30 Greatest Marvel Movie Villains
8. Alexander Pierce - Robert Redford (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
Robert Redford plays a subversive riff on his determined journalist from All the President's Men here, as a senior S.H.I.E.L.D official who is covertly helping HYDRA grow within the organisation.
The epitome of Pierce's plan was Project Insight, an operation that saw three heavily-armed Helicarriers apparently appointed to protect Earth, but in fact, they were to be used to kill 20 million people that an algorithm designed by Arnim Zola said would try to stop HYDRA's ascendance.
Though Redford sadly spoiled his secret villain status ahead of the movie's release, it still made for a riveting and entertaining twist, not to mention a relevant commentary on the need for governmental transparency in real life.
Much more than a dull stuffed shirt, Pierce was a classic movie villain with an epic, ambitious plan who just so happened to be played by one of the world's best and most iconic actors.