Lance Hunter

"Look, you both have your S.H.I.E.L.D. traditions and all that nonsense, and personal reasons for being dedicated to the cause, but you've known me a long time, Izzy. And what gets me out of bed in the morning..."

- Lance Hunter to Isabelle Hartley and Phil Coulson

Lance Hunter is a former British soldier and mercenary that joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and went to work alongside Isabelle Hartley.

Early Life and Career
Lance Hunter was a Lieutenant in the (SAS). In 2008, he participated in an operation in Basra, Iraq and another in Sierra Leone in 2011 before becoming a mercenary for hire.

He was introduced to Jane and Isabelle Hartley through his ex-wife. After leaving the SAS and becoming a mercenary, he joined Hartley's team.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Mercenary
"Hunter." "What?" "Don't be yourself right now."

- Isabelle Hartley and Hunter

Lance Hunter, Isabelle Hartley, and Idaho went undercover to meet with Roger Browning, an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had acquired a file on an 0-8-4 and its location. During negotiations, the meeting was interrupted by Carl Creel who killed Browning, stole the file, then leapt from a twenty-five foot high window.

When Director Phil Coulson saw Hunter and the others to be debriefed on what happened in Alexandria, Hunter constantly reminded Coulson that he was working for the money.

After the location of the Government Storage Warehouse holding the Obelisk was located, Hunter was sent with Melinda May, Skye, Antoine Triplett, Idaho, and Hartley to obtain the artifact. Hartley found it, but, as she tried to defend herself against Carl Creel, she touched it bare-handed. As it began to kill her, Hunter chose to get her medical attention instead of completing the mission as Coulson ordered. Inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV driven by Idaho, Hunter amputated Hartley's hand to save her. However, she and Idaho died when Creel caused the vehicle to flip. Hunter then pretended to be dead as Creel took the Obelisk.

Joining S.H.I.E.L.D.
"I need you because I can't be you, not any more."

- Phil Coulson to Hunter

Hunter called out to Idaho to see if he was alive, but his friend didn't answer. After May gave him a Mouse Hole to escape the S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV, Hunter was captured by the United States Armed Forces. The soldiers dropped Hunter in a field where he was confronted by Glenn Talbot, who offered him a lift via helicopter.

In the helicopter, Talbot attempted to convince Hunter to give up the location of Phil Coulson. Hunter seemingly agreed in exchange for two million dollars and a proper burial for Hartley, claiming her family deserved to know what happened to her. After arriving at the Playground and being checked by Antoine Triplett, Hunter confronted Coulson and reassured him that he did not betray him.

Hunter talked to Skye and told her to remember that S.H.I.E.L.D. was not a life, just a job. When the team finally tracked Carl Creel down Hunter begged Coulson to let him go into the field again, promising to follow orders. As the team prepared to initiate the plan Hunter knocked Melinda May, Skye, and Triplett unconscious with an I.C.E.R., unwilling to let Creel go or take him down non-lethally after Creel killed Isabelle Hartley. He took Triplett's rifle and ran to the plaza where Creel was preparing to make an exchange with his HYDRA contact, who managed to calm Creel down enough to stop the growth of the Obelisk's material over Creel's body.

Hunter attempted to kill Carl Creel, but is spotted at the last second and Creel successfully transformed and deflected the lethal bullet. Creel chased Hunter and almost killed him, revealing that he could push a small amount of the Obelisk through his palm to petrify whomever he wanted with a touch. Hunter was saved when Coulson snuck up behind Creel and neutralized him with the Overkill Device.

Hunter went to watch Isabelle Hartley's funeral, and left Isabelle's pendant in her sister Jane's car. Coulson appeared and offered him a job, saying that he needed someone who would do the wrong thing for the right reasons. After some consideration, and despite the loss of the two million dollars and the warning that May will "savour" a grudge, Hunter accepted the offer.

The Moroccan Mission
Alphonso Mackenzie won his bet with Hunter that Skye did not attend S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, causing Hunter to do inventory. Before he went, he asked Skye if she had ever killed.

Later, he, Skye and May were sent to Morocco to apprehend Donnie Gill on a HYDRA freighter. During the assignment, Director Coulson learned from Leo Fitz that Gill was brainwashed by HYDRA and ordered Hunter not to allow Gill to communicate with any of its agents. Hunter found Gill talking to Jemma Simmons, Coulson's mole in HYDRA whom Hunter never met. Before he could fire on her, May hit Hunter with an I.C.E.R. bullet. This alerted Gill and Simmons to their presence and they ran. Gill then trapped Hunter and May within the freighter by freezing the door.

When everyone returned to the Playground, Hunter asked May if they were now even from when he shot her. Looking at Triplett, she said that she was even.

