted tophotocollages of drawings [that] ignored panel boundaries and instead worked together on planes of depth. The first pages … became incredible production numbers similar in design to theSan Franciscorock concertposter of the period.[7]
Larry Hama said Steranko "combined the figurative dynamism of Jack Kirby with modern design concepts. Thegraphic influences ofPeter Max, Op Art, andAndy Warhol were embedded into the design of the pages — and the pages were designed as a whole, not just as a series of panels. All this, executed in a crisp, hard-edged style, seething with drama and anatomical tension".[8]
The series won 1967 and 1968Alley Awards and was inducted in the latter year to the awards' Hall of Fame. Steranko himself was inducted into theComic Book Hall of Fame in 2006. The 12-page feature ran throughStrange Tales #168 (sharing that "split book" with the occult feature "Doctor Strange" each issue), after which it was spun off onto its own series of the same title, running 15 issues (June 1968–Nov. 1969), followed by three all-reprint issues beginning a year later (Nov. 1970–March 1971). Steranko wrote and drew issues #1–3 and #5, and drew the covers of #1–7.
New S.H.I.E.L.D. stories would not appear for nearly two decades after the first solo title. A six-issueminiseries,Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. (June–November 1988) was followed byNick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (vol. 2). This second series lasted 47 issues (September 1989–May 1993); its pivotal story arc was "the Deltite Affair", in which many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were replaced withLife Model Decoy androids in a takeover attempt.
A year after that series ended, theone-shotFury (May 1994)retconned the events of those previous two series, recasting them as a series of staged events designed to distract Fury from the resurrection plans of Hydra head von Strucker. The following year, writerHoward Chaykin and penciler Corky Lehmkuhl produced the four-issue miniseriesFury of S.H.I.E.L.D. (April–July 1995). Various publications have additionally focused on Nick Fury's solo adventures, such as thegraphic novels and one-shotsWolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection (1989),Wolverine/Nick Fury: Scorpio Rising (October 1994),Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty andCaptain America and Nick Fury: Blood Truce (both February 1995), andCaptain America and Nick Fury: The Otherworld War (October 2001).[9]
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is acomic book series published byMarvel Comics, that first premiered inStrange Tales and later became several ongoing series.
Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. is acomic book miniseries published byMarvel Comics, that first premiered in 1988.
Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. is acomic book miniseries published byMarvel Comics, that first premiered in 1995.
Kitty Pryde, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is acomic book series published byMarvel Comics, that first premiered in 1997.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is acomic book title published byMarvel Comics. Thefirst series premiered with a first issuecover dated June 2010. It details the secret history of the occult organization S.H.I.E.L.D. aka "The Brotherhood of the Shield". The series is written byJonathan Hickman and drawn by Dustin Weaver.[10][11][12] Thesecond series premiered with a first issuecover dated December 2014. Loosely based on the TV seriesAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it was written byMark Waid. It was superseded byAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. is acomic book series published byMarvel Comics, premiering with a first issuecover dated in 2015.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the organization's creation, Marvel in 2015 released fiveone-shots each focusing on different aspects of S.H.I.E.L.D.:Agent Carter: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary,The Cavalry: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary,Fury: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary,Mockingbird: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary andQuake: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is acomic book series published byMarvel Comics, premiering with a first issuecover dated in 2016.
Usually led byNick Fury asexecutive director (although he reports to a twelve-member council, whose identities even he does not know), this organization often operates as much as a covert agency as a quasi-military one, initially depicted as affiliated with theUnited States government. Later, S.H.I.E.L.D. was depicted as under the jurisdiction of theUnited Nations, with vast technological resources at its disposal, withU.N. General Assembly Resolutions and legislation passed in signatory nations aiding many of their operations.[13][14] However, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been inconsistently portrayed as under U.S., rather than U.N., control – for instance, inAstonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #3, Nick Fury explains S.H.I.E.L.D.'s inaction during an incident of genocide by stating that it did not occur on American soil.[15]
S.H.I.E.L.D. started off as a top-secret international organization (Fury was unaware of them when he was in the CIA) with a Supreme International Council made up of top officials and minds from across the world, including Tony Stark.[6] Its first director was Rick Stoner, former head of the CIA, but he was quickly assassinated by Hydra,[16] and thePresident of the United States recommended Nick Fury take the role.[17] Later on, the ultimate authority of S.H.I.E.L.D. is revealed to be a cabal of 12 mysterious men and women who give Fury his orders and operational structure, leaving Fury to manage the actual implementation of these orders and stratagems.[18]
One of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s unique technological innovations, the LMD (Life Model Decoy) — an extremely lifelikeandroid used to replace people in imminent danger of being killed — was the basis for two major upheavals. First, the supervillainScorpio stole the technology and used it to create the second team of villains called theZodiac. Later, some LMDs known as the Deltites achieved sentience and infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra both, replacing key members until Fury defeated them. This led to the disbanding of the original organization and its replacement by a new task force with the same acronym under the control of the U.N. ("Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage and Logistics Directorate") The new S.H.I.E.L.D. was meant to be more streamlined so Fury could personally oversee it,[19][20] but would soon become a large organization again.
