Helicarrier

Helicarrier in Deadpool v3 #21.

Helicarriers is a vehicle that features in Marvel Comics.

History

The Helicarrier

The original S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrer was designed by both Reed Richards and Tony Stark. (Mighty Avengers v1 #1) It was said that the original prototype of the Helicarrier was created when S.H.I.E.L.D. had formed where it was built by Tony Stark, Reed Richards and Forge. The vessel was to be a mobile headquarters for the agency but the first ship was sabotaged by Jake Fury with it exploding in the process. (Fury v1 #1) A new Helicarrier was under construction where it was manned only by a skeleton crew where it was to serve as a meeting place for heads of state and corporate leaders worldwide to discuss the formation of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Iron Man: The Iron Age v1 #2)

A Generation Delta Helicarrier was taken over by the Red Skull through his enslavement of Doughlock by using his techno-organic abilities to merge with the craft. (X-Men Annual v2 1999)

Director Hill's Helicarrier later went on a course to the Savage Land where it targeted a rogue covert faction of S.H.I.E.L.D. that was illegally mining Vibranium and had enslaved the indigenous people. The New Avengers were promised to be returned back to the United States during the carrier's return journey. (New Avengers v1 #6)

During the Civil War, a new design was created by Tony Stark in his role as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. where Stark Industries retained sole copyright over it. (Mighty Avengers v1 #1)

A Skrull infiltrator posing as Edwin Jarvis infected the main S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier with a malicious alien virus that completely disabled its systems. The massive aircraft carrier subsequently crash-landed in the Bermuda Triangle. Following the crash, most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel on board were revealed to be Skrull agents, leading to further chaos. Ultimately, the Helicarrier had to be intentionally destroyed by Maria Hill to escape the Skrull forces that were attempting to apprehend her. (Secret Invasion v1 #1)

On the Helicarrier, Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. attempted to uncover the mystery over the death of the Abomination when the flying airbase came under attack from the Red Hulk. At first, it seemed like a mindless assault that heavily damaged the flying airbase causing it to lose its stabiliser which sent it falling into New York until Iron Man and his forces managed to bring it to a controlled crash. It was then discovered that the attack was actually planned as the Red Hulk had used the assault as a distraction in order to erase S.H.I.E.L.D. files on the Hulk. (Hulk v2 #2) Afterwards, the Intellgencia came to secretly operate from the Helicarrier when they attempted to take over the planet. (Incredible Hulk v1 #610)

After the defeat of the Skrull's Secret Invasion, S.H.I.E.L.D. was dismantled and replaced by H.A.M.M.E.R. with Director Norman Osborn heading the new peacekeeping agency after he replaced Tony Stark. The organization made use of the Helicarrier as a mobile base of operations with the captive Luke Cage take on-board to help treat the problems with his heart after he was arrested for defying registration. (New Avengers v1 #58)

The Iron Nail with the aid of Doctor Mindbubble managed to take control over the prototype Gungnir Helicarrier with Maria Hill calling in support to destroy it. Despite their combined firepower, they were unable to damage the Gungnir which proceeded to destroy one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. carriers. (Captain America v7 #19) Gungnir, under the control of the villain the Iron Nail, transformed into a colossal, bipedal robot and went on a rampage. The Iron Nail, formerly Agent Ran Shen, had taken command and, in a bid to decimate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s forces, activated the ship's secret, massive transformation protocol. The gargantuan machine began marching across the landscape of Nrosvekistan, with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents still trapped inside. As the situation escalated, the S.H.I.E.L.D. commanders had to make the difficult decision to authorize a laser strike from a satellite against their own mobile base to stop the destruction, a strike which merely damaged the Gungnir and provoked it into destroying the satellite in retaliation. Simultaneously, within the behemoth, Captain America was in a desperate fight against the Iron Nail as the Super-Soldier Serum was drained from his body, causing him to age rapidly into an elderly man. Gungnir remained largely intact but the battle continuing inside and outside the giant machine as Rogers struggled to survive his rapid aging and his fight with the Iron Nail. (Captain America v7 #20) Having survived the satellite strike from the previous issue, the giant machine continued its path of devastation. Inside the automaton, Captain America, now severely aged and weakened after the Super-Soldier Serum was neutralized, struggled against the Iron Nail. Advised by Maria Hill, Rogers realized he had to destroy the giant robot from within by targeting its core reactor. Despite his physical decline, Rogers used his final reserves of strength to reach the reactor chamber and hurled his iconic shield directly into the Gungnir's power source. The resulting explosion destroyed the core, which in turn caused the entire Gungnir robot to violently crumble and collapse into a massive wreck, seemingly killing the Iron Nail and ending the threat of the massive S.H.I.E.L.D. machine. (Captain America v7 #21)

