Daniel Whitehall (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Daniel Whitehall (formerly known as Werner Rienhardt) is a high-ranking member of HYDRA who appears in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and serves as the main antagonist in the first half of Season 2 up until his death in "What They Become" (though even after that, his actions still cause everything that happens in the second half to happen regardless) and the series' incarnation of the Kraken, a HYDRA agent from the Marvel Comics universe. He is portrayed by Reed Diamond.

Youth and Early Career
Born in Arnsberg, Germany on September 13, 1904, after World War I, Werner Reinhardt joined the Nazis and became an officer of the Schutzstaffel. He rose in ranks until he became an Obergruppenführer (Lieutenant general), eventually joining HYDRA, the special science division led by the infamous Johann Schmidt.

The Obelisk
''"Is this the reason these men...? Hmm?"
 * "''Not everything we dug out of the ground was an antique, my friend. Some of it was quite advanced."

"Ja. The Red Skull said it may hold the answer... the answer to death itself."
 * ―Reinhardt and HYDRA Officer

When World War II broke out, Reinhardt actively participated in German conquest of Europe, earning several high military decorations, including the Panzer Badge, the Close Combat Clasp, and the Iron Cross First Class. As an officer of HYDRA, he was sent to search for mysterious artifacts. On one occasion, his team discovered the corpse of a blue-skinned humanoid organism. Somehow, Reinhardt learned about Johann Schmidt's disfigurement that earned him the nickname "Red Skull".

Among the various myths HYDRA researched, to Reinhardt the most intriguing one was the story about an Obelisk-like object with the power to turn living creatures into stone. Reinhardt became especially obsessed with the Obelisk, and came to learn of the myth behind it. It was an old story from the East about the "stars that fell from the heavens". Being an intelligent man, Reinhard realized the "stars" were actually extraterrestrials who came to Earth thousands of years earlier; Reinhardt was led to believe that the aliens intended to conquer Earth, but failed.

Monstrous Experiments

 * "Discovery requires experimentation."
 * ―Werner Reinhardt

By March 1945, Reinhardt was the commanding officer of a HYDRA Fortress in Austria. His team was able to capture a group of people from China who have found the Obelisk. When he showed the object to his leader, Schmidt said that the Obelisk may hold the answer to death itself.

Reinhardt continually tested the Obelisk's power on various prisoners in order to find the reason behind the lethal effects, and why the effects differed from person to person. Eventually, one of his subjects, a young woman, was able to touch the Obelisk without dying, and instead triggered an unusual response whereas the Obelisk radiated a bright light. Before Reinhardt could study the woman, word of Schmidt's apparent demise at the hands of Captain America became known, and he ordered his men to evacuate the fortress.

Defeat
''"Oh, there's no reason left to fear the Red Skull. He's dead. However, his vision is not. The work HYDRA has done will live on."
 * "''Herr Reinhardt, I-I fear Schmidt..."
 * ―HYDRA Officer and Reinhardt

Afraid the Allies would capture him, Reinhardt and his men moved to a more secure location, a HYDRA Research Facility in Austria. The facility housed dozens of artifacts collected by HYDRA over the years, many of them held in the boxes marked with the logo of the Deutsches Afrikakorps. However, the Allied advance into Austria was faster than Reinhardt predicted, and he made a plan to escape with the artifacts from the facility and continue HYDRA's work.

However, the facility was attacked by the Strategic Scientific Reserve team led by Peggy Carter, Jim Morita, and Dum Dum Dugan. Reinhardt and all of his men were captured. Before he was taken away, Reinhardt warned Agent Carter that if one of HYDRA's heads was cut off, two more would grow in its place.

The Second Chance
''"They'll send rockets into space. Maybe they can strap you to one of them."
 * "''The US Government has recruited many German scientists."

