Shadow Council
The Shadow Council is an organization that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
The Shadow Council were a secret society that operated on Earth which served as agents of the Abyss. It first formed in the 19th Century when Confederate soldier Aloysius Thorndrake found a portal to Mars and was altered by a being called the Abyss granting him immortality. Afterwards, he came to form the Shadow Council where he acted as its Director. For a hundred years, the Shadow Council has been working with various governments and parties to prepare for the arrival of the Abyss. (Secret Avengers v1 #3) They were said to be the sons of a revolution that failed long ago. (Secret Avengers v1 #12)
John Steele was noted to had encountered the Shadow Council and was on the run from them. This was until he fell through a portal and encountered the being worshipped by the Council. This saw him serve them for a time until he managed to break free from them. (Secret Avengers v1 #12)
During World War II, they operated in secret and in that conflict they established a secret base of operations in Prussia underneath a castle that was occupied by the Nazi's. In hiding, they were using sacrifices in order to summon a being from beyond when their ritual was interrupted by John Steele. In reality, the ritual was simply an attempt to draw Steele to them and bring him back into their ranks once again. This resulted in Thorndrake capturing him and they completed their ritual that exposed Steele to the Abyss and making him a loyal agent of the Shadow Council once again. (Secret Avengers v1 #12)
They were aware of the existence of Zheng Zu but his uncontrollable nature resulted in them not approaching him for an alliance. (Secret Avengers v1 #10)
Years ago, their operative John Steele broke into a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in order to recover an advanced Life Model Decoy prototype that had the complete persona of Nick Fury. The rogue machine had been scheduled for destruction but Steele recovered him and recruited him to the Shadow Council's cause where he was given the name Max Fury. (Secret Avengers v1 #5) They also established a remote village called Nueva Thule with a fake backstory that it was established by fleeing Nazi's. In reality, it was the site of a breeding experiment for the Council to create a hybrid being that could communicate with their masters. (Secret Avengers v1 #21)
Upon learning that Roxxon had betrayed them and claimed the Crown the Council began to fear for their operations. Thus, they decided to dispatch the 9th Legion with the goal of launching a suicide mission to destroy the site on Mars via the Vanishing Point. (Secret Avengers v1 #3) During transit, Ant-Man Eric O'Grady who had entered the Council's Citadel through the same portal went forth to stop the suicide attackers by triggering their bombs during transit. They exploded creating a chain reaction that destroy the two sides of the portal from the one on Earth to the one located on Mars. (Secret Avengers v3 #4)
Within the changing face of the world, the Council felt that the region of China was at the forefront of the change and thus felt that they needed an influence in the area. (Secret Avengers v1 #10) Thus, the Shadow Council then enacted their next scheme where Director Thorndrake was responsible for resurrecting Zheng Zu. The process was only half complete and he was returned in a partial dead state. In exchange for his allegiance, the Shadow Council began a search for the second gem that made up the two Eyes of the Dragon. With their master's resurrection, the Celestial Order of the Hai-Dai went about finding and capturing Shang-Chi in order to use him to complete the resurrection of his father. Meanwhile, the Shadow Council went about their efforts in finding the Eye of the Dragon. (Secret Avengers v1 #6) The intervention of the Secret Avengers led to the Council deploying John Steele to secure their objective. Working alongside Max Fury, the pair abducted Sharon Carter and used her as an hostage where they would return her to Commander Rogers in exchange for Shang-Chi. (Secret Avengers v1 #9) He succeeded in his task where he took Shang-Chi to the ritual site for Zheng Zu to kill his son and restore his body. However, the Council had a spy as Moon Knight had infiltrated their ranks and revealed the location of the site to his comrades. This led to Commander Rogers along with his allies in the ritual. Despite their guards, the Shadow Council was overwhelmed and failed to complete Zheng Zu's ritual with the Prince of Orphans shattered the warlords body after it became petrified. In addition, John Steele was captured by Commander Rogers though Max Fury managed to escape with Director Thorndrake. (Secret Avengers v1 #8)
Another of their schemes was thwarted in Serbia when the Secret Avengers a scheme that involved the abduction of several hundred people whose brains were rigged in parallel in an attempt to form a bio-computer. (Secret Avengers v1 #17) Afterwards, the Shadow Council engaged in a plot to teleport a Secret Empire abandoned underground city on-top an existing city using a large-scale Doctor Doom Time Platform. Their attempted act of mass destruction was thwarted by the Secret Avengers who had uncovered the plot and stopped their operatives from completing the assignment. (Secret Avengers v1 #16) They later conducted a transmatter mining operation in order to use it to destroy the planet by turning it into a sun. The operation headed by a copy of Arnim Zola was interrupted by Commander Steve Rogers and the Secret Avengers with the aid of Shang-Chi. (Secret Avengers v1 #18)
