Anton Ivanov

Anton Ivanov is a fictional terrorist-turned-robot and a secondary antagonist featured on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is part of the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. Played by actor Zach McGowan, he was introduced in the twelfth episode of season four titled "Hot Potato Soup".

Biography
Anton Ivanov was a Russian extremist and the head of an organization known as the Watchdogs. He was referred to as "The Superior", and nursed an intense hatred of all alien presence on Earth, in particular, those who had evolved to become known as Inhumans. Ivanov believed that S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson was the root behind all of Earth's alien intrusion, going all the way back to the invasion of the Chitauri.

Ivanov maintained his base of operations aboard a submarine, and coordinated all of the Watchdog activity from sea. Ivanov learned about a mystical tome of ancient power known as the Darkhold, and also knew that the last known person to possess it was a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientific consultant named Holden Radcliffe. He abducted Radcliffe and briefly obtained the Darkhold. In so doing, he also earned the attention of Radcliffe's Life Model Decoy creation, Aida.

While Ivanov was absorbing knowledge from the Darkhold, Aida developed artificial intelligence. She saw Ivanov as a means to an end, so she murdered him, and reconstituted his form and personality as an LMD. The LMD version of Ivanov fought up against Phil Coulson, and his fellow agent Melinda May. The LMD also found itself on the losing end of a battle with Daisy Johnson.

Notes & Trivia



 * Anton Ivanov is exclusive to the continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and has no direct counterpart in the mainstream Marvel Universe. However, there is a Russian character named Anton, who was a member of the Winter Guard, and assumed the name Red Guardian. This Anton was later revealed to be an LMD.


 * Anton Ivanov made a total of seven appearances on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 2017.


 * Anton Ivanov is different from other Life Model Decoys in that he is not a complete automaton governed by programming, but rather, his mind was preserved and transplanted into a surrogate body.


 * Prior to heaving up the Watchdogs, Anton Ivanov was a member of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (SVR).


 * Anton Ivanov's number one underling was a man named Tucker Shockley, who ironically, underwent Terrigenesis and gained the power of self-detonation.


 * At one point, Anton stated that his new LMD form was "designed only for killing". This is a wink to the Marvel Comics character, M.O.D.O.K., whose name stands for "Mobile Organism Designed Only for Killing". The comic book version of M.O.D.O.K. however, was actually a man named George Tarleton.

Appearances

 * 1) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Hot Potato Soup
 * 2) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: BOOM
 * 3) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Man Behind the Shield
 * 4) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Self Control
 * 5) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: All the Madame's Men
 * 6) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Return
 * 7) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: World's End