| “ | I have no use for my father's way of thinking! He trapped himself in HYDRA, bound by its history, rules, hierarchy. No, thanks. Here's my pitch: Goodbye to all that. Say hello to anarchy. You'd be surprised how tempting that is to some people. | „ |
| ~ Malick explaining his goals to Coulson. |
Nathaniel Malick is a major antagonist in the TV series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
He is a former member of HYDRA, the son of Wilfred Malick and the younger brother of Gideon Malick. In the original timeline, Nathaniel was reluctantly sacrificed to Hive by Gideon, but in the new timeline, he is an anarchist leader in allegiance with the Chronicoms wanting to wreak chaos to establish a new world order.
In Season 3, he was portrayed by Joel Courtney, while in Season 7, he was portrayed by Thomas E. Sullivan.
Biography[]
Original Timeline[]
Nathaniel grew up with his brother Gideon under their father HYDRA leader Wilfred Malick. In early 1967 after their father died, the two brothers attended the funeral. Following the service, they were summoned by Daniel Whitehall to join his scientist faction. After Nathaniel denounced Whitehall, the two are told about how their father cheated through the ceremonies by using a marked stone that was hidden in a copy of Paradise Lost. Although the two left in disbelief, Nathaniel checked the book to see if he was telling the truth, in which he was. Nathaniel informed Gideon of this and the two promised to not be like their father, with Gideon throwing the stone into a pond. However at the ceremony, Nathaniel was chosen to be sent to Maveth after Gideon used the marked stone to cheat out of going. This left Nathaniel heartbroken and left betrayed as he was sent to the alien planet, where he was killed and possessed by the Inhuman Hive.
After returning to Earth in 2016, Hive would use Nathaniel's memories to avenge his death by killing his daughter Stephanie to make him understand sacrifice. This prompted Gideon to rethink his beliefs and betray HYDRA, which ultimately led to his death.
Alternate Timeline[]
Obtaining Powers[]
Thanks to the Chronicoms, who traveled in time and prevented his father's death, Nathaniel was never sacrificed by Gideon to Hive on Maveth in 1970. He is first seen attending the celebration at the Krazy Kanoe when his father announced the start of Project Insight. He was noticed by Daisy Johnson when Gideon approached her. Once Phil Coulson and Melinda May were ambushed by Wilfred and Chronicom Hunters, Daisy and Daniel Sousa used Nathaniel as a hostage to force his father to let them go. After they let Nathaniel free at the bar's exit and were pursued by Hunters outside, he witnessed Daisy use her powers to defeat and instantly became interested in them. Using his HYDRA connections, Nathaniel obtained a Chronicom weapon and in 1976, he used it to ambush Daisy and Sousa after being informed by the Chronicoms about where they were. Wanting her powers for himself, Nathaniel contacted a prison guard associated with Whitehall and explained that he wanted detailed instructions from the doctor related to his research on how to transfer enhanced abilities surgically.
At a remote location, Nathaniel walks in as the the two regain consciousness and Daisy calling him as psycho. He also introduced himself as while referring that his life had changed since they took him hostage three years before. He adds that he was never interested in HYDRA's beliefs such as worshipping Hive but was instead interested in the the two of them, wrongly assuming Sousa is an Inhuman since he hadn't aged in decades despite Daisy's insistence otherwise. Changing the subject, Nathaniel explained that he wasn't interested in the family business until he witnessed her powers and became determined to transfer them for himself. After Johnson saying her powers were genetic, Nathaniel revealed that he received instructions from Whitehall about how to do it. Upon hearing Whitehall's name, Daisy tried to kill him but to no avail since he dampened her powers. Nathaniel then began the experimentation on Daisy and took her into another room to drain her blood and fluids. Returning her to Sousa, he proceeded to have it transfused into himself but if it failed, he's switching to the knives. It was successful but as Sousa was escaping with Daisy, Nathaniel was unable to control it and the barn's roof crashed on top of him, leaving him incapacitated.
