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Secretary Alexander Goodwin Pierce was one of HYDRA's leaders and its top undercover operative within the United States government. Following an incident in Bogotá, he lost faith in diplomacy and was recruited by HYDRA. By 1989, he became Undersecretary of the World Security Council and arranged for Werner Reinhardt's release from prison. Following his promotion to Secretary, he oversaw S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations and appointed Nick Fury as the organization's Director.
By 2012, he had become the leader of HYDRA and made a personal visit to Stark Tower following the Battle of New York in order to reacquire the Tesseract and secure Loki's capture, although his efforts were thwarted. In 2014, he conspired to use Project Insight to give HYDRA absolute control over Earth, and with the Winter Soldier under his control, ordered the assassinations of Fury, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. During the battle at the Triskelion, Pierce was forced to witness as Project Insight was destroyed by the efforts of Captain America, Falcon and Maria Hill. As the HYDRA Uprising began, Pierce killed most of the other members of the World Security Council and attempted to kill Romanoff, although he was killed by Fury before he could succeed.
"This man declined a Nobel Peace Prize. He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility. See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."
Alexander Goodwin Pierce was born to a father who served in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II.[2] His family connections allowed him to rise up the ranks much easier than others.[4] He went on to have a niece and had at least one child, a daughter. While working for the United States Department of State, a hostage situation in Bogotá caused Pierce to meet Nick Fury, who successfully saved the hostages, including Pierce's daughter. Pierce had hoped to negotiate with ELN, but Fury disagreed. Disobeying direct orders, Fury ordered a military operation that rescued the hostages before they were to be killed. The episode in Bogotá caused a shift in Pierce's attitudes toward diplomacy, and soon after he was recruited by HYDRA.
Due to his achievements, Pierce was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. However, Pierce declined the prize, quoting that peace was not an achievement but a responsibility. This action gained him Fury's trust.[2]
Head of S.H.I.E.L.D.[]
"Undersecretary Pierce took pity on him. Said it wasn't his choice which side the of the war he was on."
After being promoted to Secretary, Pierce appointed Fury as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., having been impressed by Fury's actions years prior in Bogotá.[2] He also met Melinda May, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best agents.[7]
"Alexander Pierce. He's the man above the folks behind Nick Fury." "My friends call me Mr. Secretary. I'm gonna have to ask you to turn that prisoner over to me."
This led to a heated discussion with Thor, who felt it necessary to take the Tesseract back to Asgard as Loki, because he had to be punished by Odin due to being an Asgardian war criminal. However, Pierce refused to listen to Thor and instead demanded Tony Stark to hand over the case with the Tesseract, even attempting to grab the case when he would not comply.[1] However, Pierce's attempts to secure both ended in naught, as Thor succeeded in retaining custody of the Tesseract and returned it, along with himself and Loki, to Asgard.[8]
As the Secretary of the World Security Council, Pierce started to use his influence and the database that housed the mind of Arnim Zola to develop Project Insight, outwardly an operation involving three heavily armed Helicarriers and network of targeting satellites that were allegedly supposed to form a security network to protect the United States of America. In truth, HYDRA actually desired to use them to target and kill approximately twenty million people selected by Arnim Zola's algorithm, any individual which was deemed to pose a threat to HYDRA's new world order.[2] Pierce was in regular contact with John Garrett as Project Insight developed.[7]
Pierce had a meeting with the World Security Council discussing the response to the hijacking of the Lemurian Star by Georges Batroc. When Douglas Rockwell suggested that the French were involved Pierce corrected him about the fact that Batroc was Algerian before discussing how this was one attack and suggested that the Council were being threatened too easily by such attacks.
The meeting was interrupted by Nick Fury who privately asked Pierce to delay Project Insight due to Fury's need to ensure there was no risk with the operation. Pierce was at first reluctant as he noted that such a request would require a subcommittee hearing, but Fury argued that if there was a risk it would be worth the extra work. Pierce agreed as long as Fury promised to convince Iron Man visit his niece's birthday party. When Pierce learned that the hijacking of the Lemurian Star was actually planned by Nick Fury in order to recover the confidential files related to the Project Insight, Pierce deployed the Winter Soldier to kill him with apparent success.[2]
"Captain Rogers has information regarding the death of Director Fury. He refused to share it. As difficult as this is to accept, Captain America is a fugitive from S.H.I.E.L.D."
