Following SHIELD’s fall, the MCU had plenty of prospects to fill its void, but one is being wasted. SHIELD, or the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, was a central foundation of the MCU from the very beginning in Iron Man with important characters including Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Agent Coulson. However, shortly into Phase 2 Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it was revealed that HYDRA laid long dormant within SHIELD, and thus the organization crumbled from the inside. For a while, nothing was officially presented as a successor in the MCU. That is until WandaVision revealed the existence of SWORD, dedicated to protecting Earth from extraterrestrial threats.

SWORD is certainly important to the MCU given its role in upcoming projects such as Secret Invasion and The Marvels. However, SHIELD’s truest replacement has unexpectedly risen in the form of Damage Control, which first debuted in 1988 in the comics and in Spider-Man: Homecoming for the MCU. Intriguingly, this organization has strangely diverged from its comics origins, picking up the lost pieces of SHIELD and absorbing its responsibilities and tactics. Damage Control’s current function in the MCU is seemingly quite similar to SHIELD’s during Phases 1 and 2.

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SHIELD Originally Showed How Regular People Might Deal With Superheroes

Agents of SHIELD Main Team

While SHIELD was a government agency with a bureaucratic angle, it was essential to build up the world of the MCU. Through Phase 1, Nick Fury and SHIELD were used to unite the initially disparate storylines to set up The Avengers. Phase 2 was where SHIELD developed exponentially, thanks predominantly to Agents of SHIELD and its intricate timeline. The show expanded the structure of the organization and exposed audiences to various perspectives, all of which were classically focused on heroes and superpowers. Agents of SHIELD’s purpose was to explore the world’s reaction to the rise of enhanced individuals, aliens, and hyper-advanced technology.

Significantly, Agents of SHIELD fully embraced the polarizing Inhumans, unlocking extraordinary abilities for everyday individuals, heartened criminals, and special agents alike. Tragically, this, along with SHIELD’s persistence in contrast with the MCU’s main continuity, did end up presumably dooming Agents of SHIELD and other Marvel Television shows to unofficial alternate universe status - perhaps it was Kang who destroyed their timeline. Regardless, across the series and also the One-Shot, "Item 47," in which two random people happen upon a Chitauri gun, SHIELD was portrayed as a governmental response to superpowers, something Damage Control has taken over inexplicably.

Damage Control Is Straying From Its Roots In Marvel Comics

Agent Deever Damage Control Ms Marvel MCU

Damage Control was first introduced in 1988’s Marvel Age Annual #4 as a construction company responsible for salvaging and repairing damage caused by superpowered people. In the MCU, that’s somewhat similar. Spider-Man: Homecoming quickly showed that Damage Control was styled more as a government agency. This has only been exacerbated in subsequent reprisals, with Damage Control coming to operate like the FBI specifically for enhanced individuals. Spider-Man: No Way Home saw them arresting Peter Parker after being unmasked by Mysterio, and in Ms. Marvel, Damage Control turned out to be the final antagonists hunting down Kamala and Kamran.

Their evolution might not be complete, and Damage Control could be unexpectedly important to the MCU’s continued introduction of mutants. Aptly, their dedicated interest in taking down enhanced individuals, particularly that of Agent Deever, could be tragically instrumental in the MCU developing a world wary of mutants, a foundational staple to the X-Men’s narratives. Additionally, Damage Control’s use of Stark drones could be seen as a precursor to the Sentinel program - it could also see them involved in Armor Wars in some way. All in all, this is incredibly different from its portrayal in the comics as a simple construction company repairing and cleaning up after superheroes and villains.

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Damage Control Can Be Redeemed From The Villain Group It's Become In The MCU

Damage Control Comics Crew

Damage Control’s charm in the comics is in their often-comical depiction of everyday people having to deal with powerful and destructive superheroes and villains. If there’s an opportunity to revert back to that, just as if there’s a chance for SHIELD to return through Chloe Bennett’s Quake, the MCU should pursue it. Such wouldn’t need to break the canon or even require massive retcons. Plainly, the MCU could just showcase the actual agents, or better yet, construction workers doing what Damage Control was designed for. If it returned to and maintained its roots, Damage Control could redeem itself for its strangely villainous past.

Frankly, Damage Control would be a perfect candidate for a workplace comedy within the MCU if there was the space for it. In fact, years ago, before the creation of Disney+, when Marvel Television was still active on its own, there were plans to make a Damage Control show that would be reminiscent of their history in the comics. That didn’t progress far, obviously, though if it had, it would’ve been in the same boat as Agents of SHIELD. Nevertheless, future MCU projects could and should begin to showcase Damage Control in a more comics-accurate light to demonstrate the organization’s best assets: its heart and character.

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