The Secret Avengers then looked to shut down the Council's breeding experiments that threatened to create living gateways to the dimension of their master that would serve as a means of the invasion of Earth. (Secret Avengers v1 #21)
A new scheme by the Shadow Council was launched by Max Fury where he established a secret base of operations in the criminal controlled country of Bagalia. From there, he looked to establish a new incarnation of the Masters of Evil that looked to eliminate the Secret Avengers that were in the nation on a mission. They successfully captured Captain America but their plan was thwarted when Hawkeye intervened to rescue him. (Secret Avengers v1 #21.1)
Max Fury took over the organization and used their wealth to fund Bagalia, an anarchistic red-light nation where he gathered together a new incarnation of the Masters of Evil. John Steele, who was working undercover for the Secret Avengers since they freed him from the Abyss' control, attempted to escape from Bagalia with the Thorned Crown but was caught by the new Masters of Evil and subsequently murdered. Consequently, the Secret Avengers went to Bagalia to try and stop Taskmaster from delivering the Crown of Wolves to Max Fury as he was hired to do. (Secret Avengers v1 #29) Taskmaster managed to deliver the package, however, and was paid with shots to the chest. Once in possession of all three crowns, Max Fury merged them together and donned the merged crown to become the Abyss' vessel, but that did not work as he was an LMD. The merged crown was then donned by a wounded Taskmaster, who proceeded to take control of the minds of both the Masters of Evil and the Secret Avengers. (Secret Avengers v1 #30) Under the control of the Abyss, the Masters of Evil and the other people in Bagalia make their move as the Secret Avengers fight to keep the people under control of the Abyss from leaving Bagalia and invading other countries to spread the possession to other people. (Secret Avengers v1 #31) While possessed by the Abyss, Taskmaster used its power to take control of the villains and have them board an airplane out of Bagalia to spread the campaign of the Abyss. While the others fight the possessed villains and other people, Venom uses his symbiote to break the Crowns and capture Taskmaster. (Secret Avengers v1 #32)
The Shadow Council later uses Machinesmith as a pawn as part of a plot to reverse-engineer the Super Soldier Serum that was in Captain America's blood. (Steve Rogers: Super Soldier v1 #4)
Overview
In appearance, the Shadow Council was a secret organisation that operated on Earth. The ultimate goal of the Shadow Council was taking over the world. (Secret Avengers v1 #12)
It was said that they were good at recruiting broken copies of people. (Secret Avengers v1 #18) Soldiers for the Shadow Council were prepared to die for their cause and sent on missions where it was not expected that they would not return. Among the units used by the Council included the 9th Legion. (Secret Avengers v1 #3)
They were noted for being followers of a being known as the Abyss. (Secret Avengers v1 #12)
The Council was noted to had created to had conducted breeding experiments in the hope of making a hybrid that could more easily communicate with their master. These creatures were living portals into the dimension of the entity that was worshipped by the Shadow Council. (Secret Avengers v1 #21)
An item available to them was the Vanishing Point that was a portal through time and space. (Secret Avengers v1 #3) There were beings inside of that realm that were said to change a man. (Secret Avengers v1 #12)
Members
- Aloysius Thorndrake : Director of the Shadow Council.
- Arnim Zola 4.2.3 : a personality update of Arnim Zola that got stuck in an android body that was considered broken by the original where he managed to be recruited into the Shadow Council. (Secret Avengers v1 #18)
- John Steele : brainwashed supersoldier who was tricked into joining the Shadow Council.
- Lt. Hood : Member of the Shadow Council. (Secret Avengers v1 #21)
- Max Fury : an advanced Life Model Decoy with the personality of Nick Fury who came to operate as the Head of Security for the Shadow Council. (Secret Avengers v1 #5)
- Kevin : served coffee.
Notes
- The Shadow Council was created by Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato Jr. where they made their first appearance in Secret Avengers v1 #1 (July, 2010).
- In Heroic Age: Villains v1 #1 (2010), the Shadow Council received an entry where the description referred to them as the Shadow Empire that were led by the Shadow Council consisting of a board of directors. They were said to hold incredible resources at their disposal and had an international network of espionage agents.
In other media
Television
- In Avengers Assemble, the Shadow Council appeared as antagonists in the animated television series Black Panther's Quest season. It was said that they were a group that operated during World War II with them being led by Baron Heinreich Zemo but were defeated by Captain America along with the Black Panther T'Chaka. Years later, they were reformed and led by N'Jadaka who intended to have the group depose the Wakandan royal family with himself in charge. They consisted of N'Jadaka, Tiger Shark, M'Baku, Klaue, Zanda and later on Whitney Frost. To achieve that, they sought out the broken pieces of the Panther Key relic in order to find the Shrouded Temple to claim the powerful crown hidden within it.
Appearances
- Secret Avengers v1: (2010)
- Steve Rogers: Super Soldier v1:
External Links
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