"They'll show you parlor tricks. Giving me a second chance could save all of humanity."
 * ―Werner Reinhardt and Peggy Carter

After his capture, Reinhardt was taken to a secret S.S.R. facility. While imprisoned, Peggy Carter came to interrogate him. As many former Nazi scientists were alreadyrecruited by the US Government, Reinhardt expressed the wish to be recruited as well, as he considered himself far more valuable than those who would make parlor tricks by sending rockets into space. Agent Carter then mentioned his many war crimes, but he offered to help her understand the items the S.S.R. has confiscated from his last commanding post. He told her about the myth concerning "blue angels" and revealed the extraterrestrial origin of the artifacts. While visibly interested in this revelation, Carter's disgust towards Reinhardt's actions proved stronger and she opted to just let the man rot in prison for the rest of his days.

Years in Prison

 * "Nothing stays buried forever."
 * ―Werner Reinhardt

Sentenced to life imprisonment, Reinhardt spent the next forty-four years in a small cell in a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison called the Rat. In 1989, now a weak old man, Reinhardt was visited by two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who told him that he was free because Director Alexander Pierce gave him a medical parole, citing that Reinhardt had joined the SS and HYDRA under duress - though in fact Pierce was a member of HYDRA. As one agent left the cell, the other whispered "Hail HYDRA". When Reinhardt replied with the same salute and asked why is he needed after so many years, the agent said that he would have to see himself.

New Experiments

 * "I see it's time we find out exactly what makes you so special."
 * ―Werner Reinhardt to a woman

Reinhardt was quickly returned to his old fortress in Austria, where he was both shocked and elated to discover that the Chinese woman he had met years prior was still alive and young. He operated on the poor woman in an attempt to find the truth behind her immunity to the Obelisk, but found little results. However, he was able to use the woman's DNA to physically regress back to his middle-age. By next year, he took up the identity of Dr. Daniel Whitehall, becoming one of HYDRA's most prominent figureheads alongside Wolfgang von Strucker.

HYDRA Uprising
"You have no idea."''
 * "''Creel has escaped and did indeed make off with the Obelisk. He should contact us shortly. I would have him come in, but I'm being overly discreet with this operation. I know how long you have been searching for this, Dr. Whitehall."
 * ―Sunil Bakshi and Daniel Whitehall

In 2014, after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., Whitehall's second in command Sunil Bakshi hired Carl Creel to reclaim the Obelisk from the United States Armed Forces. At first, Creel's mission was successful, but the Obelisk was stolen from Bakshi and Creel was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and turned over to General Glenn Talbot.

The New S.H.I.E.L.D. Strikes
"I'm afraid not."''
 * "''S.H.I.E.L.D.'s becoming a problem. Do we know who's in charge?"
 * ―Daniel Whitehall and Sunil Bakshi

When HYDRA captured a former S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Agent 33, Whitehall personally oversaw her brainwashing, hoping to turn her into a loyal HYDRA agent. Despite her bold proclamation that she would never serve HYDRA, Whitehall was sure she would eventually comply. When Sunil Bakshi returned from his mission in Morocco, he spoke with Whitehall.

During their conversation, Agent 33 gave him paperwork that needed his signature. Whitehall then told Bakshi that Jemma Simmons could be reprogrammed if necessary. Somehow, Whitehall found out that it was Raina who took the Obelisk. He and a few of his men confronted Raina in her car, where he planted a torture-device on her hand, and threatened her that if she didn't deliver the Obelisk to him in 48 hours, she will experience even more torture.

Duplicating the Obelisk
"Some of us are pleased with these small triumphs. Others have loftier aspirations passion, even. Our founder, he had his Tesseract. As for me, well, it would be an understatement to say that I've waited my whole life to get possession of the Obelisk, to harness its power."''
 * "''There were positives. Many of the deceased were enemies of HYDRA."
 * ―Lingenfelter and Daniel Whitehall

Later, Whitehall and his scientists attempted to duplicate the Obelisk's power. HYDRA's demonstration at the wedding of Pete and Mariah Leitner ended with a few dead civilians and U.S. Navy officers, but that wasn't the result Whitehall hoped to achieve. Later, Whitehall had a meeting with his top scientists, including Dr. Lingenfelter, Jemma Simmons, and Kenneth Turgeon. He expressed his disappointment, but Simmons assured him that the Obelisk could be used for mass executions.