Following Fury's apparent demise, Pierce had a meeting with Sharon Carter before meeting with Captain America to discuss the attack. Pierce revealed to Rogers how S.H.I.E.L.D. had captured and questioned Georges Batroc and discovered from him that Nick Fury was responsible for the hijacking of the Lemurian Star and that Fury had bugged Rogers' apartment. Pierce spoke to Rogers about his own history with Fury and how a mission to rescue hostages in Bogotá had led to Fury's promotion to the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.
When Rogers refused to reveal why Fury had been in his apartment the night he died, Pierce realized that Rogers was hiding something from him, likely meaning that his plans were under threat due to something Fury may have said to him. As Rogers left Pierce told him that he would find out the truth before he deployed corrupt STRIKE agents to capture Rogers, who overpowered the agents and escaped before going undercover along with Black Widow.
As the attack on Rogers was seen by all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents inside the Triskelion, Pierce called a meeting with the staff, many of whom, including Sharon Carter, were questioning why Rogers had become a target. As Jasper Sitwell's reasons were not being listened to, Pierce came down in person and revealed to the agents that Rogers was withholding information about Director Fury's death which made him an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D.
When the World Security Council demanded an update on the situation, Pierce tried to explain himself but found his job on the line. When Rogers and Romanoff's location was given away by the use of an encoded hard drive, Pierce sent the STRIKE team to capture them, only for them to fail. They were later located in Camp Lehigh, so Pierce made the call to destroy the base, with Rogers, Romanoff and the HYDRA computer program housing the consciousness of Arnim Zola inside.[2]
When Pierce learned that Captain America and Black Widow had survived the explosion and escaped yet again, he gave the Winter Soldier the assignment to assassinate Rogers and Romanoff. During his conversation with the Winter Soldier, Pierce's housemaid Renata entered; knowing that no one could know about Pierce's relationship with the assassin, Pierce shot and killed Renata in cold blood.
Rogers was able to capture Jasper Sitwell, who revealed all of Pierce's plans with Project Insight. Upon realizing Sitwell was a liability, Pierce gave a second order for Sitwell to be killed as well. After a battle on the streets of Washington, D.C., STRIKE teams managed to capture Rogers, Romanoff and Sam Wilson, but they were soon extracted from custody by an undercover Maria Hill.[2]
"Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century. And I need you to do it one more time. Society's at a tipping point between order and chaos. And tomorrow morning, we're going to give it a push."
Pierce met with the Winter Soldier at the Ideal Federal Savings Bank to make him report the failures of his mission to kill Steve Rogers; however, the Winter Soldier was unstable due to seemingly remembering Rogers from a past life. When the Winter Soldier noted that he felt he knew Rogers from some long lost memory, Pierce tried to convince him that it was simply because he had encountered him during the Attack on Nick Fury, but the Winter Soldier remained unconvinced and seemed to continue questioning how he knew Rogers.
When Pierce tried both beating and talking to the Winter Soldier to try to stable him and failed, he tried to reason with him by commenting on how his work as the key assassin for HYDRA had helped shape mankind for the better over the years and his continued work would still help them. When this failed, Pierce ordered Winter Soldier's mind to be wiped to be ready for his next mission. He left as the Winter Soldier screamed in pain.[2]
"What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow, and you knew they were going to drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution, and you could stop it with a flick of the switch... wouldn't you?"
Pierce proceeded with his plan to invite the World Security Council into the Triskelion to witness the beginning of Project Insight, but as S.H.I.E.L.D. prepared to deploy the Helicarriers, Captain America with Maria Hill and Falcon infiltrated the Triskelion and revealed by loudspeaker the truth behind HYDRA's plans and Pierce's true loyalty, and prompted every clean agent to stand up against HYDRA.
