Deathlok

"Coulson said to bring you in." "You can access my hardware and watch my every move. Go ahead. I will only be making amends for my actions." "Whatever you did, you did it for Ace." "And what I do now, that will be for him too."

- Skye and Deathlok

Michael "Mike" Peterson was an ordinary man until he was approached by a mysterious group who granted him superpowers through use of the Centipede Serum. However, when he compromised the secrecy of the project, they decided to eliminate him, but they were stopped by a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents led by Phil Coulson. Some time later, Peterson decided to join S.H.I.E.L.D. Peterson was later recaptured by the Centipede Project and transformed into the cybernetic operative, Deathlok. He was used by the Clairvoyant to keep people off his trail, including Coulson's Team.

After the downfall of the Centipede Project and the death of John Garrett, he decided to go off on his own seeking redemption for his past crimes as Deathlok. During this period, he was again recruited by a resurrected S.H.I.E.L.D. now led by Phil Coulson and began working for them.

Early Life
"Michael Peterson, factory worker. Married, one kid. Gets injured, gets laid off, wife jumps ship. Good guy, bad breaks. Best guess is, somebody tells him they can make him strong again. Make him super."

- Phil Coulson

Michael Peterson was a family man who lived with his wife and his son Ace while working in a factory. After a back injury that made him lose his job, his wife abandoned him and left him alone with his son.

The Centipede
"You said that if we worked hard, if we did right, that we'd have a place. You said it was enough to be a man. But there's better than man. There's gods. And the rest of us, what are we? They're giants. We're what they step on."

- Michael Peterson

During his rehabilitation he was approached by Raina, who represented an organization that created a treatment that could restore his health and put him back to work.

Raina introduced Peterson to a doctor known as Debbie. Debbie treated Peterson with the Centipede Serum, which utilized, among other things, unstable Extremis technology. A side-effect of the treatment was Peterson's development of super-powers, including strength and durability. Peterson was out with his son Ace, looking at Avengers toys when Debbie's lab was destroyed by the detonation of another Centipede user. Peterson left Ace with a friend and ran to help. Using his incredible strength he was able to climb up the outside of the burning building. He made his way into the lab where he found Debbie unconscious and leapt out of the building with her in his arms. The fall did not damage his body and he managed to save Debbie before escaping and reuniting with Ace. This action was observed and recorded by Skye, who was investigating Centipede for the Rising Tide. Skye posted her video online, giving Peterson an unwanted celebrity status, as he only desired to find work and raise his son in peace. Peterson was later tracked down by Skye who met him in a cafe while Peterson looked for a job, at first he was confused by her appearance until she revealed she knew he was the "Hooded Hero". She led him to believe that he was in danger from S.H.I.E.L.D. and tried to convince him that she could help him by revealing his identity online and become a true superhero. He was unconvinced and left, unaware that Skye had stolen his I.D.. Soon after, Peterson's condition began to deteriorate, both mentally and physically.

In desperation, Peterson returned to his former workplace, hoping to regain his old position. After being rebuffed, he attacked his old manager, putting him in the hospital. He then visited Debbie in the hospital, who convinced him that he needed to disappear, as the people behind Centipede did not want to be exposed. Peterson's condition from the Centipede soon grew critical. However, he was still convinced that he needed to try to rebuild his life. He took his son and broke into Skye's Van, ordering her to take him to the nearest train station. He soon discovered that Skye was working with S.H.I.E.L.D., and escaped into the station. He was confronted by Agent Phil Coulson who tried to talk him down, before being shot by Agent Grant Ward with the Night-Night Gun, which tranquilized him with a curative agent created by Agent Jemma Simmons, saving his life.

He was then taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. protective custody for rehabilitation, and his son taken to live with Mike's sister Mindy during his recovery.

Fighting Back
"Did I beat Captain America's time?" "Not even close."

- Michael Peterson and a S.H.I.E.L.D. trainer after strength training.

After recovering, Peterson decided to make up for his actions by working for S.H.I.E.L.D.. He was trained along with the other cadets, but his superior strength gave him a massive advantage. He trained by pushing entire fork-lift-trucks across football fields, his main aim being to beat Captain America's record time. Eventually Agent Phil Coulson asked for his help to help bring down the organization that gave him his powers: the Centipede Project. He happily agreed and joined the team on the Bus, expressing his desire to make up for his earlier run-in with the team and assuring them that his Extremis rage was subdued and he was no longer a danger. While on the Bus, there were some hostile feelings towards him from some members of the team, mainly Grant Ward and Melinda May, both of whom he had attacked when they tried to subdue him. However after being outfitted with a Tactical Suit and helping Coulson and the team attack one of Centipede's bases he earned the group's trust. During the mission Peterson was seriously injured when a Centipede Soldier stabbed him in the side, he was able to survive the attack and returned to the Bus with the rest of the team. While back on the Bus Peterson thought about joining S.H.I.E.L.D. full time, afraid to return to his son after he had seen his rage at the train station, but Coulson assured him his son would think no different of him and told him to think on his decision.