Later, after Bobbi Morse and Jemma Simmons escaped from the HYDRA Laboratories when their covers were exposed, Whitehall was discussing with Sunil Bakshi about moving to a new location when an unknown man broke into Whitehall's office. When the two guards tried to stop him, the stranger easily killed them. The man then opened the bag he was carrying to reveal the Obelisk inside. The man offered to teach Whitehall not only how to use the power of the artifact, which he called the Diviner, but how to survive it. Whitehall asked for his motives, and the stranger told him that the two had a common enemy: Phil Coulson.

A New Alliance
''"Better yet, I'll teach you how to survive it."
 * "''Can you tell me how to use it?"

"And why would you do that?"

"We share a common enemy. A guy named Phil Coulson. I thought maybe together, you and I could kill him along with, you know, everyone else."
 * ―Whitehall and The Doctor

The new alliance soon proved to be very fruitful. Whitehall and his new ally sent schematics based on the work of Vincent Beckers and adapted with the power of the Diviner to Toshiro Mori to create the Splinter Bomb.

Later, on Whitehall's orders, a group of HYDRA operatives led by Marcus Scarlotti and disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attacked the United Nations Headquarters, creating the new wave of outrage against S.H.I.E.L.D. across the world. In coordination with Whitehall, Julien Beckers, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs and a secret member of HYDRA, declared Belgium a safe heaven for all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, attracting many of them to his country. However, the trap wasn't so successful as Whitehall predicted. Only six S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were killed and Beckers, Scarlotti and his team were captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and the United States Armed Forces under General Talbot.

In a meeting with Sunil Bakshi, Grant Ward, who escaped the FBI's custody, wondered who was Bakshi's direct superior since Wolfgang von Strucker was working overseas so he could meet him. Bakshi told Ward that Whitehall was too busy for a meet-and-greet. Ward tried to entice Bakshi by saying that he could get Whitehall and Phil Coulson to meet so Whitehall could kill him.

Whitehall had a meeting with Grant Ward, who found him without Bakshi, and showed him news footage of the alleged murder-suicide of his brother Christian Ward and his parents. While in their meeting, the Doctor entered and introductions were made. Somehow, Whitehall learned that the Chinese woman he killed in 1989 was the Doctor's wife.

Search for the Kree City
"How fortunate. I'll get my best man on it right away."''
 * "''They've got her, sir. I'm sorry, but she did mention that they implanted a tracker in her."
 * ―Agent 33 and Daniel Whitehall

After learning that Raina was one of those who survived touching the Obelisk, Whitehall sent a few agents to find her. Led by Agent 33, they found her in Vancouver, but when they tried to kidnap her, she was saved by a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and taken onboard the Bus. Whitehall was called by Agent 33 who informed him about the failure of the operation. When Agent 33 said that Raina had a tracker on her, Whitehall replied that he would send his best man to take care of the situation.

When Whitehall met with Agent 33, she told him that Grant Ward successfully captured Raina but he also obtained Skye from the Bus, promising that the four HYDRA quinjets surrounding the plane would not fire if she came willingly. Whitehall told her that Ward did not have the authority to give such a promise and ordered her to order an attack. Some time later, Whitehall was informed about the location of the alien city. It was buried under the city of San Juan in Puerto Rico. Whitehall also learned that Skye was the Doctor's daughter.

Death

 * "It's a pity that you won't get to fulfill that destiny, or that after all these years, you won't get your vengeance for what I did to your wife. Secure him. Remain alert around Agent Ward. He's a trained killer, one of the best. I have a feeling that, in time, I can make you comply."
 * ―Daniel Whitehall to Skye, the Doctor, HYDRA Agents, and Grant Ward

After scanning the city through the ground, Whitehall's men discovered the temple inside the city was located exactly a couple hundred feet beneath the Ponce de León Theater. They quietly occupied the theater and started drilling right through the volcanic rock.

When Whitehall arrived to San Juan, he came to the theater, where he ordered a meeting. With the Doctor, Raina, Grant Ward, Skye assembled, Whitehall expressed his gratitude to the Doctor, but asked Ward why he didn't order the destruction of the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane from which Raina and Skye were taken. As Agent 33brought the Diviner, Whitehall ordered Skye to take it from its box. When she did that and the alien symbols appeared, she attacked one agent with it, killing him. The Doctor also killed one agent, and Ward pointed his pistol at Whitehall's men. However, the mutiny was short-lived. When the mutineers were disarmed, Whitehall told Skye that he hopes she's special like her mother.

