Alexander Pierce

Alexander Goodwin Pierce is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in stories featuring the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. as an agent.

A re-imagining of the character was portrayed by Robert Redford in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Publication history
The character, created by Bob Harras and Paul Neary, first appeared in Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #3 (August 1988).

Fictional character biography
Alexander Pierce was born on Long Island, New York, and majored at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy in civilian surveillance, and serves in the Philadelphia Accounting Department before becoming a sleeper agent working in decoding dispatches from HYDRA. After escaping death in an ambush at HYDRA's Hong Kong base, Pierce accompanied Nick Fury to the Himalayas, along with their prisoner Madame Hydra. Unable to withstand the bitter cold, they were seized by robotic duplicates called "Deltites" and brought to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orbiting satellite. Aided by Madame Hydra, Pierce and a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents escaped and took part in the battle that led to the Deltites' destruction.

Following the subsequent disbanding of S.H.I.E.L.D., Pierce served as caretaker of the S.H.I.E.L.D. skyscraper that once served as its headquarters. He was then contacted for help by Nick Fury aid him and his allies in vanquishing the Death's Head Squad. He has since joined the new version of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury has organized.

Pierce later appears as the Secret Warriors' leader following Secret War. Pierce was given command of Team Black, consisting of the most dangerous and unruly recruits on the Caterpillar list of young super-humans. The team was ordered to gather intelligence on Hydra. Pierce brought his team in for a joint attack with the Howling Commandos on Hell's Heaven, stronghold deep within China. The mission was successful, but after Pierce pulled Team Black out, additional Hydra forces attacked and wiped out the Commandos. Pierce and his team survived and was all folded into a new United Nations sanctioned S.H.I.E.L.D. created by Fury and run by Daisy Johnson/Quake.

Mutant X
In the Mutant X reality, Alexander Pierce along other S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents fought Havok and The Six (X-Men) atop the Statue of Liberty where S.H.I.E.L.D. planned to release the Legacy Virus to kill all super-human life.

Television
Alexander Pierce appears in Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., portrayed by Neil Roberts. This version is a British recruit assigned to the eponymous character following their exile from S.H.I.E.L.D. under Jack Pincer.

Film
Robert Redford portrays Alexander Pierce in films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This version is the secretary of the World Security Council, Nick Fury's close friend, director of a Hydra cell within S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Winter Soldier's handler (a role originally filled by Aleksander Lukin).
 * Pierce is introduced in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). He masterminds Project Insight ostensibly to recognize and apprehend criminals and terrorists using Helicarriers, but in actuality plans to kill citizens whom Arnim Zola recognizes as a threat to Hydra to force the world into submission. When Pierce learns of Fury's investigation into Project Insight's confidential files, he dispatches the Winter Soldier to eliminate Fury and Steve Rogers. However, he is foiled by Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, Fury, and S.H.I.E.L.D. loyalists before Fury kills him.
 * An alternate timeline version of Pierce makes a cameo appearance in Avengers: Endgame (2019).