Hydra may be the most evil organization in Marvel. But S.H.I.E.L.D. comes pretty darn close to toppling them off of that throne. Here’s when S.H.I.E.L.D. was a bigger threat that Hydra
Initiating & Then Covering Up Project Lazarus
Project Lazarus was just one of the many research projects funded by S.H.I.E.L.D. to create super humans. Lazarus was one of the first ones to give tangible results. But the entire experiment went horribly wrong mid-way. The lead researcher of the project – Doctor Edward Cobert, was tasked with developing a simple human enhancement procedure. But what he ended up creating was a serum too dangerous to be tested on humans. So Cobert did the only sensible thing mad scientists do in comic books – he tested the serum on himself. The guy turned into a massive giant named Gargantuan. He had miniscule intelligence and almost became a global threat.
Funding Weapon X
If human experimentation was not enough, S.H.I.E.L.D. also had their hands dabbling in the art of mutant experimentation. The Weapon X program is always seen as an independent unit. But throughout its history, it was linked to high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. officials as patrons and supporters. S.H.I.E.L.D. used its power and influence to cover up any existence of the program as more and more mutants were kidnapped and sliced open in the name of science. The program was shut down ultimately but S.H.I.E.L.D. still has all the data from the Weapon X research. That is too much power in its hands it has gotten the wrong way.
Turning Banner Into Agent Hulk
The Hulk is infamous for being a loose cannon. Bruce Banner has a lot of power as the Hulk but he is also prone to mindless rampages as the Hulk. That’s why it is so hard to capture him and turn him into a weapon. The Hulk makes Bruce Banner unstoppable. Once the guy reached out to S.H.I.E.L.D. and the latter organization agreed to his demands. In return for letting Banner use their facilities and tame the Hulk persona, Banner will become an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. For quite a while, Bruce was just a pawn at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hands. He helped them kill many innocents, destroying hundreds of thousands in property damage.
Using The Cosmic Cube To Make Pleasant Hill
Imagine if you are in the world’s most suburban neighborhood. Your kids go to the school. You go get groceries for the day. And then you come home to kiss your wife on the head and pop open that beer. The perfect, quite American life. Except, you are a brainwashed supervillain with fake memories implanted into your brain that stop you from ever leaving the place. That’s Pleasant Hill for you. S.H.I.E.L.D. used the reality warping abilities of the Cosmic Cube to create this ‘Good Place’ kind of facility. The plan backfired and the villains started realizing what’s up. They soon got hold of the cosmic cube powering Pleasant Hill and used it to re-write reality themselves. This led to the infamous Secret Empire event.
Creating Life Model Decoys
Life Model decoys were created as simple substitutes for heroes to sub in for them when they are out there saving the world. Except S.H.I.E.L.D. made these robot stand-ins super smart. They were actually so intelligent that their code evolved and they eventually gained sentience in 1998’s Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. The LMDs became a threat just as big as the Skrulls and Ultron. It was only because of the timely action of Fury that the threat was averted. S.H.I.E.L.D. still uses LMDs despite the fact that they almost took over the world. That is just willful negligence.
