Jasper Sitwell

Jasper Sitwell
Jasper Sitwell Art by Carlo Pagulayan.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Strange Tales #144 (May 1966)
Created by	Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist)
In-story information
Species	Human-turned-zombie
Team affiliations	S.H.I.E.L.D. S.T.A.K.E.
Notable aliases	Agent 22
Abilities	Espionage skills Firearms expert

Jasper Sitwell is a fictional character, an espionage agent appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

The character was portrayed by Maximiliano Hernández in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Publication history

Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Strange Tales #144 (May 1966).

Jasper Sitwell appears as an agent of the fictional espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., beginning in the feature "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." in Marvel Comics' Strange Tales #144 (cover-dated May 1966) and continuing into the subsequent Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. comic-book series in 1968. He became the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to defense industry contractor Tony Stark beginning in the "Iron Man" feature in Tales of Suspense #93 (Sept. 1967), and continuing into that subsequent series as well. He was seldom featured from the early 1970s until the 1988 miniseries Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D., and then again in the 1996–1997 series Iron Man vol. 2. Sitwell afterward appeared in a three-issue arc of the superhero-team series The Avengers in 2000, and in Punisher War Journal #1 (Jan. 2007).

Fictional character biography

Jasper Sitwell graduated at the top of his class at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, with particularly high marks in airborne jump school and underwater maneuvers. When first introduced to S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Director Nick Fury, the new agent's eager-beaver attitude meets initially with mock (and occasionally real) frustration from Fury and second-in-command Dum Dum Dugan, but Sitwell soon proves himself and earns his fellow agents' respect — albeit tinged with occasional humor aimed at his youthfulness and idealistic naïveté. Mentored by Fury himself and occasionally appointed interim director when Fury is on solo missions in the field, Sitwell later is assigned to Stark Industries as liaison between S.H.I.E.L.D. and that defense-industry contractor, which designs and manufactures much of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ordnance and equipment. There he confronts costumed assassins and terrorists such as Grey Gargoyle, Spymaster (who shoots him and puts Sitwell in a coma for a time), and A.I.M., and even romances Whitney Frost, a one-time Stark paramour. Sitwell is eventually reassigned back to S.H.I.E.L.D., but continues to play a role in the affairs of Tony Stark from time to time. When Obadiah Stane takes over what was by then named Stark International, Fury sends Sitwell on an ultimately failed attempt to retrieve the Iron Man armors.

Sitwell, like most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. leadership at the time, is seemingly killed by a self-aware, renegade "Deltan" variety of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s artificial human "Life Model Decoys", and replaced by one such LMD, which was then installed as Executive Director. The real Sitwell later turns up alive after having been brainwashed by a faction of the terrorist organization HYDRA, placed in suspended animation, released as part of a plot against Fury, and eventually deprogrammed. He has since become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top interrogator, often paired with fellow agent Jimmy Woo. He has also worked closely with G. W. Bridge, mainly in an attempt to neutralize the threat of the Punisher.

Sitwell was one of the many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who refused to join Norman Osborn's H.A.M.M.E.R. organization in the wake of the Skrull Secret Invasion. He would join with Dum Dum Dugan to form a mercenary paramilitary group that would engage H.A.M.M.E.R., HYDRA and its associate "Leviathan" program, alongside Nick Fury's Secret Warriors. One of these many skirmishes sees Jasper lose his friends Eric Koenig and Gabriel Jones.

He also works with Nick Fury in regards to the underground activities of Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier.

During one of the Winter Soldier's missions, a brainwashed Black Widow is brought into custody at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. She had been influenced by old Russian brainwashing technology so it seemed she had broken free of one brainwashing attempt and had returned to her old self. This was actually a ruse by rogue Russian elements in order to strike at Nick Fury. Black Widow tried to kill Nick Fury but Sitwell got on the trajectory of the shot and was killed instead of Fury. His sacrifice gave Fury the opportunity to save himself.

He returned as a zombie through unknown ways and was held in Area 13 by a S.H.I.E.L.D. division called S.T.A.K.E. Sitwell joined the Life Model Decoy of Dum Dum Dugan and Agent Martin Reyna to fight Teen Abomination. After the defeat of Teen Abomination, Jasper was brought back to his cell. On the way back to his cell, he crossed Dugan and recognized him.

