| “ | It was only a matter of time before this happened. We can no longer pretend like the Inhuman threat doesn't exist. Each and every one of them is a lethal weapon and now those weapons are aimed directly at us. Make no mistake; this is an act of war. Unless we take a stand and fight back now while we can, we will be complicit in our own extinction. | „ |
| ~ Ellen Nadeer stating her view of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Inhumans |
Ellen Nadeer is a major antagonist in Season 4 of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
She is a United States Senator from New York who was very outspoken in her distrust of Inhumans and the threat she believed they pose to society, which stemmed from her own traumatic experience with extraterrestrial species during the Chitauri Invasion. While using her political position to destroy the reputation of the Inhumans, she also became an ally and benefactor of the Watchdogs, working with the Superior to kill the Inhumans.
She is portrayed by Parminder Nagra.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Ellen Nadeer grew up at the Nadeer Residence built by her father, where she and her brother, Vijay Nadeer, would play together, with Vijay once breaking his arm on a zip line. While living in New York City, Ellen Nadeer and her brother witnessed their own mother being killed by the Chitauri during her own birthday celebrations. Both Ellen and Vijay survived the attack, although this only began Ellen's hatred for alien beings, blaming them for the death of her mother, who she vowed to avenge, and fearing their kind returning.
In the wake of the Inhuman Outbreak, Ellen Nadeer began to view the emerging Inhumans as a threat to humanity, comparing them to the Chitauri who had killed her mother and thus affiliated herself with the anti-Inhuman organization, the Watchdogs while still presenting herself as a politician with a strong humans-first stance. She also had a deal with her brother that if either of them became an Inhuman, the other would kill them.
Discrediting Inhumans[]
In "Uprising", during a blackout attack, which her Watchdogs allies caused in order to discredit the Inhumans, she took the opportunity to address the event on television by doing an interview with WHiH World News, and to turn the public opinion against the Inhumans even further. During the interview Nadeer pushed her view that the Inhumans were dangerous weapons that were now a threat to mankind and claimed that if the regular humans didn't stand up and fight back against the Inhumans, the humans risked their own extinction.
Much to Nadeer's annoyance however, S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives had managed to find new evidence that it was the Watchdogs who had caused the blackouts with EMP-devices, successfully defeating them and returning power to Miami and Washington, D.C.. Refusing to give up on her mission, Nadeer claimed on WHIH World News that she still believed the Inhumans were to blame and that S.H.I.E.L.D could not be trusted, because the terrorist organization HYDRA had once infiltrated them before during the HYDRA Uprising and they would now be infiltrated by dangerous Inhuman terrorists.
During a visit to Vijay Nadeer's home and while watching her own interview, Nadeer was contacted by the Superior who informed her that before S.H.I.E.L.D. had turned the power back on they managed to kill 17 Inhumans during the chaos caused by the blackouts. She complimented the efforts, and requested that they call her again later, in order to give her more details. As she departed her brothers home, she told Vijay, still undergoing Terrigenesis and locked in his cocoon, that she would leave the TV on, in order to entertain him before she walked out of the house to continue her work.
In "Lockup", in the wake of S.H.I.E.L.D. announcing it's return, Nadeer was able to gain a debate with it's new director Jeffrey Mace. Once the interview went underway, Nadeer was immediately annoyed by Mace's introduction in which his actions involving the Bombing of the Vienna International Centre were noted and went into questioning why S.H.I.E.L.D. was now prioritizing Inhumans over Humans. As Mace continued to answer her questions, Nadeer tried to throw him off base by noting the South Ridge Penitentiary Riot S.H.I.E.L.D. was involved with, which Mace denied.
They continued to debate the issues involving Inhumans, including the blackout attack and Nadeer claimed that many lives had been lost since the Inhuman Outbreak, although Mace noted that fewer people had died since the signing of the Sokovia Accords. In the end, Nadeer accused Mace of not being honest about the Inhumans and claimed he was not the right man to be the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., leading to Mace deciding to make a shock confession that he was also an Inhuman, claiming his life changed when he had undergone Terrigenesis, giving Mace a new boost in popularity.
Nadeer managed to arrange a secret meeting with Mace shortly after their interview, meeting him inside her car. Once they had mockingly commented on each other's reactions to their new interview, Nadeer showed Mace footage from the prison riot which showed S.H.I.E.L.D. working with Ghost Rider, who had murdered Santino Noguera inside his prison cell before escaping with Phil Coulson. Threatening to leak the footage, Nadeer managed to blackmail Mace. She convinced Mace to send Jemma Simmons on a secret mission to assist Vijay Nadeer's Terrigenesis, which he reluctantly agreed to.
