20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About Marvel

19. Dum Dum Dugan Was A Life Model Decoy

Zombie Spider Man 2
Marvel

For years, Timothy “Dum Dum” Dugan was one of Nick Fury’s most trusted allies and one of the stapes of SHIELD leadership. He was a friend, a soldier, and a... life model decoy?

Life model decoys have an infamous history in the Marvel Universe. They’re basically robots that look and sound exactly like real people. As such they’re almost exclusively used as a cheap way to bring characters back to life by claiming they were never really killed in the first place.

The startling revelation of Dugan’s true identity came forth in the recent Original Sins miniseries, in which Fury recounts that the real Dugan died all the way back in 1966. Finding that he missed his friend, Fury used an extremely sophisticated life model decoy to replace him. Faced with this knowledge, Dugan decides to take his own life.

Strangely, a new Howling Commandos comic is about to debut, with Dugan as their leader. Could Marvel be backing down on this controversial twist already?

Contributor

Connor loves movies, comics, and TV, and is trying to write for people who feel the same way. When he's not sitting on the couch with his laptop, you might find him lying in his bed with his laptop.