Daniel Whitehall

"Freedom. Equality. Individual rights. These principles make mankind a plague on this planet. Think of a forest. It dries up and catches fire with the first spark. Now, mankind would fight that fire, believing every individual plant perfect in its own individual way. But it's the fire that's perfect."

- Daniel Whitehall

Werner Reinhardt, better known as Daniel Whitehall is one of the most prominent members of HYDRA. Originally a high ranking officer of the Nazi Schutzstaffel, during World War II he led expeditions to recover mysterious artifacts for HYDRA. Despite his capture by the Strategic Scientific Reserve in 1945, he was freed in 1989 by members of HYDRA within S.H.I.E.L.D. Back in his old base he used organs and DNA from a mysterious woman to de-age himself and have a middle-aged appearance into the 21st century. With the new identity he reclaimed his position in HYDRA and started the quest to recover the object of his lifelong obsession, the mysterious Obelisk.

Youth and Early Career
Born in Germany in 1904, after World War I, Werner Reinhardt joined the Nazis and became an officer of the Schutzstaffel. He rose in ranks until he became an, eventually joining HYDRA, the special science division led by the infamous Johann Schmidt.

The Obelisk
"Not everything we dug out of the ground was an antique, my friend. Some of it was quite advanced." "Is this the reason these men...? Hmm?" "Ja. The Red Skull said it may hold the answer... the answer to death itself."

- Reinhardt and HYDRA Officer

When World War II broke out, Reinhardt actively participated in German conquest of Europe, earning several high military decorations, including the, the , and the. As an officer of HYDRA, he was sent to search for mysterious artifacts. On one occasion, his team discovered the corpse of a blue-skinned humanoid organism. Somehow, Reinhardt learned about Johann Schmidt's disfigurement that earned him the nickname "Red Skull".

Among the various myths HYDRA researched, to Reinhardt the most intriguing one was the story about an Obelisk-like object with the power to turn living creatures into stone. Reinhardt became especially obsessed with the Obelisk, and came to learn of the myth behind it. It was an old story from the East about the "stars that fell from the heavens". Being an intelligent man, Reinhard realized the "stars" were actually extraterrestrials who came to Earth thousands of years earlier; Reinhardt was led to believe that the aliens intended to conquer Earth, but failed.

Monstrous Experiments
"Discovery requires experimentation."

- Werner Reinhardt

By April 1945, Reinhardt was the commanding officer of a HYDRA Fortress in Austria. His team was able to capture a group of people from China who have found the Obelisk. When he showed the object to his leader, Schmidt said that the Obelisk may hold the answer to death itself.

Reinhardt continually tested the Obelisk's power on various prisoners in order to find the reason behind the lethal effects, and why the effects differed from person to person. Eventually, one of his subjects, a young woman, was able to touch the Obelisk without dying, and instead triggered an unusual response whereas the Obelisk radiated a bright light. Before Reinhardt could study the woman, word of Schmidt's apparent demise at the hands of Captain America became known, and he ordered his men to evacuate the fortress.

Defeat
"Herr Reinhardt, I-I fear Schmidt..." "Oh, there's no reason left to fear the Red Skull. He's dead. However, his vision is not. The work HYDRA has done will live on."

- HYDRA Officer and Reinhardt

Afraid the Allies could capture him, Reinhardt and his men moved to a more secure location, a HYDRA Storage Facility in Austria. The facility housed dozens of artifacts collected by HYDRA over the years, many of them held in the boxes marked with the logo of the. However, the Allied advance into Austria was faster than Reinhardt predicted, and he made a plan to escape with the artifacts from the facility and continue HYDRA's work.

However, the facility was attacked by the Strategic Scientific Reserve team led by Peggy Carter, Jim Morita, and Dum Dum Dugan. Reinhardt and all of his men were captured. Before he was taken away, Reinhardt warned Agent Carter that if one of HYDRA's heads was cut off, two more would grow in its place.