The Bridge
Mike called Ace Peterson to tell him he would return, only to have Raina, who had somehow found Ace's location, threaten to kill him if Peterson did not trade Phil Coulson for Ace. With no choice Mike was forced to trick the team into thinking they wanted him.

When the exchange started, Mike attempted to break off the deal by threatening Raina's life but Coulson told him it was okay, understanding that he had no other choice. After getting his son to safety Mike attempted to redeem himself by going back to rescue Coulson only for Raina and her group to have the Bridge explode, brutally burning him and destroying his right leg.

Deathlok
"The Clairvoyant isn't happy. You led S.H.I.E.L.D. right to us."

- Deathlok to Sofia

Mike was revealed to have survived the blast, and was ultimately recovered by Centipede Project agents, badly burned, missing his right leg, and implanted with a monitoring ocular implant similar to Akela Amador's Backscatter X-Ray Eye Implant. He woke up in a mysterious room alone, seeing his terrible injuries, he called out for help, when he looked in the mirror a message appeared from the Clairvoyant telling him to wait for further instructions, Mike starred in horror realizing his fate. Now under the thrall of the Clairvoyant, Peterson was ordered into the service of Ian Quinn, who arranged to have Peterson's destroyed right leg replaced with a Cybertek Prosthetic Leg (Labeled "Project: Deathlok") designed by Cybertek Industries at a cost of $10 million.

Peterson was kept in a Hyberbaric Chamber until he was discovered by Skye. Before Skye could rescue him she was captured by Quinn's men. Peterson was woken up and given his new Cybernetic Leg, although Skye tried to speak to him and convince him to leave, he ignored her, knowing he couldn't leave without endangering Ace. Quinn asked Peterson if he would kill Skye for him, to which Peterson told him those were not his orders, he had other people to kill, and promptly left. The Clairvoyant ordered Peterson to kill the Cybertek representatives as he blamed them for leading S.H.I.E.L.D. to his location. Peterson first grabbed Sofia by the neck, telling her that the Clairvoyant was unhappy that they had led S.H.I.E.L.D. to their location. Peterson then broke her neck before killing the others with ease, breaking their necks and throwing them out of the windows. After he had killed them all he was ordered and exit the scene without engaging the just-arriving S.H.I.E.L.D. team, who had come to arrest Quinn after he had shot Skye. Peterson left the mansion without S.H.I.E.L.D.'s knowledge. After Peterson escaped, he made his way to a children's park, hiding in the bushes, he watched the children play. He wrote a note on a piece of paper asking his handlers if it were possible for him to see his son, and being told "Not yet".

Serving The Clairvoyant
"Mike Peterson is dead."

- Michael Peterson

After receiving further cybernetic enhancements, Garrett later ordered Peterson to feign an attack on himself and his partner Antoine Triplett in Sydney, Australia as a diversionary tactic to throw off suspicion and confuse the investigations into "The Clairvoyant". After taking a few shots, enough to convince Triplett in the veracity of the attack, Peterson jumped through the roof and left.

Following that encounter, Peterson was then given the Forearm Rocket Launcher from Garrett and told him that it was time to meet. Peterson was then sent to the Tranquility Bridge Assisted Living home in Macon, Georgia to convince Agents Melinda May and Felix Blake that Thomas Nash was the Clairvoyant. During his fight, Agent Blake tried to convince Peterson to stop, knowing that he had a son, Ace. Peterson told Blake that Mike Peterson was dead and put Blake in critical condition before trying to take out May. However, he was forced to leave and eventually lead Coulson and the others to Nash due to the Tag Rounds that were planted on him by Blake.

All along, John Garrett was the Clairvoyant. After he established a base in Havana, Cuba, he sent Grant Ward to retrieve the necessary pass codes to access a hard drive with the research that had been done on GH.325 that Skye had encrypted. Deathlok tailed Ward and was forced to assist him when Skye attempted to escape in Los Angeles. As Skye got into a car to drive away, Deathlok leapt into the air and landed on the car, forcing her to stop. Deathlok and Grant Ward took Skye back to the Bus and demanded to know how to unlock the hard-drive. When it became clear that Skye would never answer when Ward asked as she was still furious about his betrayal, the Clairvoyant ordered Deathlok to try a different tactic and used a device to give Ward a heart attack. He gave Skye a choice, either unlock the drive or watch Ward suffer a slow a painful death. Skye chose to save Ward and agreed to unlock the drive by having to Bus fly to a certain altitude. Deathlok restarted Ward's heart and continued the mission. Later when Phil Coulson infiltrated the Bus to rescue Skye, he was unaware that Deathlok was also aboard. They made a desperate attempt to escape by jumping into Lola. Deathlok and Ward fired upon them as they jumped into Lola. Coulson was able to use Lola's machine guns to defend them and drove the car off the Bus just as Deathlok fired a missile at them, they escaped and managed to survive the fall. When Ian Quinn needed a demonstration to show the effectiveness of the Deathlok Soldiers, Deathlok was sent to Bogotá, Colombia to kill drug lord Alejandro Castillo. He decapitated him.

