Agents Of SHIELD: 20 Easter Eggs And In-Jokes You Probably Missed
19. Deathlok's Been Around Since 1990
John Garrett mentions that, along with Michael Peterson not being the first subject of the Deathlok project and Paxtons character himself having been through the process long ago, the Deathlok files go all the way back to 1990. This not only continues the Marvel Cinematic Universe theme of having villainous organisations that go deeper and way further back than anybody thought, but is also a reference to Deathloks very first solo series as it debuted in that very same year. The character had appeared in other comics before this point, making his very first appearance in Astonishing Tales #25 way back in 1974 (he was created by writer Doug Moench and artist Rich Buckler). They probably made a sensible choice in not referencing the year of the cyborg assassins premiere appearance as the Deathlok program would realistically need to have had a somewhat older leader/primary test subject, and Bill Paxtons pushing it as it is...
