Werner von Strucker was a recurring antagonist in the Marvel television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. He was the son of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, one of the leading members of the terrorist organization HYDRA. Following his father's death at the hands of Ultron, Werner was coerced by Grant Ward into helping him rebuild the organization, which also however led to his traumatic torture. After gaining powers by S.H.I.E.L.D., he joined General Hale and Ruby Hale in their plans.
History[]
Early life[]
Despite being the son of Wolfgang von Strucker, Werner was raised away from his father's work. Although he was aware of what his father did, he was not allowed to enter into that world of terrorism and world domination. Instead, Werner lived a life of luxury, using his father's money to purchase large boats and host parties with beautiful women, even being given full support by Gideon Malick. When his father was murdered by Ultron, HYDRA was destroyed and Werner inherited all of his father's money, with which he continued to fund his frivolous lifestyle, using the name Alexander Braun to disassociate himself from his father and HYDRA.
Season 3[]
Joining HYDRA[]
In late 2015, Werner was hosting a party on his boat when it was boarded by Grant Ward, who released a sackload of rats onto the boat. Werner's guests were frightened off of the boat by the rats, allowing Ward and his henchman Kebo to meet with the young Strucker alone. Werner's guards attacked Ward, but were swiftly beaten into submission. Werner was then captured by Ward and taken back to his hideout.
With Werner in his custody, Ward berated the young millionaire about how he had never earned anything in his life and how he was wasting his father's fortune on hedonistic pursuits. Ward demanded that Werner hand over all his wealth to them by giving over his banking passwords; when Strucker resisted, Ward punched him in the face and made it clear that he was not asking for his money but was going to get it. In order to force the passwords from him, Ward ordered Kebo to begin torturing him.
Kebo began to mercilessly beat Strucker, mocking him for his cowardliness. However, Strucker pretended to crawl away from Kebo out of fear, but instead grabbed a blade and stabbed his torturer in the leg before grabbing a solid item and hitting him repeatedly. Ward then entered the room; when Strucker tried to use his family as leverage, Ward made it clear that he knew who he was, noting that Baron Wolfgang von Strucker was one of HYDRA's greatest leaders before dying a meaningless death. Ward told him that he had earned his respect and gave him tacos as a reward.
Ward later explained to Werner that HYDRA was fractured and that he wanted to rebuild it, offering him a place within the organization after having proved his worth. For his first mission working for the new HYDRA, Werner was instructed to enroll at Culver University to study Psychology 101. Arriving at the university, Strucker introduced himself, keeping his alias of Alexander Braun, to his new instructor: Andrew Garner, the ex-husband of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Melinda May. Garner spoke to Strucker, noting that most people take Psychology because of family issues; Strucker assured him that his family was very special.
Attack on Andrew Garner[]
While his base of operations was under attack by Lance Hunter and Melinda May, Ward ordered Strucker to corner Andrew Garner in a convenience store. As the encounter was filmed for May to watch, Strucker entered the shop alongside two other HYDRA agents and trapped Garner, who was confused by Strucker's presence. The agents and Strucker then revealed they were carrying fuel and a lighter.
When Ward did not order him to stand down due to Hunter firing upon him and causing him to escape, Strucker was ordered by Kebo to film Garner's murder. However, one of the shoppers was revealed to be an undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who defended Garner, but was soon shot and killed. As Strucker hid from the gunfire, he watched in horror as Garner stepped forward and suddenly transformed into Lash, a monstrous being with grey skin and long dreadlocks who massacred the HYDRA agents by using blasts of energy to rip open their chests.
In the resulting struggle, all of Strucker's guards were killed by Lash and he barely managed to make it outside, despite being punched in the face by Lash. Garner resumed his human form and looked over the chaos, using the lighter to set fire to the store. Having escaped the violence, Strucker managed to run outside and duck behind a car moments before the entire store erupted in a huge fireball, leaving Strucker in a state of shock at having witnessed the seemingly impossible and knowing he had failed Ward, who would undoubtedly be furious at the failure.
Capture by S.H.I.E.L.D.[]
Having failed his first mission, Werner knew that Ward would want him dead and sought protection from his father's old ally Gideon Malick. He traveled to Lisbon where he met with Malick, who promised to help him. However, Malick had lied and immediately sold Werner out to Ward, who sent his henchman Kebo to torture and murder him.
While Werner was in the midst of being tortured by Kebo, S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived at Malick's penthouse. Werner was stabbed by Kebo who then ran, leaving Melinda May and Bobbi Morse to take Werner into custody. He soon fell into a coma, but before doing so, he managed to tell May about Andrew Garner and how he had transformed into a monster before his eyes.
After being taken to the Playground, Werner awoke from his coma, but was also dying due to the extensive trauma he had suffered at Kebo's hands. Wanting to keep Strucker alive for information on Ward, Phil Coulson had him placed into a machine that would scan his brain and stimulate his memory centres, allowing him to divulge the information S.H.I.E.L.D. needed. However, the machine alone wasn't enough and Strucker begged for death due to the pain it caused. Coulson then urged Lincoln Campbell to use his electrokinetic powers to stimulate Strucker's brain; not only did this allow Werner to recall everything Ward and Malick had said and done to him, but enhanced his memory to the point where he could recall every moment and detail of his life.