Later, Peterson asked Raina her motives for working with John Garrett, explaining to her that he feared for his life and that of his son, Ace, whose pictures were being used by Garrett as a reward for Peterson's continued cooperation.

Redemption
"Mister Peterson's free to do whatever he wants."

- Phil Coulson

Deathlok stayed constantly by John Garrett's side as Garrett killed General Jacobs in the Cybertek Manufacturing Facility. When Coulson's team attacked the base, Deathlok swore he would not leave Garrett's side, to which Garrett mockingly said loved him too. Phil Coulson eventually reached Garrett and attacked. Coulson and Nick Fury fired shots at Garrett and his Centipede Soldiers, to no true avail. Garrett ordered Deathlok to take aim at Coulson and Fury. Unknown to Garrett, Skye had become Peterson's new handler, having captured Kyle Zeller and overriding the computer systems. Ultimately, Skye found and freed Ace and assured Peterson that the Backscatter X-Ray Eye Implant would not be used against him. Deathlok responded by shooting Garrett with his Forearm Rocket Launcher. Despite Garrett's desperate pleas for Deathlok to stop, Peterson ignored him and stomped him to death with his prosthetic leg. As Ace was reunited with his aunt Mindy, Peterson watched from afar with Skye, too ashamed to approach. When Skye asked him to join Phil Coulson's team, he declined, deciding that he wanted redemption before developing a relationship with anyone. He told her that they were welcome to hack into his cybernetic implants and track his every move, because all he would be doing would be making amends for his past actions. With this he left.

Upgrades
Peterson was given upgrades to his arsenal designed by Jemma Simmons, including his EMP Launcher.

Chasing List
Peterson accepted Phil Coulson's invitation to join S.H.I.E.L.D. as an agent with Coulson as its director. Coulson then sent Peterson overseas in pursuit of the HYDRA scientist, List, which Peterson did for six months. During this time, he discovered List's intent of hunting down powered people and experimenting on them.

Backup
Phil Coulson, with an intent to capture a Quinjet, called Peterson to meet him at the Retreat. While waiting, Coulson alerted Robert Gonzales' faction of S.H.I.E.L.D. to his presence there, and they responded with several teams of agents. However, Peterson was unable to arrive before Coulson and his ally, Lance Hunter, were captured. Before they could be taken to the Playground, Peterson intercepted them and freed Coulson and Hunter, disabling a Quinjet and taking over another. Peterson piloted the Quinjet to Coulson's intended destination: Grant Ward.

Alongside Coulson and Hunter, Peterson rescued Fitz in San Francisco with their Quinjet. They then went to Tijuana to recruit Ward and Agent 33 to infiltrate HYDRA and locate Skye. Using Bakshi, who had been brainwashed by Agent 33, Peterson was able to pose as Bakshi's bodyguard to attend a meeting between Bakshi and Dr. List.

Powers

 * Artificially Enhanced Physiology: Due to use of the Centipede Device, a blood-filtering device made of Chitauri metal that delivers a combination of Extremis, Gamma Radiation, and elements of the Super Soldier Serum into his system, Michael Peterson has come to possess various superhuman abilities.
 * Superhuman Strength: Peterson possesses strength that is greater than a normal human. He can lift much heavier objects that cannot be moved otherwise without use of machinery and overpower normal humans and send them flying about tens of feet away. With his strength, he can tear apart any solid objects like concrete with ease. In addition, his strength extends into his leg muscles as he is able to leap great distances, improved even more with a cybernetic leg.
 * Superhuman Speed: Peterson is able to move at great speeds thanks to both his physiological improvements and his cybernetic leg. He managed to outrun from a full S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical team, leading them to Thomas Nash under orders of the real Clairvoyant.
 * Superhuman Durability: Before his transformation into a cyborg, Peterson could withstand physical damage much greater than a normal human, withstanding a fall from a building and the fall from the higher level of Union Station down to the ground level. Once he was outfitted with internal prosthesis, he managed to fully withstand shots from different weapons, including common and heavy firearms, a Taser Projectile Launcher and an I.C.E.R.
 * Regenerative Healing Factor: Peterson was able to heal his injuries much faster than a normal human being, as evidenced when he took a shot from a shotgun but showed no significant damage upon getting up. However, he was unable to regenerate the missing leg that he lost in an explosion or the facial scars he suffered from burning, needing treatment inside an Hyperbaric Chamber to heal those wounds.
 * Enhanced Vision: Thanks to the Backscatter X-Ray Eye Implant he possesses, Deathlok is capable of seeing through solid objects, which also allowed him to see in the darkness as a form of night-vision. His vision was later upgraded to include a targeting system, thermal vision, and a visual output to his audio scanner. It can also see through a Photostatic Veil.