In the wake of adisastrous unauthorized mission inLatveria, Fury effectively resigned as executive director, with international warrants out for his arrest. His first successor was not one of his closer associates but a relatively unknown newcomer to the S.H.I.E.L.D. hierarchy,Maria Hill. A transcript of a conversation between Hill and thePresident of the United States[21] revealed she was chosen for the post byUnited Nations consensus to keep Fury loyalists out of the job and to keep relations with the superhero community to a minimum.[volume & issue needed] The President also expected Hill — anAmerican — to be loyal first to the U.S., despite S.H.I.E.L.D. being a U.N.-chartered organization.[volume & issue needed]
The passage of the United StatesSuperhuman Registration Act and the subsequent superhero "Civil War" created an additional political and ethical irritant between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the superhuman community, with S.H.I.E.L.D. tasked to lead enforcement and to take on registered superheroes as operatives.[22]
Toward the end of the conflict, Hill concluded she had been made director with the intent that she fails at the job, and she proposes toTony Stark that he assume the post himself, with her as deputy.[citation needed] Stark accepts the appointment as director upon the conclusion of the superhuman Civil War and undertakes a series of initiatives, including the construction of a new gold-and-red Helicarrier in the motif of hisIron Man armor designs, the introduction of a daycare center in theHelicarrier, and an employee suggestion-box. While accused of treating S.H.I.E.L.D. as a Stark Industries subsidiary, he succeeded in streamlining the organization and raising morale.[23] S.H.I.E.L.D. fought a wave of global superhuman terrorism and was manipulated into two international incidents that almost saw Director Stark arrested until they revealedthe Mandarin to be behind it and stopped him from committing genocide with an Extremis pathogen.
At the start of theSecret Invasion by the extraterrestrial shape-shifting race theSkrulls, the Helicarrier is disabled by a Skrull virus and left floating and disabled in theBermuda Triangle.[24] The Skrulls by this point have already replaced a large number of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, including the high-rankingTimothy "Dum-Dum" Dugan.[25] After the invasion is repelled, the President of the United States decides to dissolve S.H.I.E.L.D.,[26] and has it, theFifty State Initiative, and the Avengers replaced by the Thunderbolts Initiative, which is placed under the supervision ofNorman Osborn.[27]
Osborn uses the opportunity to transform S.H.I.E.L.D. into a new organization called "H.A.M.M.E.R.", formed by loyal agents of theThunderbolts Initiative as well as former agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra.[28] TheThunderbolts are officially disbanded in the process as well and turned into a black-ops force that answers only to Osborn. Meanwhile, H.A.M.M.E.R. also operates alongside the newest, and only government-sponsored Avengers team, theDark Avengers.[29]
After the Invasion, Fury discovers that S.H.I.E.L.D. itself had been under the control of the terrorist organization Hydra ostensibly from its very beginning.[26]
After the conclusion of theSecret Warriors ongoing series, S.H.I.E.L.D. was reformed with Fury leaving it under the control of its new director,Daisy Johnson.[30] The new S.H.I.E.L.D. subsequently saved US Army RangerMarcus Johnson from mercenaries hired by theLeviathan. When he discovered he was the son of Nick Fury, Marcus (whose birth name was Nick Fury Jr.) and his army friendPhil Coulson joined S.H.I.E.L.D.[31] Maria Hill and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. later formed their incarnation of theSecret Avengers.[32]
During theAvengers: Standoff! storyline, S.H.I.E.L.D. establishes agated community called Pleasant Hills to serve as a supervillain prison. Using technology derived from theCosmic Cube called Kobik, S.H.I.E.L.D. converts the inmates into the mild-mannered residents of Pleasant Hills.[33]
Following the "Avengers: Standoff" storyline, the organization is given broad new powers under the S.H.I.E.L.D. Act,[34] including a clause that allows the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. to gain control of the United States in the event of an emergency. Soon after Steve Rogers is appointed the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D.,[35] however during theSecret Empire story line we learn that Steve Rogers was replaced with a Hydra sleeper agent who uses the S.H.I.E.L.D. Act to become dictator of the United States.[36] After he is defeated, S.H.I.E.L.D. is once again disbanded.[37]