Betraying her own brother[]
In "Broken Promises", with Vijay Nadeer having finally been freed from his Terrigenesis cocoon, Nadeer brought him to the Nadeer Residence to recover. Vijay awoke and joined his sister in the garden, commenting on how he should Nadeer had planned on selling the house. Following a brief talk of their family and the Battle of New York, Nadeer asked her brother about his time inside the cocoon and what he remembered, although Vijay could only recall darkness and hearing his beloved sister's voice telling him to continue fighting through it all. Vijay also recalled the help he had gotten from Jemma Simmons, making a note that S.H.I.E.L.D. was now back, something Nadeer made it clear she detested. Nadeer began noting how she believed S.H.I.E.L.D. was responsible for the Inhuman Outbreak and other disasters, although Vijay clearly disagreed somewhat, being now more open to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s work since being saved by Simmons. Having briefly argued about the issue, Nadeer suggested that they go for a walk together and enjoy the beautiful scenery and weather to help Vijay's recovery and a chance to learn a little more.
As they walked together, Vijay commented on a zip line they had played on as children while Nadeer apologized to him, moments before a squad of Watchdogs agents appeared out of the trees and surrounded Vijay, holding him at gunpoint. Nadeer reminded her brother of the promise they had made to each other if they became Inhumans, to kill the other, however Vijay insisted that he was not Inhuman and tried desperately to convince her to let him live. In the end, Nadeer changed her mind and ordered Tucker Shockley to drop his gun as she hugged the relived Vijay closely. Returning to the Nadeer Residence, Nadeer was then confronted by Shockley while Vijay Nadeer was put in another room under guard. Shockley made it clear that he was furious that she had not allowed him to execute the Inhuman, noting that Vijay must be lying about not transforming. Shockley began to then imply that Nadeer herself might be an Inhuman, much to her annoyance, ordering him not to threaten her, while Shockley was not intimidated.
They were then interrupted by the arrival of Jeffrey Mace, who had brought Jemma Simmons and Quake to confront Nadeer. While Nadeer accused Quake of being a terrorist and commented on how Zach Bynum had been attacked in her office, Quake herself noted that Nadeer's personal bodyguard was using a gun preferred by the Watchdogs. Mace claimed they were there looking for her brother but Nadeer refused to allow them to enter without proper paperwork, threatening to contact Brigadier General Glenn Talbot if they all did not do as instructed and left there immediately.
Just as Mace and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were then leaving however, a gunshot was heard in the other room, so Nadeer ran to investigate. Seeing that Vijay was using his new Inhuman reflexes to take out Shockley and the other Watchdogs, Nadeer tried to calmly speak to him and convince him to leave with her, while Simmons tried to tell him to come with S.H.I.E.L.D.. However Nadeer was able to convince Vijay that S.H.I.E.L.D. would make him a soldier and weapon and he left with her instead, making their way onto Nadeer's helicopter and escaping the residence with Shockley. Seeing Vijay was looking at Shockley, Nadeer told him to look at her before apologizing yet again to him. Without another word, Nadeer fired a single shot into Vijay's stomach and watched him die, as his lifeless body fell onto her. Pushing Vijay's body off her, Nadeer told Shockley never to question her again before telling him it was time to strike back against S.H.I.E.L.D., when Shockley promised he would assemble a team, Nadeer refused and told him the Superior needed to send the men. Nadeer then ordered Shockley to dispose of Vijay's dead body by dropping it into the sea to disappear.
Helping Holden Radcliffe[]
In "Wake Up", Nadeer was contacted by Doctor Holden Radcliffe, a consultant at S.H.I.E.L.D., who informed Nadeer of a S.H.I.E.L.D. plot to install cameras into her office, information Radcliffe gave up in exchange for her protection. Not giving away what she knew, Nadeer attended a meeting in which Quake was due to sign the Sokovia Accords. Upon arriving, Nadeer expressed her surprise at seeing Jeffrey Mace before Brigadier General Glenn Talbot got between them and Nadeer took her seat.