While Rogers and Wilson infiltrated the Helicarriers to modify their programming to change the targets from the people selected by Zola's algorithm to the Helicarriers themselves, Pierce found himself being threatened by the Council who were now prepared to stand against him. However, Jack Rollins and a STRIKE team entered the room and took the Council hostage while Brock Rumlow ensured the Helicarriers launched.
Pierce tried to show Singh and the other Council members his point of view, but they refused to listen. Seeing that Singh would not stand with him, Pierce took Rollins' gun and prepared to execute him. However, Black Widow suddenly revealed she had infiltrated the Triskelion by impersonating Pamela Hawley of the World Security Council by using a Photostatic Veil. Romanoff quickly defeated STRIKE and captured Pierce.
With Pierce now seemingly defenseless, he watched as Romanoff began to leak all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files and history onto the internet for the entire world to see. However, Pierce tried to stop her by noting that if she did then her own past would also be revealed, including her violent history as an assassin. Romanoff refused to listen and Pierce noted that she needed two high-level members to finish her plan. She explained company was coming.
Much to Pierce's surprise, the "company" turned out to be Nick Fury, who had survived his assassination attempt. Fury confronted Pierce about his plan and questioned why he had ever made him the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Pierce explained it was simply because he was the most ruthless man he had ever met and was the best at his job. Pierce suggested that S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA did, in fact, share the same enemies and they needed the courage to take the step to destroy them, which Fury refused to do.
Pierce was forced by Black Widow to help her and Fury to unlock every single one of S.H.I.E.L.D./HYDRA's secrets and upload them to the Internet. Although Pierce mocked their efforts as he claimed that Fury's password had been deleted, Fury revealed that he was still able to use his blind eye under his eyepatch to unlock the system and complete their plan, much to Pierce's disdain as he watched the intel begin trending online.[2]
Destruction of Project Insight[]
Pierce executes all of the Council Members
"You know, there was a time I would have taken a bullet for you." "You already did. You will again when it's useful."
With his plans in ruins and all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s and HYDRA's secrets released to the world, Pierce made a desperate attempt for freedom and executed the World Security Council members, except for Black Widow, by detonating a miniature bomb that he had given to them disguised as an access chip. He then ordered Romanoff and Nick Fury to lay down their weapons and allow him to escape to the helicopter.
As Pierce watched from the window, he witnessed Captain America's plans succeed as the Project Insight Helicarriers began firing upon each other, destroying them before they could unleash their planned massacre. Pierce used the threat of the bomb on Black Widow's clothes to force Fury to let him go. As he was leaving, Fury informed him that he would have once taken a bullet for Pierce; in response, Pierce jokingly threatened that Fury would again.
Refusing to allow such a dangerous enemy to escape, Romanoff used a Taser Disk to short out the bomb and knock herself unconscious, leaving Pierce momentarily shocked and defenseless. This gave Fury the opportunity to fatally shoot Pierce twice in the chest, knocking him back through a glass wall. Pierce uttered "Hail HYDRA," and died laying in a pile of broken glass and his own blood, moments before Helicarrier IN-01 destroyed the Triskelion.[2]
Legacy[]
HYDRA's Exposure[]
"You're afraid it was Alexander Pierce." "Secretary Pierce was the man in charge... the only person Fury took orders from, and he was HYDRA."
A news report confirmed Pierce's death too, describing him as a particular individual who seemed to have been involved instrumental in orchestrating the Battle at the Triskelion, causing Brock Rumlow to defect from HYDRA and become an independent terrorist.[10] In 2016, Pierce was called "one of the most controversial figures of our time" by WHiH World News.[11]
Personality[]
"Diplomacy? A holding action, Nick. A band-aid. And you know where I learned that. Bogotá. You didn't ask, you just did what had to be done. I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing twenty million. It's the next step, Nick, if you have the courage to take it."
As a high-ranking member of S.H.I.E.L.D., Pierce was respected by many of his subordinates, including Nick Fury. That respect was gained by decades of service in S.H.I.E.L.D., fighting for and promoting international stability and worldwide peace. However, beneath the exterior of a good man, Pierce was actually a loyal agent of HYDRA who was able to cleverly hide his true goals in order to gain the trust of others. Always calm and collected during dangerous situations, Pierce showed no physical stamina or skill, but he was still one of HYDRA's most valuable operatives because of his extraordinary position within S.H.I.E.L.D., the United States Government, and the World Security Council. Maybe his greatest talent was his ability to present his actions as if they were for the good of the mankind, while he was actually pushing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations in the right direction to serve HYDRA's goals.
