| “ | I was a god. I did what no other scientist since Erskine was able to do. But mine was going to be different. | „ |
| ~ Wilfred Nagel's reasonins behind his new Super Soldier Serum. |
Dr. Wilfred Nagel is a minor antagonist in the 2021 Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
He was a HYDRA operative who was tasked to recreate Dr. Abraham Erskine's legendary Super Soldier Serum, goal he keeps working for even after HYDRA's defeat due to the CIA recruiting him. However, after losing all his funding thanks to being a victim of Thanos' Snap, Nagel settles down on Madripoor and perfects the Super Soldier Serum to sell it to the best bidder, filling the world with new Super Soldiers not meant to be.
He was portrayed by Olli Haaskivi in his first villainous role.
History[]
Past[]
Sometime before the HYDRA Uprising, Wilfred Nagel was hired by the organization to join the Winter Soldier Program and recreate the Super Soldier Serum that Dr. Abraham Erskine engineered during World War II to turn Steve Rogers into Captain America, as Howard Stark's version didn't succeed. Nagel accepted the task, but as he perfected the serum, HYDRA was discovered by Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon and Nick Fury, leading to HYDRA's exposure and subsequent disbandment before Nagel could complete his serum. Despite this, Nagel was offered by the CIA to continue his work for them, as they counted with blood samples of Isaiah Bradley, a black Super Soldier hidden from history. This eventually led to Nagel to complete his formula in 2018, though he modified it to ensure the consumers didn't suffer any physical changes. However, before he could synthesize the serum, Nagel was claimed as one of the many victims of Thanos' Snap. After the Avengers restored him in 2023, Nagel found out that the CIA had terminated the Super Soldier program, leaving him jobless.
Undeterred and not willing to lose his progress, Wilfred fled to Madripoor, Southeast Asia to continue his work, which became possible when Sharon Carter, a disgraced ally of Captain America after the Avenges Civil War now known as the Power Broker, decided to provide him with the necessary funds and resources to synthesize his Super Soldier Serum. Nagel did so and his Super Soldier Serum was finally completed. However, the following year, Nagel was approached by Karli Morgenthau and her Flag Smashers, who wished to use the serum to cure Donya Madaine from her tuberculosis, but Nagel declined out of a lack of interest. He created twenty vials with his serum, but unable to accept a "no" for an answer, Morgenthau and her men stole the vials, much to his anger.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier[]
In 2024, Wilfred Nagel is working in his hidden laboratory inside Madripoor's docks until Falcon, the Winter Soldier and Baron Zemo break into his lab after being taken there by Carter. Intimidated to speak despite his attemtps to tell the intruders to get lost, Nagel proceeds to tell them about everything he knows, how he was hired by the HYDRA and the CIA to create the Super Soldier Serum and how the Flag-Smashers stole his vials and became Super Soldiers themselves after he denied to help them save Madani.
As Nagel tells all of this to the three men, Sharon comes into the lab to warn her friends that Low Town's incoming bountry hunters are about to find them as Nagel watches thme on his seat. Realizing the danger Nagel is and already on his way to prevent the creation of more Super Soldiers due to them misusing the advantages provided by the serum, Zemo quickly shoots Wilfred death, precluding him from making more Super Soldier Serum and sending him with his formula to the grave, with his laboratory soon being destroyed by a rocket afterwards.
Despite Nagel's death and how Zemo destroys all the vials while facing the Flag-Smashers later on, John Walker drinks one of the vials to become a Super Soldier in hopes of achieving the same powers Steve Rogers got due to him suceeding Rogers as Captain America. This sends Walker into a murderous frenzy when Karli accidentally kills his friend Battlestar. Karli's subsequent death at Sharon's hands and the deaths of her men at the hands of Zemo's butler Oeznik essentially erases almost all traces of Nagel's Super Soldier Serum, leaving Walker as currently the only realized example of his new Super Soldier Serum.
Trivia[]
- Wilfred Nagel was Olii Haasviki's breakout role, as he landed several other roles after his participation in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. However, when auditioning for the show, Haasviki didn't know Nagel's name, instead his character being referred as "Doctor" and nothing more.