S.H.I.E.L.D. has remained out of action since its disbandment,[38] though individual members have been active.[citation needed] Its assets were divided among various U.S. government agencies such as a War Machine armor given to the Air Force and later stolen by Nick Fury Jr. and Frank Castle.[39]
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Over the decades, various writers have depicted S.H.I.E.L.D.'s organizational structure in several different ways.The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (first edition) describes an eight-level ranking structure (technician, administrator, field agent, regional officer, special officer, regional director, special director, executive director), although providing almost no detail on other aspects of the Directorate's internal makeup. Years later, the miniseriesAgents of Atlas mentioned a position of "sub-director", and seemed to indicate that the administrative department of S.H.I.E.L.D. it itself referred to simply as "Directorate".
Most of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents are normal humans. At one point the organization attempted to set up a team of superhuman agents, composed of Marvel Man (the futureQuasar),Texas Twister,Blue Streak and theVamp but the latter two were secretly agents of the criminal organizationThe Corporation, and the team broke apart before it had its first official mission. A second-team organized years later also lasted only a short while.
S.H.I.E.L.D. does employ some superhumans, including in its Psi-Division, composed oftelepathic agents who deal with like menaces. S.H.I.E.L.D. also obtains help from independent heroes when their special abilities are needed. It has also accepted some superheroes andsupervillains as members, but not in a separate unit. (See "Membership")
Its headquarters is theHelicarrier, a massive flyingaircraft carrier kept airborne at all times and, among other things, containing a squadron ofjet fighters and housing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In addition, S.H.I.E.L.D. maintains strong ties to thesuperhero community, especiallyCaptain America, theAvengers, and theFantastic Four, and often calls upon that community for aid on particular missions.
In the 2000s, depictions of S.H.I.E.L.D. imply a hierarchy of security clearance levels used either in place of or alongside, the previously described rank structure. The security-clearance hierarchy operates on a scale ranging from "Level One", the lowest, to "Level Ten", described by Maria Hill, executive director at the time, as the highest security clearance anyone of any government can have. Hill's own clearance, cited in theNew Avengers ongoing series, was Level Eight.
Throughout its existence, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been most prominently led by Nick Fury, withMaria Hill succeeding him in mid-2000s stories. She voluntarily stepped down in a 2007 story, becoming deputy director toTony Stark. Other historically prominent members, who have appeared from the earliest stories to the modern-day, includeThaddeus "Dum Dum" Dugan andGabriel "Gabe" Jones, both veterans of Fury's World War II Howling Commandos, though their youthful longevity has not, unlike Fury's, been explained in Marvel continuity;Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine;[40]Clay Quartermain (Agent 9);Jasper Sitwell (Agent 12); andSharon Carter (Agent 13), all introduced in the 1960s; andJimmy Woo, introduced in the 1950s comicYellow Claw and reintroduced in the ' 60s.
Prior to the events of theCivil War, Captain America estimated there to be 3,000 agents on active duty.[41]
Although the various Helicarriers built over the years have long been considered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s primary mobile home base, the Directorate also maintains a number of land bases throughout the world, most notably "S.H.I.E.L.D. Central" inNew York City. While some of these bases are publicly accessible on a limited basis, most are not publicly disclosed for reasons of planetary security. There are several fully equipped S.H.I.E.L.D. fall-out shelters scattered around the world, with twenty-eight of these being known only to Nick Fury. During the events ofCivil War, Nick Fury was hiding in an American-based shelter. He also divulged the location of one to Captain America, so the Resistance to the Superhuman Registration Act could use it as a safe house.