The Second Chance
"The US Government has recruited many German scientists." "They'll send rockets into space. Maybe they can strap you to one of them." "They'll show you parlor tricks. Giving me a second chance could save all of humanity."

- Werner Reinhardt and Peggy Carter

After his capture, Reinhardt was taken to a secret S.S.R. facility. While imprisoned, Peggy Carter came to interrogate him. As many former Nazi scientists were already recruited by the US Government, Reinhardt expressed the wish to be recruited as well, as he considered himself far more valuable than those who would make parlor tricks by sending rockets into space. Agent Carter then mentioned his many war crimes, but he offered to help her understand the items the S.S.R. has confiscated from his last commanding post. He told her about the myth about the "stars" and revealed the extraterrestrial origin of the artifacts. While visibly interested in this revelation, Carter's disgust towards Reinhardt's actions proved stronger and she opted to just let the man rot in prison for the rest of his days.

Years in Prison
"Nothing stays buried forever."

- Werner Reinhardt

Sentenced to life imprisonment, Reinhardt spent the next forty-four years in a small cell in a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison called the Rat. In 1989, now a weak old man, Reinhardt was visited by two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who told him that he was free because Director Alexander Pierce gave him a medical parole. As one agent left the cell, the other whispered "Hail HYDRA". When Reinhardt replied with the same salute and asked why is he needed after so many years, the agent said that he would have to see himself.

New Experiments
"I see it's time we find out exactly what makes you so special."

- Werner Reinhardt to a woman

Reinhardt was quickly returned to his old fortress in Austria, where he was both shocked and elated to discover that the Chinese woman he had met years prior was still alive and young. He operated on the poor woman in an attempt to find the truth behind her immunity to the Obelisk, but found little results. However, he was able the use the woman's DNA to physically regress back to his middle-age. By next year, he took up the identity of Dr. Daniel Whitehall, becoming one of HYDRA's most prominent figureheads alongside Wolfgang von Strucker.

HYDRA Uprising
"Creel has escaped and did indeed make off with the Obelisk. He should contact us shortly. I would have him come in, but I'm being overly discreet with this operation. I know how long you have been searching for this, Dr. Whitehall." "You have no idea."

- Sunil Bakshi and Dr. Whitehall

In 2014, after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., Whitehall's second in command Sunil Bakshi hired Carl Creel to reclaim the Obelisk from the United States Armed Forces. At first, Creel's mission was successful, but the Obelisk was stolen from him and he was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and turned over to General Glenn Talbot.

The New S.H.I.E.L.D. Strikes
"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s becoming a problem. Do we know who's in charge?" "I'm afraid not."

- Daniel Whitehall and Sunil Bakshi

When HYDRA captured a former S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Agent 33, Whitehall personally oversaw her brainwashing, hoping to turn her into a loyal HYDRA agent. Despite her bold proclamation that she would never serve HYDRA, Whitehall was sure she would eventually comply.

When Sunil Bakshi returned from his mission in Morocco, he spoke with Whitehall. During their conversation, Agent 33 gave him paperwork that needed his signature. Whitehall then told Bakshi that Jemma Simmons can be reprogrammed if necessary.

Somehow, Whitehall found out that it was Raina who took the Obelisk. He and a few of his men confronted Raina in her car, where he planted a torture-device on her hand, and threatened her that if she didn't deliver the Obelisk to him in 48 hours, she will experience even more torture.

Duplicating the Obelisk
"There were positives. Many of the deceased were enemies of HYDRA." "Some of us are pleased with these small triumphs. Others have loftier aspirations passion, even. Our founder, he had his Tesseract. As for me, well, it would be an understatement to say that I've waited my whole life to get possession of the Obelisk, to harness its power."