Double Trouble
"Guys, drop everything!" "No. This is worth a fortune; I'm not going to drop it." "Just put it down."

- Lance Hunter and Leo Fitz

Hunter kissed Bridget, the executive assistant of Gabriel Soto, so he could pick her purse and steal a ticket that Skye needed to duplicate to give access to a fund raiser organized by Soto. The fund raiser was dedicated to the Santa Maria de las Flores church that once housed a 500 year old painting with the Words of Creation inscribed on its back;  Phil Coulson and Melinda May wanted to infiltrate the fund raiser in order to retrieve the painting. When he returned to the Bus, he bored the others with stories of his ex-wife.

Leo Fitz took Hunter with him after Agent 33, disguised as Melinda May, planted a virus in the Bus' systems that would have caused it to explode. Fitz explained that he needed Hunter's hands to rewire the plane because Fitz's were unsteady. They were successful in stopping the cascade effect.

To celebrate a successful mission, Hunter brought beer for the others to drink. After Fitz talked about a girl who didn't return his feelings, Alphonso Mackenzie and Hunter had a toast with him about "moving on."

Meeting the Ex-Wife
Later, the team was contacted by Raina who wanted to meet up with Coulson. At a resturant Coulson met Raina while Hunter, May, and Skye watched from a distance. During the conversation, Raina admitted she knew Skye's Father and threatened to blow Jemma Simmons cover unless she was given Skye. Coulson, already having a back-up plan, refused the deal. Turning the tables on Raina, Coulson got her to admit where Skye's father was and had her agree to draw out Daniel Whitehall in exchange for protection. Hunter tagged her, so she could be found when needed. Back at the Playground, Hunter met his ex-wife again, Bobbi Morse. Shocked and surprised to see her and her dyed hair, he asked Coulson what she was doing there. Coulson told Hunter to "play nice."

Playing Nice
"I'm a merc, mate, like you lot. And if you're looking to take out a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents higher up the food chain, I happen to know a couple. They just need about - 90 seconds to get in position."

- Lance Hunter to Marcus Scarlotti

Phil Coulson told Hunter that he can leave if working with Bobbi Morse would be a problem. He assigned them to go to Okinawa, Japan with Melinda May to learn the involvement of Toshiro Mori in the Splinter Bombs used by Marcus Scarlotti in an attack on the United Nations designed to discredit S.H.I.E.L.D. During the flight to Japan, Morse and Hunter argued, while May piloted the Quinjet.

Hunter vouched for Morse's skills in espionage when they decided to use her undercover identity as a HYDRA Laboratories' head of security to get the information. When Mori kissed Morse, May teased him for allowing her to go solo. He intercepted a file transfer that Mori received, showing Morse betraying HYDRA, and helped save her from assassination. As he shot Mori, he told her that he saved her life twice.

The trio went to Bruges and Hunter acted as distraction as the women crashed through the windows of the safehouse that were occupied by Scarlotti and his mercenaries. During the fight, Hunter saved Morse again.

During Scarlotti's arrest by Glenn Talbot, Hunter started to gather his things. Morse used reverse psychology to convince him to stay with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Hunter was stationed in a bus to Boston that Grant Ward boarded in Atlanta after he escaped federal custody.

In Boston, Hunter then watched Ward enter Goldbrix Tavern and reported this to field commander Melinda May. Later, he saw Sunil Bakshi, with two other HYDRA agents enter the establishment.

As May prepared her field agents to raid the tavern, Hunter bickered with Bobbi Morse on how her cover was blown in Atlanta while his cover, despite his wearing a cowboy hat, was not.

At the Playground, Hunter was among the senior agents assembled as Phil Coulson gave the new mission: find the city that matched the City Blueprints before HYDRA does.

Equipment

 * Weapons: As a former soldier and experienced mercenary, Lance Hunter is proficient with a wide range of firearms.
 * : Hunter's sidearm
 * I.C.E.R.
 * I.C.E.R.
 * I.C.E.R.

Allies

 * S.H.I.E.L.D. (Second Incarnation)
 * Phil Coulson - Director
 * Bobbi Morse - Colleague and Ex-Wife
 * Isabelle Hartley † - Colleague
 * Idaho † - Colleague
 * Melinda May - Colleague
 * Skye - Colleague
 * Antoine Triplett - Colleague
 * Leo Fitz - Colleague
 * Billy Koenig - Colleague
 * Alphonso Mackenzie - Colleague

Enemies

 * HYDRA
 * Carl Creel
 * Raina
 * Marcus Scarlotti

Trivia

 * In the comics, Lance Hunter is the director of STRIKE, the British equivalent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * In the comics, Hawkeye is the ex-husband of Bobbi Morse, but in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that role is filled by Lance Hunter.