The following organizations are related to S.H.I.E.L.D.:
A.R.M.O.R. (Altered-RealityMonitoring andOperationalResponse Agency) is a sister agency to S.H.I.E.L.D. that monitors alternate reality incursions intoEarth-616, and is directed byCharles Little Sky. It was introduced in theMarvel Zombies 3 limited series, written byFred Van Lente. Van Lente stated that A.R.M.O.R. "has existed with them this whole time, but it's been so incredibly secret that no one at Marvel knew about it".[42] In the comics it is stated that A.R.M.O.R. is so secret that it 'makes S.W.O.R.D. look like S.H.I.E.L.D., and S.H.I.E.L.D. look like the Post Office'.[43] DuringDark Reign, A.R.M.O.R. operates under the oversight of H.A.M.M.E.R. but Osborn wanted to fully absorb A.R.M.O.R. into H.A.M.M.E.R. They were able to keep out of Osborn's clutches when their newest agent,Lyra downloaded incriminating evidence against him.[44]
H.A.M.M.E.R. replaces S.H.I.E.L.D. after it is dissolved whenNorman Osborn is appointed the new head following the conclusion of theSkrull attack.[29] It was not established what H.A.M.M.E.R. stands for; inDark Avengers #1, Osborn toldVictoria Hand, the new deputy director, that it does stand for something, and when she asked what it stands for, he told her, "Get to work on it for me. That is one of the many things on your 'To Do' list."[29] Former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and members of Hydra are hired as agents. H.A.M.M.E.R. promotes Osborn's personal team of Avengers, a group composed mostly of former Thunderbolts members and former members of the Mighty Avengers. Osborn also eliminates all of Tony Stark's influence on S.H.I.E.L.D., including the Cape-Killer Armor and the Red and Gold Helicarrier. He also replaces all agents loyal toNick Fury,Captain America, orIron Man with agents loyal to himself. Also, in theCaptain America: Reborn Prelude, whenSin, who is captured by H.A.M.M.E.R, asks what it stands for, the agent present says that it's classified and she does not have security clearance.[45]
S.P.E.A.R.—in the pages ofAvengers World—is a Chinese intelligence-gathering organization created for homeland security and has a flying headquarters called the Circle. It was created by the Chinese government to be on the same level as S.H.I.E.L.D. followingThanos'invasion of Earth. Falcon first encountered S.P.E.A.R. and their director, Xian Zheng, at the time when Gorgon planned to launch an attack on China using the giant dragon whose head is where Madripoor grows out of. When the Hand attacked the Circle, they deployed their own superhuman response team called the Ascendants which consists of Devastator III, Monkey King, Sabre III, Vector II, and Weather Witch.[46]
S.T.R.I.K.E. (SpecialTacticalResponse forInternationalKeyEmergencies) was a British agency, unrelated to but run along similar lines to S.H.I.E.L.D. Disbanded after being infiltrated and taken over by a criminal organization, one of its members was the futureX-ManPsylocke. It was introduced inMarvel UK'sCaptain Britain #17 (February 2, 1977).
EuroM.I.N.D. (EuropeanMonitoringInvestigation and EnforcementDivision) is aEuropean subdivision of S.H.I.E.L.D. that later fell under the control of theS.H.A.P.E. (SupremeHeadquartersAlliedPowersEurope) council. EuroM.I.N.D.'s director is François Borillon.[47] Its agents include the science reconnaissance group Eurolab and the combat specialist Task Force group, who both then merged into one group known as Euroforce.
S.T.A.K.E. (SpecialThreatAssessment forKnownExtranormalities) is a S.H.I.E.L.D. subsidiary that specializes in dealing with supernatural occurrences.[48]
S.W.O.R.D. (SentientWorldObservation andResponseDepartment), works with S.H.I.E.L.D. but specializes inextraterrestrial threats. It is first introduced inAstonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #6 (December 2004), written byJoss Whedon. Dialogue in the stories depicting both organizations has been ambiguous on whether S.W.O.R.D. is a branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. or a sister agency.