As the global takeover commenced, Hydra, under the command of their newly appointed Supreme Leader, Steve Rogers, successfully captured a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and its accompanying fleet. The vessel then served as a mobile headquarters for Hydra forces during their hostile occupation of the United States, demonstrating the depth of the infiltration and the speed with which S.H.I.E.L.D.'s assets were co-opted for nefarious purposes. (Secret Empire v1 #0)

Overview

Despite appearances, the Helicarrier was actually a compact version of S.H.I.E.L.D.s massive ground installation. They were constructed of new silica and steel alloy that was made to make it a simple feat for the colossal craft to hover high in the sky. (Strange Tales v1 #154) Within a craft was the Hidden Room or the Defcon Chamber which was specially built and contained a scrambler allowing for meetings involving talks for the highest questions of national security. (Cable v1 #58) Certain S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarriers had a section called the Layaway Department that was a designated holding area for any high-tech equipment they managed to acquire on their operations. (Astonishing Ant-Man v1 #12)

It was surrounded by a radar nullifying electronic force field designed by Tony Stark. (Strange Tales v1 #154)

There were numerous types and classes of Helicarriers that were created over the years with one being the Constellation class that had a unique design. (Wolverine v5 #5) The Generation Delta model was considered the ultimate example of human military achievement that had state-of-the-art stealth capabilities and extensive functions to operate as a mobile headquarters whilst possessing the destructive power to devastate a small country. (X-Men Annual v2 1999) One variant of these craft was the Battlecarrier that were configured for combat. (New Avengers v4 #8) Another variant of the flying craft were the Assault Carriers. (Iron Man: Hypervelocity v1 #3)

A S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier was considered perhaps the United States government's greatest technological wonder. (Cable v1 #58)

Known Carriers

• Iliad :
• Circe : deployed to capture the children that managed to survive Arcade's death game after they killed the villain in Bagallia. (Avengers Undercover v1 #4)
• Hercules : built to be submersible allowing the carrier to go underwater as S.H.I.E.L.D. was concerned about threats from Atlantis. (Wolverine v5 #5)
• Bellerophon :
• Odyssey : a helicarrier that registered the destruction of a space station in orbit. (Captain America: Living Legend v1 #1)
• Black Hawk : a helicarrier where a brainwashed was taken with S.H.I.E.L.D. attempting to de-program him but he ended up loose and attacked the ship that was ultimately destroyed by the Hand/Hydra alliance. (Wolverine v3 #26)
• Hermes : a Luxor-class helicarrier that operated under the serial number 7379-2355-ATC. (Cable v1 #58)
• Prometheus : made to be the crown jewel of H.A.M.M.E.R.'s fleet but never got off the ground as the agency was dismantled after Norman Osborn went insane leading to it was decommissioned and stored in a secret U.S. facility in the Sonoran Desert until it was stolen by a rogue faction of S.T.R.I.K.E. (Fear Itself: Wolverine v1 #1)
• Pericles : an abandoned Helicarrier used as a base of operations by Cable's X-Force. (X-Force v4 #7)
• Gungnir : a new experimental type of Helicarrier. (Captain America v7 #18)
• Samuel Sawyer : an assault carrier variant. (Iron Man: Hypervelocity v1 #3)
• Douglass : a Helicarrier that was in used by American Intelligence Mechanics. (U.S.Avengers v1 #2)

Notes

• The Helicarrier was created by Jack Kirby where it made its first appearance in Strange Tales v1 #135 (August, 1965).
• It was revealed in Indestructible Hulk v1 #4 (2013) that the Chinese government had created their own aquatic variant that was known as the Dreadnought.

