One Of Nick Fury’s Best Agent Is A Flesh-Eating Zombie

Most people probably only know Jasper Sitwell as the sycophantic HYDRA mole who gets tossed out of a moving car by the title antagonist in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But the SHIELD agent is quite a bit different than his MCU counterpart. Instead, he is one of Nick Fury’s most loyal agents – so loyal that not even death can stop him from showing up to the job.

Jasper Sitwell first appeared in Strange Tales #144 back in May 1966. Among the top graduates in his class, Jasper was a youthful foil for older, more grizzled SHIELD veterans like Dum Dum Dugan and Nick Fury himself. Though Jasper frustrated his colleagues with his eager personality and rigid, by-the-book thinking, he eventually proved himself as a loyal and capable agent of the organization. He even served as SHIELD liaison to Tony Stark for a number of years. Ultimately, however, Sitwell’s life ended when he took a bullet meant for Nick Fury, fired by a mind-controlled Black Widow.

While Sitwell eventually returned, it wasn’t with the usual consequence-free resurrection normally found in comics. Instead, Sitwell inexplicably returned as one of the living dead, and a member of the Howling Commandos, alongside several other Marvel monsters such Man-Thing, Manphibian, Orrgo, Hit-Monkey, and Vampire by Night. This zombie version of Sitwell, however, was little more than a shambling shell of the beloved SHIELD agent and displayed none of his personality. However, the zombified Sitwell did show glimpses of intelligence, such as when he recognized a Life Model Decoy of his old colleague Dum Dum Dugan.

An interesting version of Sitwell does appear in the film Hulk: Where Monsters Dwell, which is currently streaming on Netflix. In the animated film, the zombified Sitwell appears with his original personality intact, leading a Paranormal Containment Unit that also includes Warwolf, Man-Thing, and Vampire By Night. Assisting the Hulk and Doctor Strange in fighting off an incursion by Nightmare, this version of Sitwell showcases the best of both versions of the character. As the de facto leader of the team, he is extremely formal and insists on following protocol, but his zombie side can take over if he is injured or hungry, and he at one point tries to munch down on the Hulk, much to the latter’s annoyance.

Ultimately, Sitwell is a strange case of resurrection in comics. His transformation into a zombie is never explained, and he remains a valued – if mostly mindless – member of the Howling Commandos, which had had sporadic appearances over the years. It would be interesting to see if Sitwell could be developed back into his original personality, as seen in Hulk: Where Monsters Dwell. After all, the concept of zombie rehabilitation is nothing new, having been teased in Shaun of the Dead and outright seen in Day of the Dead. Regardless, zombie Jasper Sitwell remains an underused concept from the House of Ideas, but that could change. After all, it only requires one thing to potentially flourish. More brains.

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