Agent Abigail Brand, the S.W.O.R.D. agent the X-Men encountered, has green hair, a trait typical of agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s archenemy,Hydra. This unusual characteristic did not go unremarked;Wolverine referred to her as "Hydra-Hair" inAstonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #6.
A similar group as S.W.O.R.D., likewise affiliated with the U.N., is Starcore, which has worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. on several projects of joint interest, including establishing and maintaining a crewed facility on Earth'sMoon.
W.A.N.D. (Wizardry,Alchemy andNecromancyDepartment) is a division of S.H.I.E.L.D that specializes in matters relating to magic. It is directed by Pandora Peters. First appearing inThunderbolts Annual Vol.2 (2014), in which the Thunderbolts are recruited to assassinateDoctor Strange, who is eventually revealed as a faerie impostor called King Oberoth'm'gozz.[49]
Orchis is an organization dedicated to stopping the rapid rise of the mutant population and prevent humanity's impending extinction scenario with their theory that humans only have a limited number of years left before they become an endangered species. Formed by a human coalition of former scientists and espionage agents from the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D., S.T.R.I.K.E., S.W.O.R.D., A.R.M.O.R., A.I.M., Alpha Flight, H.A.M.M.E.R., Hydra, and even aspects of Damage Control, this organization truly believes itself as the only hope humanity has to keep mutants from ascending to control of the Earth within the next few generations. That belief has allowed Orchis to salvage the remains of Sol's Hammer and retrofit it into the Orchis Forge, a site for the creation of a Mother Mold. A strike force of X-Men led by Cyclops successfully destroyed the Mother Mold, which was believed to be the site of the creation of Nimrod, with heavy casualties on both sides.[50]
Screen Rant included S.H.I.E.L.D. in their "10 Best Teams That Captain America Has Joined In Marvel Comics" list.[1]CBR.com ranked S.H.I.E.L.D. 1st in their "10 Most Powerful Secret Organizations In Marvel Comics" list,[51] 5th in their "5 Instantly Recognizable Symbols In Marvel Comics" list,[52] 5th in their "5 Instantly Recognizable Symbols In Marvel Comics" list,[52] 5th in their "Every Marvel Superhero Team" list,[53] 6th in their "5 Best & 5 Worst Spy Organizations In Comics" list,[54] 7th in their "Avengers' 10 Best Allies In Marvel Comics" list,[55] and 9th in their "10 Most Effective Comic Book Prisons" list.[56]
S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate) is theAmalgam Comics equivalent of S.H.I.E.L.D. fromMarvel Comics. They first appeared inBruce Wayne Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, though, in Amalgam continuity, they first appeared in themetafictionalAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D. strip. S.H.I.E.L.D. was first created byNick Fury andSgt. Rock afterWorld War II in order to tackle the danger posed byHydra. Both founders later trained and recruitedBruce Wayne into their ranks, who would become the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Members of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Amalgam universe include:
In an alternate reality where mutants rule over humans, S.H.I.E.L.D. was staffed completely with mutants, all serving the House of Magnus onGenosha.Sebastian Shaw is the executive director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Wolverine is in charge of the House of Magnus' Red Guard (AgentsRogue,Jessica Drew,Kurt Wagner,Mortimer Toynbee, andRaven Darkholme) and the Marauders are S.H.I.E.L.D.'s black ops unit.[volume & issue needed][57]
S.H.I.E.L.D. was mentioned briefly in theMutant X alternate universe series as a murderous anti-mutant group. S.H.I.E.L.D. stood forSaviours ofHumanity byIntervention in theEvolution ofLife-formDeviants.[58] Their story is elaborated on later as one of their own gains powers.[59]
S.H.I.E.L.D. in theUltimate Marvelparallel universe was first led by General"Thunderbolt" Ross. During the Gulf War, the Weapon X Project, headed byColonel John Wraith, was sanctioned by S.H.I.E.L.D. and resulted in the creation ofWolverine.