Season 5[]
Psychiatric care[]
As a side effect of his enhanced memory, Werner began suffering from severe depression and periods of violent mania. He was put into a mental care facility where Dr. Levi Van Kempen put him on an intense treatment program involving high doses of thorazine. In 2017, during a session with Van Kempen, Werner stated that he remembered everything before saying the word "April". Van Kempen proceeded to inquire what happened in April to which Strucker replied by saying that April was the month the doctor's daughter had turned three and had her birthday party. Strucker then proceeded to remind Van Kempen how he was informed by his wife that her daughter had gotten sick at the birthday party. As Van Kempen grew more and more horrified, Strucker went on to state Van Kempen's address before the doctor noticed that the pen he used to prop up his window was gone. In seconds, Strucker jumped up from his seat and proceeded to assault Van Kempen by stabbing the pen into his hand. As Van Kempen screamed in pain, Strucker then looked the doctor in the eye and confessed that he truly did remember everything, every detail of everything he had ever seen involving his father and the torture at the hands of Grant Ward and Kebo. He then requested that Van Kempen use thorazine on him before being dragged away by the guards.
Recruited by General Hale[]
Not long after his violent outburst in Van Kempen's office, Werner was abducted by General Hale's HYDRA cell. He woke up in an unknown facility, finding himself alone in an unlocked room. After dressing, he left the room and began wandering the halls before he reached a cafeteria, deciding to take some food from the buffet area. As he did this, a teenage girl entered the room, wearing earphones and seemingly oblivious to Strucker's presence. When Werner tried speaking to her, she ignored him as she picked up food from the buffet, then walked out without a word.
Werner followed the girl, whom he recognized as Ruby Hale, into a gymnasium where he threatened her with a knife he had taken from the cafeteria. He again asked her where he was and why he was there, at which point General Hale entered the room and told him to let go of Ruby or her soldiers would kill him. She told him that all she wanted from him was information related to HYDRA. Strucker refused and asked her to simply kill him. Hale assured him she had no motive of killing him and he would be set free next day.
Planning with Ruby[]
Later at night, Strucker was having nightmares of his previous tortures. As he awoke, Ruby Hale came to him claiming that she heard screams while Strucker explained to her that he remembered every single torture inflicted on him even by his own father, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Ruby shared her experiences of how her mother was a tyrant and she was forced to do her dirty work. She informed him she was sent to seduce him into staying back and joining her team. She also advised that they could take over the team by getting rid of her mother. Strucker told her that he just wanted to go away somewhere, however, Ruby advised him that he could simply get rid of his bad memories by replacing them with good ones. Ruby told him he can leave if he wants, but if he chose to stay, she hinted that he could live with her. Next morning, Strucker was found by Ruby in the cafeteria having breakfast and he told her he had decided to stay back by thinking over her proposal to gain control over his future. He was shown around and brought to the lab to see Carl Creel, his father's old experiment, who Ruby noted Strucker did not need her to explain as he could still remember everything.
Later, Strucker was researching his father's notes to perfectly assemble the Particle Infusion Chamber for Ruby, although he was having a hard time since all the information was placed in multiple journals. Later, Ruby visited him to enquire about his progress. Strucker told her it was very hard for him to compile all the information together. Ruby, in turn, expressed her sadness that her mother had instead chosen Creel to experiment further with Gravitonium. Strucker argued that it was meant for her only. He informed her he was doubling up his efforts to assemble the Particle Infusion Chamber as quickly as possible. Later, when Phil Coulson and Glenn Talbot attempted to escape, General Hale dispatched her Sleeper Mechs to recapture them while leaving one to guard Strucker.
Having completed his work, Strucker decided to escape with Ruby. He reached her room and opened the door using the code he had memorized after seeing Hale using it. He entered the room and made Ruby aware of his success. Ruby reported that it might be of no use, as her mother would still go ahead with Creel, even though he had betrayed them earlier. Strucker questioned her why was she blindly following her, and encouraged her to rebel against her mother.
Later, Strucker executed two scientists and ordered the remaining ones to hand over the Gravitonium to him. Ruby also arrived by his side, after locking her mother in her cell. She noted they were free now and they both fled the facility together.
Fatal experimentation[]
Strucker and Ruby later traveled to a HYDRA facility in England where the Particle Infusion Chamber was located. Upon arrival, they discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. were already on-site, having killed Anton Ivanov and disabled his squad of mechs. The duo found Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons in the main lab where the Chamber was located, seeing that the machine had been damaged. Ruby threatened Fitz-Simmons into fixing the machine while Strucker reactivated the Sleeper Mechs, reprogramming them to kill anyone on sight.
When Strucker inspected Fitz-Simmons' progress on repairing the machine, he saw that the infuser had been reassembled incorrectly. Ruby then thoroughly beat Fitz, threatening once more to kill him unless he fixed his mistake. Meanwhile, Strucker sent the Sleeper Mechs outside as the Zephyr One was approaching the facility. Eventually, the infuser was repaired and the machine was ready to go. Ruby then kissed Strucker before she stepped inside, leaving her chakram with him.
Strucker activated the machine and the Gravitonium infusion process began, but it soon became clear that the process was exceedingly painful and potentially lethal to Ruby. As Ruby cried out in agony, Strucker accused Fitz and Simmons of sabotaging the machine. As General Hale, Daisy Johnson and Melinda May entered the lab, Strucker shut down the machine and released Ruby. The infusion sequence was only 8% complete, but even that was enough to provide Ruby with the power to generate and manipulate localized gravitational fields. Ruby levitated out of the Chamber and Strucker ran to her as she landed on the floor. He tried to comfort her, but Ruby had no control over her new ability; as she raised a hand to Strucker's cheek, she accidentally created a gravity pulse that crushed and imploded his skull, resulting in a gruesome death.