WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If...? Season 1, Episode 3, "What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?," now streaming on Disney+
The Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division have been monitoring some of the most unique events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but as they monitor potential anomalies and recruits for the Avengers Initiative, their security measures suffer. The latest episode of What If...? also exploits their fragile system with deadly precision and makes audiences wonder if SHIELD was ever truly secure.
In the main MCU timeline, the faults in SHIELD's security are felt when Hawkeye's mind is taken over by Loki; with his skill, he can infiltrate and nearly destroy a helicarrier thanks to one arrow. While an outside source caused this, it shows how easy it can be to take them down if a fellow agent switched sides. This is shown to an even greater effect in Captain America: The Winter Soldier when it's revealed that Hydra has been running SHIELD for decades. Under their control, they nearly subjugated the whole world thanks to a trio of armed helicarriers.
In "What If... The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?," SHIELD's security is exploited on two fronts. The first comes from the mysterious assassin that has been killing recruits for the Avengers Initiative one by one. At the end of the episode, it's revealed to be Hank Pym, exacting revenge for his daughter's death. Over the course of the episode, Hank steals secrets and is one step ahead of Nick Fury, which is an otherwise difficult thing to accomplish.
One of the reasons SHIELD looks so weak in the episode has to do with Hank's acquisition of the Avengers Initiative. In the canon, Fury didn't write up his proposition until six years after Hank left SHIELD. It would be over a decade later that his daughter would die in the field, sparking his revenge scheme. That means that even in his older age, Hank was able to steal sensitive information from a SHIELD database without anyone knowing and begin his path of revenge. Hacking SHIELD is fairly common in the MCU, as even the Black Widow did it to secure sensitive documents in The Winter Soldier, but with expert hackers like Natasha in the world, it's a surprise that the spy organization never upgraded their computer security.
To add insult to injury, Alexander Pierce is still the acting head of SHIELD while Brock Rumlow leads their STRIKE division. That means that along with Hank making a mockery of their cyber security, Hydra is forming SHIELD into their own twisted vision. By the episode's conclusion, Fury is the only agent who can be trusted to see the mission to its end, but his blindness to the situation cost the lives of the Avengers and potentially doomed the world to Hydra.In the act of poetic irony, while Fury cleans up one mess, he allows for another by letting Loki take over the world.
The latest episode of What If...? paints an ugly picture of SHIELD and how they handle crisis events. To make matters worse is the fact that they could've been avoided if those tasked with keeping them secure paid closer attention. The episode presents an idea that SHIELD may not have been as secure as they appeared to be.
The third episode of What If...? is streaming now on Disney+.