After Ross stepped down and retired,Nick Fury was then selected as the organization'sexecutive director. His first actions were to shut down Weapon X and resurrect theSuper Soldier program, commissioning Richard Parker,Bruce Banner,Franklin Storm, and young internHank Pym to try to recreate the formula that madeCaptain America. This failed and resulted in the creation of the Hulk when Banner injected his serum into himself, leading to various "Hulk Outs" by Banner, yet still under Fury's service for his brilliance, as well as Pym re-hired. It was later revealed that the chemical calledOz, which turned Norman Osborn into theGreen Goblin, was also created in hopes of recreating the Super-Soldier formula.Spider-Man was also a product of the Oz formula. Also, the creation of the supervillainsSandman andElectro are due toHammer Industries attempting to recreate the Super Soldier formula for S.H.I.E.L.D. Then S.H.I.E.L.D. created its own superhero team, theUltimates, basing it out of Manhattan in itsTriskelion HQ. Later still, it brought theX-Men andSpider-Man under S.H.I.E.L.D. jurisdiction. InUltimate X-Men #65 (January 2006), S.H.I.E.L.D. severed ties with the X-Men. After the events ofUltimate Power, S.H.I.E.L.D. is under the directorship ofCarol Danvers, as Nick Fury was temporarily stranded in theSupreme Power Universe. After "Ultimatum", the returned Nick Fury becomes head of the Black-Ops division inUltimate Comics: Avengers. It is also revealed he is plotting to take back his position as director, from Danvers.[60] After a mysterious force frames Danvers for selling super-soldiers to rival nations, it was revealed to be a ploy byGregory Stark to become Director, until Fury, the Avengers, and Ultimates stop him, resulting in Thor electrocuting Dr. Stark to death.[61] After theDeath of Spider-Man,Marvin Flumm was promoted to Director by theU.S. President.[62] After an arc called "Divided We Stand", a crossover involvingUltimate Comics: Spider-Man,Ultimate Comics: X-Men, andUltimate Comics: Ultimates,Monica Chang (one of Nick Fury's ex-wives and 2ndBlack Widow) was promoted by Captain America to Director after Agent Flumm was dismissed.[63] S.H.I.E.L.D. is later disassembled after the events of Cataclysm, for although the Ultimates were able to defeatGalactus, the destruction caused by Galactus's attack and the loss of Captain America and Thor make it the last straw for the United States Government, who immediately decide to shut S.H.I.E.L.D. down, resulting in villains such asNorman Osborn (Green Goblin) andVictor Van Damme (Doctor Doom), who are revealed to be alive, being released into the custody of other federal agencies.[volume & issue needed]
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. is controlled entirely by the United States but maintains ties with theEuropean Defense Initiative (EDI) and the British-operated S.T.R.I.K.E.
S.A.F.E. (StrategicActionForEmergencies)—introduced in Marvel's line of novels in the mid-1990s—is the United States' answer to S.H.I.E.L.D. It first appeared inSpider-Man & the Incredible Hulk: Rampage (Doom's Day Book 1), and may not be part of the comics canon, although the novels it appears in have been referred to several times in Marvel's Handbooks. Whereas S.H.I.E.L.D. is a U.N.-chartered organization dealing with international incidents, S.A.F.E. is tasked with similar duties inside America's borders. It is run by Colonel Sean Morgan. A prominently featured agent is Joshua Ballard, who, among other things, survived an encounter with Doctor Doom and later Baron Zemo.
In the novelSecret of the Sinister Six, S.A.F.E. agent Clyde Fury (no relation to Nick Fury) distinguishes between espionage agencies (such as S.H.I.E.L.D.) and strategic action specialists such as S.A.F.E.
H.A.T.E. (HighestAntiTerrorismEffort) is a parody of S.H.I.E.L.D. created forMarvel Comics' 12-issue seriesNextwave by comics authorWarren Ellis. The leader of H.A.T.E., GeneralDirk Anger is a parody ofNick Fury. This series depicts H.A.T.E. as being a secretive organization with suspect motives led by the madman, Anger, who has self-control and sexual issues.
