Alexander Pierce was born on Long Island, New York. He majored at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy in civilian surveillance, and serves in the Accounting Department before becoming a sleeper agent working in decoding dispatches from HYDRA. After escaping death in an ambush at HYDRA's Hong Kong base, Pierce accompanied Nick Fury to the Himalayas, along with their prisoner Madame Hydra. Unable to withstand the bitter cold, they were seized by the Deltites and brought to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orbiting satellite. Aided by Madame Hydra, Pierce and a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents escaped and took part in the battle that led to the destruction of the Deltites. He later appears as the leader of one of Nick Fury's secret independent teams following Secret War, the Secret Warriors.
Other versions
Mutant X
In the Mutant X reality, Pierce along other S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents fought Havok and The Six atop the Statue of Liberty where S.H.I.E.L.D. planned to release the Legacy Virus to kill all super-human life.
In other media
Television
Alexander Pierce appeared in the 1998 live-action television film , portrayed by Neil Roberts as a British recruit assigned to Nick Fury following an exile from S.H.I.E.L.D. under Jack Panzer.
Film
Robert Redford portrays Alexander Pierce in the 2014 film'. This version is the Secretary of the fictional WorldSecurity Council, Nick Fury's close friend, and the Winter Soldier's handler. The leader of a Hydra cell within S.H.I.E.L.D., he masterminds Project Insight as an effort to recognize and apprehend criminals and terrorists prior to misdeeds via Helicarriers. In actuality, Pierce's plan intends to carry out mass assassinations of citizens recognized as a threat to Hydra based on Arnim Zola's algorithm to force the world into submission. When Pierce learned Fury was selling confidential files about Project Insight, he ordered his death and dispatched the Winter Soldier. Pierce's plan is foiled by loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents; the Falcon stops Project Insight and Steve Rogers fights the Winter Soldier atop Hydra's corrupted Helicarriers, Pierce tries to escape with Natasha Romanoff as a hostage before being gunned down by Fury, who survived. On his last breath, he utters “Hail Hydra” before dying.
Redford reprises the role in the 2019 film '. Following the Battle of New York, Pierce sends his Hydra cell's agents to get Loki's scepter while Pierce himself tries to take custody of Loki and the Tesseract, arguing that the Tesseract belongs to S.H.I.E.L.D. and opposes the matter with Tony Stark and Thor.