Later, in another section of the theater, where Ward and Skye were restrained, Whitehall came to gloat over the Doctor. As the Doctor tried to kill him, Whitehall shocked him with the remotely controlled miniature taser implanted on his neck. As the Doctor fell down, Whitehall told Skye what was her mother's special ability. He expressed his hopes that that was Skye's special ability too. But just as he told the Doctor that he wants him to watch him butchering his daughter, Phil Coulson and a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attacked the theater. Whitehall and Agent 33 then left the room to deal with the intruders.

In the main corridor, Whitehall gave orders to his men to clean the theater floor by floor. Immediately after he was left alone, the Doctor suddenly appeared. Whitehall then aimed his pistol at the Doctor, and just as he was about to shoot him, Phil Coulson snuck up behind him and shot him twice in the back, killing him.

Personality
Daniel Whitehall is completely amoral and capable of committing any crime that could help his or HYDRA's goals. He had no problems with killing dozens of people to test the Obelisk's power. He doesn't care about any of his lower henchmen, because he has hundreds of them at his disposal.

Whitehall constantly calculates and seeks a person's motive before applying action. When confronted by Zabo in his office, he stopped Sunil Bakshi from acting to learn why Zabo was there, though he witnessed Zabo kill two of his operatives moments earlier. Before he acted on Grant Ward's disobedience for not attacking the Bus, Whitehall met with him and asked his reasons.

Whitehall is dedicated to understanding and discovery. As a scientist, he is observant to and fascinated by new situations and will experiment endless to find solutions to his questions. He developed a mantra of "discovery requires experimentation" to justify his amoral experiments.

Powers
By transplanting Skye's mother's blood and organs to himself, Whitehall was able to reverse the aging process and become the same man he was at the end of World War II. Now his aging is slowed down so much that he looks like he hasn't aged a day between 1989 and 2014.

Abilities

 * Master Tactician: Whitehall possessed military knowledge and skills of a World War II general, improved with years of study while imprisoned at the Rat. As one of the leaders of HYDRA, he's a master strategist who always has the big picture in mind.
 * Master Scientist: His scientist career is what allowed him to transplant the blood and organs of Skye's mother into himself, and was named a special HYDRA scientist too for this. He had been able to perform experiments on several forms of alien technology too, even Kree technology.

Equipment

 * Weapons
 * Luger P08: Whitehall was armed with the standard Luger P08 pistol used by members of the armed forces of Nazi Germany.
 * FN Five-seveN: During the battle at the Ponce de León Theater, Whitehall attempted to kill the Doctor with the FN Five-seveN.
 * Uniform: During World War II, Whitehall used an official black SS uniform, wearing the rank insignia of Obergruppenführer (Lieutenant general). The SS runes on the right side of the collar were replaced with the HYDRA badge. He wore three military decorations on the left side of the uniform, the Panzer Badge, the Close Combat Clasp, and the Iron Cross First Class. His officer cap also had the HYDRA badge instead of the SS Totenkopf badge.

Trivia

 * In the comics, Daniel Whitehall is a legendary member of HYDRA known as the Kraken.


 * Both Daniel Whitehall and John Garrett were members of the Great Wheel of the Zodiac, a collection of eleven of the most experienced espionage leaders in the Marvel Comics main continuity. Other prominent members that already appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan and Wolfgang von Strucker.


 * Daniel Whitehall's death marks the second time Phil Coulson had killed a main antagonist in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the first being John Garrett.


 * Much like Garrett and the Red Skull before him, he is considered a Complete Monster.


 * Though he dies halfway through the season, he can still be considered the main villain and Big Bad of the season because his sadistic dissection of Jiaying traumatically turned her into a villain and there is nothing else that could have happened to her that would have caused her to do the things she did. It is reasonable to say that he is more deserving of the blame than her for her attempts to start a war against S.H.I.E.L.D.