H.A.N.D. (HeroicAnomalyNeutralizationDirectorate) is the equivalent of S.H.I.E.L.D in theUltimate Universe imprint.Reed Richards describes it as theMaker's secret police after the alteration of Earth-6160's history and the consolidation of his reign as "Imperator".[64]
The agency is implied to be a renamed and reorganized version of S.H.I.E.L.D after Nick Fury took overThe Hand by killing its leader and uniting both groups. It utilizesdisinformation through its Narrative Division and possesses a widespreadmass surveillance apparatus for the purpose of eliminating or imprisoning possible dissidents, particularly superhumans. Its flag-ship "The Beast" is revealed as a Cumulo-Carrier capable of terminating ordinary citizens suspected of subversive actions and sympathies, disguised as a permanent mile-wide thunderstorm. In the Maker's absence, the agency operates under supervision of hisCouncil, working towards suppressing opposition to the status quo such as the Ultimates Network.[65]
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S.H.I.E.L.D. stories have been translated into several other languages, including French, Finnish and Italian. Occasionally, these translations will show S.H.I.E.L.D. with an altered name.
In the case of selected French editions, the name of the agency was depicted as S.E.R.V.O., which sounds like "brain" (cerveau) in French.[citation needed] In later editions, S.H.I.E.L.D is maintained, with the acronym translated as Stratégie, Habilité, Intervention, Exécution et Logistique Défensive (Strategy, Empowered, Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Defensive).[citation needed]
In Finnish the name that applies to S.H.I.E.L.D. in mainstream Marvel continuity is Y.P.K.V.V. (Ylimmäisen Päämajan Kansainvälisen Vakoilun Vastustamisjaos), a direct translation of the original English. In translations of theUltimate Marvel comics, the name is K.I.L.P.I., with "kilpi" being the translation for the word (as opposed to the acronym) "shield".[citation needed]
In Greek, the organization name is Α.Σ.Π.Ι.Δ.Α. (pronounced ASPIDA, meaning "shield" in Greek). The initials stand for Supreme Military and Political Foundation of International Counter-espionage (Ανώτατο Στρατιωτικό Πολιτικό Ίδρυμα Διεθνούς Αντικατασκοπείας).[citation needed]
In Portuguese, the name S.H.I.E.L.D. remains, but it is translated as "SuperintendênciaHumana deIntervenção,Espionagem,Logística eDissuasão", i. e., Human Superintendence for Intervention, Espionage, Logistics and Dissuasion.[citation needed]
In Dutch the name S.C.H.I.L.D. (schild = shield) has been used by the publisher Williams, but was dropped by Junior Press in favor of S.H.I.E.L.D.[citation needed]
In Mexico, it was translated by La Prensa and later Novedades, as C.I.D.E.L., Centro Internacional De Espionaje Legal (International Center of Legal Espionage), but later Novedades changed the acronym to C.S.E.I., Cuartel Supremo de Espionaje e Inteligencia (Supreme Headquarters of Espionage and Intelligence).[citation needed]
In Spain, the initial publisher Vértice translated S.H.I.E.L.D. as "Escudo" (always without a determinant), but never showed the meaning. Later publisher Planeta DeAgostini used the name S.H.I.E.L.D., but translating the acronym as "Organización Internacional para la Ejecución y el Cumplimiento de la Ley" (international organisation for implementation and fulfillment of law). It has been suggested, as a joke, that the acronym does not correspond to the meaning because the acronym itself is undercover. Now, Panini translates the acronym as "Servicio Homologado de Inteligencia, Espionaje, Logística y Defensa" (Accredited Service of Intelligence, Espionage, Logistics, and Defense) to keep the original acronym; being this the name used in the current movies or series.[citation needed]
In Danish, S.H.I.E.L.D. was originally known as S.K.J.O.L.D., "Skjold" being the Danish word for a shield, though the meaning of the abbreviation would differ.[citation needed]
In Russian, S.H.I.E.L.D. is named Щ.И.Т. (pronounced SCHIT; "shield" in Russian) or З.А.Щ.И.Т.А. (ZASCHITA, meaning "protection"). This name often describes as Sixth Intervention Logistics Agency (Шестая Интервенционная Тактико-оперативная логистическая служба).[citation needed]
In Poland, S.H.I.E.L.D. is known as T.A.R.C.Z.A. ("shield" in Polish). This name describes as Secret Agency of Anti-terrorist Cybernetics Applications Development (Tajna Agencja Rozwoju Cybernetycznych Zastosowań Antyterrorystycznych).[citation needed]
S.H.I.E.L.D. appears in several films set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe.[68]
S.H.I.E.L.D. was featured in theMarvel One-Shots films (which tie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe):
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