In other media

Television

• In Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, the Helicarrier made an appearance in the episode "Mission: Save The GuardStar". It was described as being the floating headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, the Helicarrier made an appearance during the series as S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. The episode "Technovore" revealed Howard Stark as being responsible for building most of the weapon systems of the Helicarrier but he stopped this practice after the birth of his son Tony Stark.
• In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Helicarrier made a number of appearances in the animated series. It was the headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D. with Nick Fury stationed there and was also home to the supervillain prison called the Big House. In the episode "Outbreak", the Big House expanded and caused the Helicarrier to crash into the river.
• In Ultimate Spider-Man, the Helicarrier made multiple appearances in the animated television series. It served as the headquarters for S.H.I.E.L.D. and was where a number of heroes such as White Tiger, Power Man and Nova stayed at as their home until it was destroyed in "Rise of the Goblin". In "The Man-Wolf", a new version known as the Tri-Carrier was built that could split into three component ships namely the space-going Astro-Carrier, the sea-going and Aqua-Carrier and the sky flying Strato-Carrier.

Films

• In Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore, the Helicarrier served as the base of operations for S.H.I.E.L.D. with Nick Fury and Maria Hill staffed in it where they monitored the launch site of Stark Industries 'Howard' satellite. The launch site was attacked by the armored mercenary band known as the Raiders leading to Fury launching Interceptors to battle them alongside Iron Man and War Machine. After the destruction of the launch facility, Iron Man was taken back to the Helicarrier for debriefing and detention but Stark would escape as he sought to stop Ezekiel Stane along with avenging his friend James Rhodes.
• In The Avengers, the Helicarrier made its first live-action film appearance set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier served as a central, mobile base of operations for the newly formed team, but it soon became a critical battleground. Following the capture of Loki, the God of Mischief, the Helicarrier was infiltrated by Skrull agents working with Loki, which led to a catastrophic event. One agent sabotaged the vessel's primary engine, causing a massive explosion that crippled the ship. The propulsion failure sent the massive carrier lurching and tilting through the sky. A number of the Avengers were engaged in internal conflicts at the time, particularly the confrontation between the Hulk and Black Widow, which was exacerbated by the ship's instability. Thor also battled the Hulk as the Helicarrier suffered heavy damage. Agent Phil Coulson was fatally stabbed by Loki during the chaos, an event that ultimately galvanized the fragmented team to work together. Nick Fury and Maria Hill struggled to regain control of the ship, attempting to restart the engine and stabilize its flight, while Tony Stark and Steve Rogers worked together to repair the damaged engine. Despite the immense damage, the heroes managed to keep the Helicarrier airborne and regained control, though it was largely incapacitated in the Battle for New York City.
• In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Helicarriers make an appearance in the setting of the live-action film. Three next generation were shown to having been created by S.H.I.E.L.D. These carriers were being produced as part of Project Insight that sought to link the craft to orbital satellites that would provide them with target acquisition data. This would allow the vehicles to eliminate enemies once the carriers reached a certain height. Such a program was secretly the master plan of the HYDRA cabal that was controlling S.H.I.E.L.D. with this conspiracy being headed by Alexander Pierce. Ultimately, Nick Fury along with Steve Rogers uncovered this plan where they managed to replace a data chip within each carrier before they reached the right altitude. This allowed the Helicarriers to be reprogrammed remotely to target one another thus destroying the three vehicles.
• In Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher, the Helicarrier served as S.H.I.E.L.D. mobile headquarters where they abduct Frank Castle aka Punisher in order to enlist his aid in stopping the terrorist activities of Leviathan.

Video games

• In Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, the Helicarrier appeared as a playable stage arena in the fighting video game.
• In Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, the Helicarrier featured where it served as S.H.I.E.L.D.s base of operations as they deployed their forces to New York City to combat the Symbiote outbreak that had infected the populace.

Appearances

• Strange Tales v1 #135: (1965)
• Fury v1:
• Iron Man: The Iron Age v1:
• New Avengers v1:
• Mighty Avengers v1:
• Hulk v2:
• Indestructible Hulk v1:
• Captain America v7:
• Astonishing Ant-Man v1:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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