- Lingenfelter and Daniel Whitehall

Later, Whitehall and his scientists attempted to duplicate the Obelisk's power. HYDRA's demonstration at the wedding of Pete and Mariah Leitner ended with a few dead civilians and U.S. Navy officers, but that wasn't the result Whitehall hoped to achieve. Later, Whitehall had a meeting with his top scientists, including Dr. Lingenfelter, Jemma Simmons, and Kenneth Turgeon. He expressed his disappointment, but Simmons assured him that the Obelisk could be used for mass executions. Later, after Bobbi Morse and Jemma Simmons escaped from the HYDRA Laboratories, Whitehall was discussing with Sunil Bakshi about moving to a new location when an unknown man broke into Whitehall's office. When the two guards tried to stop him, the stranger easily killed them. The man then opened the bag he was carrying to reveal the Obelisk inside. The man offered to teach Whitehall not only how to use the power of the artifact, which he called the Diviner, but how to survive it. Whitehall asked for his motives, and the stranger told him that the two had a common enemy: Phil Coulson.

A New Alliance
"Can you tell me how to use it?" "Better yet, I'll teach you how to survive it." "And why would you do that?" "We share a common enemy. A guy named Phil Coulson. I thought maybe together, you and I could kill him along with, you know, everyone else."

- Whitehall and The Doctor

The new alliance soon proved to be very fruitful. Whitehall and his new ally sent schematics based on the work of Vincent Beckers and adapted with the power of the Diviner to Toshiro Mori to create the Splinter Bomb.

Later, on Whitehall's orders, a group of HYDRA operatives led by Marcus Scarlotti and disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attacked the United Nations Headquarters, creating the new wave of outrage against S.H.I.E.L.D. across the world. In coordination with Whitehall, Julien Beckers, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs and a secret member of HYDRA, declared Belgium a safe heaven for all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, attracting many of them to his country. However, the trap wasn't so successful as Whitehall predicted. Only six S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were killed and Beckers, Scarlotti and his team were captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and the United States Armed Forces.

In a meeting with Sunil Bakshi, Grant Ward, who escaped the Armed Forces' custody, wondered who was Bakshi's direct superior since Wolfgang von Strucker was working overseas so he could meet him. Bakshi told Ward that Whitehall was too busy for a meet-and-greet. Ward tried to entice Bakshi by saying that he could get Whitehall and Phil Coulson to meet so Whitehall could kill him.

Whitehall had a meeting with Grant Ward and showed him news footage of the alleged murder-suicide of his brother Christian Ward and his parents. While in their meeting, Skye's Father entered and introductions were made.

Equipment

 * Weapons
 * : Whitehall was armed with the standard pistol used by members of the armed forces of Nazi Germany.
 * Uniform: During World War II, Whitehall used an official black SS uniform, wearing the rank insignia of . The SS runes on the right side of the collar were replaced with the HYDRA badge. He wore three military decorations on the left side of the uniform, the, the , and the . His officer cap also had the HYDRA badge instead of the SS Totenkopf badge.

Allies

 * HYDRA (World War II)
 * Red Skull - Leader
 * HYDRA Officer - Subordinate
 * HYDRA (Second Incarnation)
 * Wolfgang von Strucker - Superior
 * Alexander Pierce - Liberator (indirectly, never known to have met)
 * Sunil Bakshi - Subordinate
 * Carl Creel - Subordinate
 * Agent 33 - Enemy turned Subordinate (brainwashed)
 * Rivera
 * Skye's Father

Enemies

 * Strategic Scientific Reserve
 * Peggy Carter
 * Dum Dum Dugan
 * Jim Morita †
 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Jemma Simmons - Former HYDRA Subordinate
 * Raina - Victim

Appearances

 * Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Season Two
 * Shadows
 * Heavy is the Head (mentioned)
 * Making Friends and Influencing People
 * Face My Enemy
 * A Hen in the Wolf House
 * A Fractured House (mentioned)
 * The Writing on the Wall (mentioned)
 * The Things We Bury
 * Ye Who Enter Here

Trivia

 * In the comics, Daniel Whitehall is a legendary member of HYDRA known as the Kraken.
 * Both Daniel Whitehall and John Garrett were members of the Great Wheel of the Zodiac, a collection of eleven of the most experienced espionage leaders in the Marvel Comics main continuity. Other prominent members that already appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan and Wolfgang von Strucker.