Abilities

 * Combatant: During his months as a S.H.I.E.L.D. trainee, Peterson was taught basic combat skills to take advantage of his strength, and he managed to overpower skilled Centipede Soldier Brian Hayward despite having been injured. As Deathlok, his fighting style changed to take advantage of his strength and durability, often breaking his enemies' necks or stomping them with his bionic leg.

Cybernetic Enhancements

 * Centipede Device: Deathlok is outfitted with a device made of Chitauri metal which injects a serum based on Abraham Erskine's Super Soldier Serum mixed with Gamma Radiation and the Extremis virus, designed to enhance his physical attributes to a super-human level.
 * Forearm Rocket Launcher: Installed on to his left forearm, this unit allows Deathlok to fire guided mini-rockets at his targets. With his new upgrade from S.H.I.E.L.D., the explosives were replaced with EMP rockets, strong enough to take down a Quinjet.
 * Computer Enhancements: Deathlok has two USB ports, one of which he used in his attempt to download Skye's encrypted hard drive.
 * Heart Stopper: Deathlok used this on Grant Ward to make Skye unlock her hard drive, stopping his heart from beating and duplicating a heart attack. When Skye acquiesced, Deathlok tapped the device once to make Ward's heart beat, twice to accelerate the pulse.
 * Ballistic Armor: Deathlok was equipped with armor plating that can withstand high caliber gunfire, with very little to no damage at all. It could also withstand an electrical shock.
 * Internal Prostheses: Deathlok was implanted with cybernetic enhancements underneath his skin, enhancing his strength and endurance even more.
 * Data Upload: His new upgrade also gave him a new ability to upload information into his brain. He was able to use it to instantly learn how to fly a Quinjet for Coulson and Lance Hunter.

Other Equipment

 * Tactical Suit: During his brief time as a S.H.I.E.L.D. trainee in the field, Michael Peterson wore a Tactical Suit designed by agents Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons. It was made of a polymer blend with ten layers of treated composite materials, and its main function was to monitor Peterson's vitals while providing a state-of-the-art ballistic protection for him.

Former Equipment

 * Backscatter X-Ray Eye Implant: A prosthetic ocular implant that allows Deathlok to see through solid objects when his eyes are closed and is also the means used by his handler to send orders and instructions. It was removed when he was captured by HYDRA.
 * Cybertek Prosthetic Leg: Deathlok's missing leg has been replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic designed and built by Cybertek that enhances his speed. It also enhances the strength of his leg, allowing him to crush a man's chest with a single stomp. It was removed and dismantled when he was captured by HYDRA.

Family

 * Ace Peterson - Son
 * Mindy Peterson - Sister
 * Kisha Peterson - Niece

Allies

 * S.H.I.E.L.D. (First Incarnation) - Allies turned Enemies (under HYDRA coercion, now Allies)
 * Coulson's Team
 * Phil Coulson
 * Melinda May
 * Leo Fitz
 * Jemma Simmons
 * Skye - Friend
 * Antoine Triplett
 * Felix Blake
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. (Second Incarnation)
 * Phil Coulson - Director and Friend
 * Lance Hunter - Colleague
 * Leo Fitz - colleague
 * Lincoln Campbell

Enemies

 * Gary - Former Boss
 * HYDRA
 * List † - Overseas Assignment
 * Centipede Project
 * John Garrett † - Controller
 * Debbie † - Doctor
 * Raina - Reluctant Ally turned Enemy
 * Grant Ward - Reluctant Ally turned Enemy
 * Brian Hayward † - Enemy
 * Ian Quinn - Reluctant Ally turned Enemy
 * Cybertek
 * Kyle Zeller - Former Handler

Trivia

 * In the comics, Mike Peterson is an unrelated character that was the best friend of Slapstick.
 * Michael Peterson shares the first name and many traits with the Michael Collins version of Deathlok in the comics. On the other hand, the Henry Hayes version of Deathlok was inspired by Michael Peterson.