Lance Hunter

Publication history

Created by Gary Friedrich, and first penciled by Herb Trimpe, Hunter made his debut in Captain Britain Weekly #19 on February 16, 1977. He was the UK, and S.T.R.I.K.E., counterpart to Marvel's Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Hunter continued to appear within the pages of Captain Britain Weekly throughout the rest of 1977 but would not appear on panel again until 30 years later in the Civil War: Battle Damage Report one-shot in 2007.

Fictional character biography

After Tod Radcliffe, a Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies traitor secretly working for the Red Skull, was exposed, Commander Lance Hunter introduced himself as the Director of S.T.R.I.K.E. to Nick Fury. The agents of S.T.R.I.K.E. and S.H.I.E.L.D. worked together to track down the Red Skull's Nazi activities. It was then revealed that Red Skull had kidnapped the British Prime Minister, James Callaghan and had set a germ bomb over London to be detonated at midnight. Hunter, aided by Fury and the pair's respective superheroes, Captain Britain and Captain America, stopped the bomb which had been placed on the minute hand of the Big Ben and thwarted the Red Skull's plans.

Hunter aided Captain Britain in the capture of villain Lord Hawk, and took the injured hero to S.T.R.I.K.E. headquarters to recover. However, while there Captain Britain's spirit was summoned away by Merlin where he did battle with a monstrous giant. Injuries suffered in this spirit realm transferred to the Captain's real body. Hunter ordered the doctors to keep working to save the stricken hero. When Hunter finally admitted defeat at the bed side of Captain Britain's lifeless body, the Captain returned to the real world and left the base.

Sometime after S.T.R.I.K.E. was dissolved, Hunter gained the rank of commodore and was seen alongside Contessa Valentina Allegro de Fontaine, and Alistaire Stuart briefing British superhumans on the details of the British Superhuman Registration Act. Following the Skrull invasion of Earth, and the revelation that the then-Joint Intelligence Committee chair person was in fact a Skrull impostor, Hunter was made the new JIC Chair.

Hunter agreed to let S.H.I.E.L.D. European Division take charge of the cleanup when Mys-Tech was defeated, as MI-13 didn't have the resources. He approved keeping MI-13 out of the loop entirely, which infuriated Pete Wisdom when he found out.

Powers and abilities

Lance Hunter has years of Naval training, with an expertise in munitions, as well as experience in espionage from working for British Intelligence.

Other versions

In Earth-22110, Lance Hunter is Rifleman. He is a Captain Britain Corps member.

In other media

Lance Hunter appears as a regular character in the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a TV series which takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed by Nick Blood. He debuted in the season two premiere "Shadows" as a mercenary who is working for Phil Coulson's reconstituted S.H.I.E.L.D. in a team under the leadership of his old acquaintance Isabelle Hartley. The episode "Heavy is the Head" reveals that he was a decorated member of SAS prior to going freelance. At the end of the episode, Coulson formally recruits him as an agent into S.H.I.E.L.D. In the episode "A Hen in the Wolf House", Hunter is revealed to have been previously married to Bobbi Morse.

It was reported that Blood will appear in a spin-off series along with Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse. The development of the spin-off series has been put on hold indefinitely, meaning that Lance and Bobbi Morse will remain as series regulars on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for season 3. Variety announced that the series has been ordered by the network under the title Marvel's Most Wanted. On May 12, 2016 ABC announced that Marvel's Most Wanted will not be produced.