As the meeting went underway, Quake was questioned by Chairman Gene Williams and Senator Maria Nunez until it was Nadeer's turn to speak. Nadeer began by questioning Quake's focus on protecting Inhumans over normal Humans, accusing Inhumans of being the cause of trouble although Quake insisted they were often the victims, making a subtle reference to Vijay Nadeer. Moving on, Nadeer then questioned what Quake had done with all of the stolen money and accused her of working against the government, which Quake then struggled to defend as Nadeer was indeed correct. Nadeer then accused S.H.I.E.L.D. of still engaging in illegal activities, which General Talbot denied until Nadeer was able to reveal that her men had discovered Phil Coulson and Yo-Yo Rodriguez breaking into her office and had arrested them both. Nadeer made a point that Rodriguez had also signed the Sokovia Accords but had taken part on this mission with the approval of the United Nations which went against what the Sokovia Accords stood for. Noting this is what had happened with Quake, Nadeer accused S.H.I.E.L.D. of now being a criminal organization like HYDRA had been.
With the law and Chairman Williams both on her side, Nadeer had a private meeting with Director Mace and General Talbot in which she demanded a full investigation into the new S.H.I.E.L.D. and it's most recent activities. As the situation was so serious, Nadeer then also threatened to bring in charges against S.H.I.E.L.D. for breaking into her office and going against the Sokovia Accords, intending to drag out the meetings for as long as possible to cripple S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attempts to continue their work. With the meeting over, Nadeer left satisfied with the result while Mace was disheartened. Back in her office, Nadeer had a meeting with Holden Radcliffe as they watched footage of the Radcliffe LMD before shot in the head by Leo Fitz, exposing that he had now escaped. They proceeded to discuss how Radcliffe had then gone to Nadeer when he knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. would discover his deception in the wake of Aida failed to steal the Darkhold. When Radcliffe noted how he needed Nadeer's protection, she made it clear that it would not be her protecting him, but the Superior who he would need to meet soon, which Radcliffe then agreed to, willing to do whatever it took.
Death[]
In "BOOM", upon hearing that S.H.I.E.L.D. had decided to once again go against the Sokovia Accords by hiding various Inhumans around the world for their protection without her approval, Nadeer ordered Zach Bynum to contact the United Nations to get them up in arms over the action. She then told Bynum to call for a press conference so she would ensure that the public's opinion over the move was on her side by the end of the day. While she was speaking, Nadeer noticed that Tucker Shockley had arrived and entered her own office. Nadeer refused to let Bynum and the other staffer be dismissed as Shockley explained how he and the Superior had been discussing her work with the Watchdogs and had thought that she had proven her devotion to their cause, noting how she had shot her own brother. However Shockley tone turned serious and he noted that she still had the same blood as her brother and therefore had the Inhuman gene in her and could pass it on to future generations which he openly despised about her.
Shockley called Nadeer part of the plague for having her brother's DNA, infuriating her as she demanded that he now leave her office. Shockley however noted that the Superior did not blame for before bringing out one of the Terrigen Crystals that he had been given. Nadeer begged him to stop however Shockley calmly smashed the Crystal exposing the Terrigen Mist filling Nadeer's office. Much to her delight, Nadeer soon realized she was not an Inhuman and instead watched as Shockley underwent Terrigenesis, much to his own utter horror at the realization as he screamed in anguish. Nadeer began laughing at Shockley, who was now trapped inside his cocoon, noting his mistake in believing she was the Inhuman and even calling him disgusting. However just as Nadeer was laughing at Shockley's state, his new Inhuman power manifested, which caused a massive explosion, destroying Nadeer's whole office and killing her alongside Bynum and the other staffer. Despite Quake and Jeffrey Mace questioning if Nadeer had set off the bomb as a publicity stunt, her death was soon confirmed by the FBI live on the news while they all watched before investigating themselves.
Appearances[]
Season 4[]
- "Uprising"
- "Lockup"
- "Deals with Our Devils" (mentioned)
- "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics" (mentioned)
- "Broken Promises"
- "The Patriot" (mentioned)
- "Wake Up"
- "Hot Potato Soup" (mentioned)
- "BOOM"
- "The Man Behind the Shield" (mentioned)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In "Uprising", Nadeer's first name was introduced as Rota, but she was identified as Ellen Nadeer in "Lockup".
- She is the MCU version of Senator Kelly from the X-Men comics, as he was outspoken on his negative views of Mutants.
- Ellen Nadeer was an human despite her brother Vijay being an Inhuman.
