Alexander Pierce
Though it starts out as a callback to The Avengers, the scenes in 2012 allow the Russos to serve up a homage to their first Marvel movie, The Winter Soldier. Memorably, there’s a reprise of the iconic elevator sequence, which allows for the return of both Jasper Sitwell and Brock Rumlow AKA Crossbones. As fun as it was to see these two double-crossing scoundrels again though, it’s more of a shock when Robert Redford shows up as Alexander Pierce.
Iron Man and Ant-Man seize their chance to steal the Tesseract when the 2012 Tony’s cornered by Pierce, who wishes to take the weapon on behalf of the World Security Council. Pierce was last seen back in The Winter Soldier as Nick Fury’s old friend and trusted boss. You’ll recall that he was actually the latest head of HYDRA though, who was planning a global uprising. We know that the organization ended up with the Mind Stone and it seems, if Pierce had his way, they would have got the Space Stone, too.