Helicarrier

Helicarrier in Deadpool v3 #21.

Helicarriers is a vehicle that features in Marvel Comics.

History

It was said that the original S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrer was designed by both Reed Richards and Tony Stark. (Mighty Avengers v1 #1)

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)

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)

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)

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) 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)

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 :
• Hermes :
• 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 :
• Douglass :

Notes

• The Helicarrier was created by Jack Kirby where it made its first appearance in Strange Tales v1 #135 (August 1965).

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 Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Helicarriers make an appearance with three next generation being 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)
• New Avengers v1:
• Mighty Avengers v1:
• Hulk v2:
• Captain America v7:
• Astonishing Ant-Man v1:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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