Creating Anarchy[]
Seven years later in 1983, Nathaniel was now able to control his powers. He had also aligned himself with the Chronicoms' Predictor Sibyl, who promised him the ability to control the world's future when he received the Time Stream from one of the Sibyl-Bots. With her knowledge, Nathaniel went to Afterlife to harvest the power of Inhumans where near the sanctuary, he stopped Jiaying's daughter Kora from taking her own life. After introducing himself to her and explaining how he knew what she was going to do, Nathaniel convinced Kora that Afterlife is an example of how rules are used to control people like them. Explaining that he plans on causing chaos with some soldiers, he convinces her to join him. Nathaniel and his crew start attacking Afterlife and take Inhumans prisoner where he and Kora were approached by Jiaying and a group. Nathaniel watched Kora standing by Nathaniel side's and agreeing to his claims that it was a prison. He also satisfyingly watched her burn Li's face as he tried to kill her. As Jiaying, Yo-Yo Rodriguez and May escaped with Gordon, Nathaniel and Kora took over Afterlife with a number of Inhumans as hostages. He explained that she was now free from the rules that everyone was "prisoners" to, further adding that he will redistribute a new world order through anarchy. He then taught her how to use her powers and said her little sister will be impressed.
Wanting to continue upsetting the timeline through chaos, Nathaniel recruited multiple criminals that S.H.I.E.L.D. killed in their futures and altered their fates. He then met with John Garrett (a nemesis of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the present day) and impressed him with his powers and knowledge of his future. Taking him to Afterlife, Nathaniel showed him the Time Stream and let him use it to see his own future and fate as he did with several others. He then showed him Li getting his powers transferred to one of his own men and had Kora kill him to put him out of his misery. Using the Time Stream, Nathaniel and his men ambushed Coulson and Gordon, ordering his men to prep Gordon for the operation. He then explains his goals to Coulson: a new world order through anarchy with help from the Chronicoms. They then oversee Gordon getting his powers transferred to Garrett, who then takes Nathaniel to the Lighthouse to kidnap Jemma Simmons. While Garrett looked for Simmons, Nathaniel confronted Jiaying and Daisy and proceeded to taunt Jiaying about her future, especially her torture, her attempt to kill her daughter and how she died before Daisy angrily blasted her. Nathaniel counterattacked her with his own blast but before he could finish her off, Jiaying intervened which prompted him to kill her. This made Daisy angry enough to cause him to run in terror to the Zephyr One where he and Garrett hijack it after kidnapping Simmons. Nathaniel then reveals to Simmons that Leo Fitz is the reason he might fail and needs to know where he is.
As the Zephyr One enters space so S.H.I.E.L.D. won't follow them, Nathaniel called for Chronicom reinforcements and had Simmons placed in the Cerebral Fusion Machine to locate Fitz but it wasn't working. After pulling her out, he slapped her for the answer but after this failed, he brings in Deke Shaw and has Garrett beaten in front of her. After this fails, he tries emotional torture by threatening to crack her skull and put her in a coma before noticing her implant. He then knocks Deke out for killing his father and has his men remove the implant. However after it turned out she was only one who could get it out, he put her back in for a second attempt despite the risk of him escaping her memories. He began cycling through her memories in the hopes of finding where he currently is but just as he was about to, her memories of Fitz slipped away much to Nathaniels frustration. Despite this, Nathaniel moved ahead with the plan which was Sibyl giving him the location of all the S.H.I.E.L.D. bases after breaching the Lighthouse's firewall with Kora's help. After Angrily killing one of his men for simply referring him as "sir", Nathaniel ordered the arrived reinforcements hem to fire on the bases. After Kora returned with Garrett, Nathaniel assured her that they were giving people new life and the two of them kiss.
In the final battle, Nathaniel Malick is finally killed by Daisy Johnson/Quake, avenging her mother Jiaying. At the end of the day, Nathaniel, the moron, amounted to nothing more than an overweening and arrogant man-child who simply got his hands on some cool toys; but in the end again amounted to even less.