As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, Jasper Sitwell's zombie form appears as a member of S.T.A.K.E.'s Howling Commandos.

Jasper Sitwell's zombie form was seen with the Howling Commandos at the time when they help Old Man Logan into rescuing Jubilee from Dracula.

Powers and abilities

Jasper Sitwell has S.H.I.E.L.D. training in espionage, firearms, and hand-to-hand combat.

Other versions

The Ultimate Marvel version of Jasper Sitwell is a government operative. In Ultimate Fallout, he informs Nick Fury that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s budget will be decreasing by 30 percent.

In other media

Film

• Jasper Sitwell appears in films and Marvel One-Shots in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed by Maximiliano Hernández. The character is changed from his notable Caucasian, flattop haired persona, to a bald Latino American.
  • He debuted in the 2011 film Thor, where he acts under Phil Coulson. He is present when they discover Mjolnir and confiscate Jane Foster and Erik Selvig's research. When Thor breaks into the base to retrieve Mjolnir, Sitwell calls upon Clint Barton to take him out. Later, Sitwell and Coulson witness Thor's battle with the Destroyer.
  • In The Consultant, which takes place shortly after The Incredible Hulk, Sitwell meets with Coulson at a diner to discuss the issue of the World Security Council wanting Emil Blonsky to be part of the Avengers Initiative. They send The Consultant, who is actually Tony Stark, to annoy General Ross to the point that he would never release Blonsky.
  • In The Avengers, Sitwell appears throughout the film as a computer expert on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
  • Sitwell acts as the lead in Item 47, where he is assigned by fellow agent Felix Blake to hunt for two people named Benny Pollack and Claire Wise who have reprogrammed a Chitauri gun and started using it to rob banks. Sitwell captures them, but is more impressed than upset over their skills. He decides to induct them into S.H.I.E.L.D. with Benny as a part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s weapon division and Claire as Felix's assistant, much to his chagrin.
  • Sitwell reprises the role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where he is revealed to be a Hydra sleeper agent with many of his activities having gone under Nick Fury's knowledge and him reporting directly to Alexander Pierce. He is captured and reveals Hydra's plan to Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Sam Wilson. He is quickly betrayed by his fellow Hydra agents, and thrown out of a car by a brainwashed Winter Soldier.
  • Sitwell again reprises the role in Avengers: Endgame. He is seen during a scene which takes place in 2012.
• Jasper Sitwell's zombie form appears in Hulk: Where Monsters Dwell, voiced by Mike Vaughn.

Television

• Jasper Sitwell appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Tom Kane.
• Jasper Sitwell appears on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) with Maximiliano Hernández reprising his roles from the films. His appearances on the show takes place sometime after the Marvel One-Shot Item 47 and immediately before the film Captain America: The Winter Soldier, beginning with the first season episode "The Hub" where he greets Phil Coulson and his team to the eponymous base. When Jemma Simmons is snooping around, Sitwell catches her, but she knocks him out. Sitwell reappears in "Yes Men" where he tells Coulson that Nick Fury was off-the-grid after Coulson asked to speak with him. Sitwell made his last living appearance in "End of the Beginning" where he is present when Coulson gathers his allies to look for a person called The Clairvoyant. Sitwell states that he will help him, but that he had to take care of acting as an escort for Lemurian Star, leading into the events of The Winter Soldier. Sitwell later appears in the fifth season episode "Rise and Shine", with Adam Faison portraying a younger version of the character. It is revealed that Sitwell attended a Hydra Academy along with Wolfgang von Strucker and Hale and was assigned to acting as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Video games

• Jasper Sitwell appears as a supporting character in Marvel: Avengers Alliance, specifically in its Marvel XP section.
• Jasper Sitwell appears in Lego Marvel's Avengers, voiced by Keith Silverstein.
• Jasper Sitwell appears in zombie form in Marvel Avengers Academy, voiced by Jesse Adam.

See also

• List of S.H.I.E.L.D. members

External links

• The Grand Comics Database
• The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
• Iron Man Armory: Jasper Sitwell