STRIKE is a British agency, while China forms SPEAR after the events of 2013's Infinity.ĪRMOR (Altered-Reality Monitoring and Operational Response Agency) - If SWORD is responsible for safeguarding against threats from other worlds, ARMOR's job is to safeguard against other dimensions and realities. As such, other world nations sometimes form their own SHIELD equivalents.
SPEAR (full name unknown) and STRIKE (Special Tactical Response for International Key Emergencies) - Marvel has never been entirely consistent about whether SHIELD is sponsored by the US government alone or the full United Nations Security Council. After Osborn's crimes are exposed, HAMMER itself is shuttered and a new version of SHIELD is created in its place. True to form, Osborn uses his new agency mainly as a means of furthering his own agenda and putting the world's worst villains in positions of power. HAMMER (full name unknown) - After SHIELD failed to prevent a Skrull invasion of Earth, the agency was scrapped and replaced by the Norman Osborn-led HAMMER. SWORD (Sentient Worlds Observation and Response Department) - A direct offshoot of SHIELD, SWORD is tasked with monitoring extraterrestrial threats while its sister agency focuses on enemies from within. Even in the days of ancient Egypt, humanity had a shield to guard against threats like Galactus and the Brood. While the modern incarnation of SHIELD was formed after World War II, few realize the organization's roots date back thousands of years. SHIELD (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) - SHIELD is typically the dominant peacekeeping agency on Earth, one that often works alongside heroes like the Avengers to combat all manner of supervillains and terrorist organizations. If you're confused as to the differences between all these organizations and what roles they fill, here's a quick guide. The Marvel Universe is never lacking for top-secret intelligence agencies with catchy acronyms. SWORD, SHIELD, SPEAR and ARMOR: What's the Difference? Now the agency is more closely tied to the X-Men than ever, to the point that the majority of its commanding officers are mutants and Magneto is the official liaison with the mutant nation of Krakoa.
SWORD was temporarily phased out after the events of 2015's Secret Wars, with the agency effectively replaced by a new incarnation of Canadian super-team Alpha Flight.īut in the wake of 2020's X of Swords crossover, SWORD has returned in a new form.
Marvel even briefly published a dedicated SWORD comic in 2009, though the series was canceled after five issues. Since then, SWORD has settled into a regular role as the even more secretive sister agency to SHIELD. When that fails, the Breakworld fires an enormous metal projectile at Earth, one which would have obliterated the planet if not for Kitty Pryde's handy phasing powers. Rather than allow him to wipe out all life on Earth, Brand convinces Ord to settle for orchestrating the creation of a cure for the mutant gene. His people, a warrior race from a planet called The Breakworld, fear their prophesied destruction at the hands of a mutant. Under the leadership of the perpetually cranky and antisocial Abigail Brand, SWORD forms a tenuous alliance with an alien named Ord. SWORD initially plays a fairly antagonistic role in that series. The agency first appeared in 2004's Astonishing X-Men #5, by writer Joss Whedon and artist John Cassaday. While SWORD has appeared in a great many Marvel stories over the past two decades, the agency actually has its roots in the X-Men franchise. SWORD traditionally stands for Sentient Worlds Observation and Response Department. With any luck, humanity will never know how close they've come to being wiped off the face of the universe. Operating from an orbital space station called The Peak, SWORD's agents monitor the cosmos and do their best to neutralize any extraterrestrial problems before they make landfall. But what about threats from beyond Earth? What happens when one of the many alien empires in the Marvel Universe decides to come calling? That's where SWORD comes in. How SWORD (and Its Logo) Fits Into WandaVision and the MCUįor decades, SHIELD has been the premier peacekeeping agency on Earth, monitoring threats across the planet and dealing with the likes of Hydra, AIM and other organizations who threaten world peace.
What exactly is SWORD, and how is it different from SHIELD and the other clandestine organizations we've seen in the MCU? We've got a full breakdown of SWORD's comic book roots and how it could factor into the MCU in Phase 4 and beyond.