As a member of HYDRA, Pierce was a ruthless and masterful manipulator who showed a complete lack of morality or remorse. To ensure HYDRA's global domination, he rallied S.H.I.E.L.D. into pursuing Captain America so he could trick the World Security Council into activating Project Insight undisturbed. He was no stranger to killing and could murder without batting an eye as he did with his housekeeper and with the World Security Council. Pierce no doubt held a great amount of pride for his leadership position within HYDRA as after his true loyalty was exposed by Captain America via loudspeaker to all of S.H.I.E.L.D. He made no attempt whatsoever to deny the Captain's revelation and showed very quickly that it was indeed the truth. Like any good spy, Pierce also knew how to act in the necessary situations, such as when Tony Stark suffered a heart attack after the Battle of New York due to the machinations of his 2023 future self and Ant-Man, leading Pierce to kneel down to help Stark and call for a doctor despite their initial fight for the custody of Tesseract and Loki.
He appeared to be somewhat abusive towards his minions, slapping the Winter Soldier for failure to kill Captain America, although this was more likely to snap him out of his trance. However, he did have somewhat of a comical edge, asking if Nick Fury would arrange to have Iron Man attend his niece's birthday party, and offering milk when the Winter Soldier appeared in his house. Even in his final moments, Pierce pledged his loyalty with his final words being "Hail HYDRA".
Despite all this, Alexander Pierce had some humanity in the form of an apparent love for his daughter. He also had a niece whom he was clearly fond of, requesting that Tony Stark make an appearance at his niece's birthday party in return for Project Insight's delay. He also appeared to genuinely regret shooting his maid Renata, wishing that she'd knocked on the door instead of walking right into his apartment.
Abilities[]
"I'm glad you're here, Nick." "Really? Because I thought you had me killed." "You know how the game works."
Master Tactician: Pierce was a very skilled tactician. As a politician, he made very important decisions for S.H.I.E.L.D. as well as against it. He orchestrated HYDRA's Uprising. This included controlling the Winter Soldier to make assassinations on people who are a threat to HYDRA, like President John F. Kennedy. He also planned some of Project Insight. In preparation for this, he had three Helicarriers built and even convinced Nick Fury for a short while. He also tried to convince Captain America to think Fury was the enemy. He took control of the World Security Council before he was stopped by Fury and Black Widow.
Master Spy: Pierce used his great abilities as a spy to infiltrate the World Security Council, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the United States Government, all while ensuring that the only people who knew about it were within HYDRA.
Marksman: Pierce was skilled in the use of firearms, particularly pistols. He shot and killed Renata and later threatened the World Security Council with his sidearm.
As the member of World Security Council and the Undersecretary of S.H.I.E.L.D., Pierce had his own office at the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in Washington, D.C. Possessing the algorithm from Arnim Zola, Pierce started the Project Insight at the Triskelion in order to eliminate the most dangerous targets for HYDRA. Before the launch of the Project, Pierce invited the fellow councilmen to the Triskelion, however, Captain America exposed that S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised by HYDRA led by Pierce. Pierce threatened to kill the councilmen before he was stopped by Black Widow who intended to expose the HYDRA conspiracy. As Nick Fury suddenly appeared in front of Pierce, he killed the councilmen and attempted to leave the Triskelion with Romanoff, however, was killed by Fury.
Pierce used HYDRA assets to establish the secret compound in Washington, D.C. beneath the abandoned bank building where he kept the Winter Soldier. Following the Battle of Washington, D.C., Pierce visited the Winter Soldier at the compound, demanding the report about the incident. As Pierce figured that he started remembering Steve Rogers and his former life, he ordered scientists to wipe out the Winter Soldier's memory with Memory Suppressing Machine.
Alexander Pierce in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the second live-action incarnation of the character, following an incarnation portrayed by Neil Roberts.
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