FAN SUBMITTED ARTICLE
So. After all this time, we have finally seen the Agents of SHIELD pilot. But there are so many unanswered questions that I look forward to hearing the answers for. One of the big things from the pilot is project Centipede from an unknown big bad group (in the parlance of the Whedonverse). The Centipede gives users enhanced strength, speed and the ability to heal previous injuries. There is a deadly side-effect that causes the subjects to go insane and spontaneously combust.
Centipede is also a new song by Childish Gambino. Who is a lock if SHIELD ever does Ultimate Spider-Man Miles Morales. Just sayin’.
The Centipede device is a hodgepodge of different ways to get superpowers, one we probably haven’t heard the last from, as the main doctor got away. According to Simmons, it combines Captain America’s Super-Soldier serum, gamma radiation (Hulk and Abomination) and alien technology, but we don’t know it’s from the Chitauri invasion. If one thing gives somebody superpowers, then combing them all together should give them super superpowers, right? So they put all these formulas together and then placed them into an alien device and then placed this alien device on injured people’s forearms.
But on top of all that, Centipede is very unstable. It seems that somebody also put in the Extremis virus into it as well, from Iron Man 3 (which came out on blu-ray the same day as the SHIELD premiere. Coincidence?). In that movie, one out of every few Extremis users blows up because their DNA won’t accept the formula. If the formula works, the user will be able to become ultra-hot and have superhuman agility, strength, etc. As Coulson himself said, it’s new.
Presumably, it was the injection of Extremis that caused Michael Peterson to go crazy, glow red and almost blow up Union Station in SHIELD. All the added chemistry to Extremis probably led to its instability. If you recall correctly, it was the Super-Soldier serum combined with gamma-irradiated Bruce Banner blood that created the Abomination. And who knows what happens when reverse-engineered alien technology is added. The Doctor said that she was “given” the Centipede device by a group that wishes to remain behind the scenes.
So who created this Centipede? Is it a new group we haven’t heard of before? Extremis was created by AIM, but all the Extremis users were either dead or cured by Tony Stark. The Super-Soldier formula was first created in WWII (although countless scientists have tried to recreate it in the past 70 years). Gamma radiation that created the Hulk is readily available from any scientist. And alien technology could have been from previous encounters or from the Battle of New York. I think HYDRA will play a part in the new Captain America movie and SHIELD plays a big part in that, so they could all join up together. Another guess would be the Army, and in particular, “Thunderbolt” Ross—he and his Hulkbusters would have access to all that technology and more.
I can’t wait to find out.
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