Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Wynn Everett is Whitney Frost/Madame Masque

[Snow Queen]

"Everett (The Newsroom) will play Whitney Frost, otherwise known in the Marvel Universe as Madame Masque. On the show, Frost is a Hollywood actress and brilliant inventor. In the comics, the villain first appeared in Tales of Suspense #98 before becoming Madame Masque a year later in Iron Man #17.

“Whitney Frost is a character with a storied history in the Marvel comics, and we’re excited to get the opportunity to introduce her to fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” executive producers Tara Butters, Michele Fazekas, and Chris Dingess say. “Inspired by Hollywood icons like Hedy Lamarr and Lauren Bacall, we knew we needed an actor who was classically glamorous and fiercely intelligent. Wynn is both, and we’re thrilled to watch her bring this formidable character to life.”

 

[Dasher10]

First Faustus, now Madame Masque? Why is Marvel so hell bent on taking popular villains and then using them back in the 1940s?

Like we'll never get a faithful adaptation of The Death of Captain America or World's Most Wanted now.

Who ever even asked for this?

And considering that Madame Masque is tied to the Maggia as the daughter of Count Nefaria, who's also tied to Kingpin and Silvermane, Spider-Man and Daredevil are also going to suffer by also removing Count Nefaria from the picture.

 

[pixen]

First Faustus, now Madame Masque? Why is Marvel so hell bent on taking popular villains and then using them back in the 1940s?

Like we'll never get a faithful adaptation of The Death of Captain America or World's Most Wanted now.

Who ever even asked for this?

And considering that Madame Masque is tied to the Maggia as the daughter of Count Nefaria, who's also tied to Kingpin and Silvermane, Spider-Man and Daredevil are also going to suffer by also removing Count Nefaria from the picture.

I understand the frustration but they don't do adaptions of their comic story lines. They use ideas and spin them to fit the MCU and don't limit themselves to what happened in the comic version.

I doubt Madame Masque would ever show up in the movies, and if she did, it'd be a supporting villain role... and who knows, maybe she'll be a great villain for Agent Carter.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Excited about Frost, should be a perfect fit for this show. Sadly I'm unfamiliar with the actress.

 

[Dasher10]

I understand the frustration but they don't do adaptions of their comic story lines. They use ideas and spin them to fit the MCU and don't limit themselves to what happened in the comic version.

I doubt Madame Masque would ever show up in the movies, and if she did, it'd be a supporting villain role... and who knows, maybe she'll be a great villain for Agent Carter.

YES THEY DO!

Iron Man 1 and 2 as well as Guardians of the Galaxy were mostly original stories. I'll give you that but the rest were all based on iconic stories. Captain America TFA was based on a number of WWII era stories, both Golden Age and flashbacks. Thor was based on a flashback story but the name escapes me at the moment. Incredible Hulk was based on the early 2000s run albiet loosely. Fact.

The other MCU films were much closer adaptations of more famous stories. The first Avengers film was based on Ultimates 1 and 2. Iron Man 3 was based on both Extremis and Haunted. Captain America 2 was based on both The Winter Soldier and Nick Fury vs SHIELD. Thor 2 was based on Walt Simonson's run. Age of Ultron was based on Ultron Unlimited.

Even on the TV side, the first season of Daredevil was an adaptation of Frank Miller's The man Without Fear.

So yes, they do adaptations. They do them quite well I might add.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

IM's got plenty of unused villains more critical than Masque. Film clearly hasn't indicated any desire to use her anytime soon so tv is running with it. Your real issue is with your unrealistic expectations.

 

[Dasher10]

IM's got plenty of unused villains more critical than Masque. Film clearly hasn't indicated any desire to use her anytime soon so tv is running with it. Your real issue is with your unrealistic expectations.

My only expectations would be that Phase 5 would be Dark Reign and we'd get an adaptation of World's Most Wanted.

Keep in mind that it could still happen in a way that isn't comic accurate but still more interesting. Count Nefaria adopts a clone of Whitney Frost and raises her as his own daughter. She doesn't take learning that she's a clone well, nor does she take Iron Man accidentally burning her face off well either.

If that's off the table, then maybe an adaptation of Armor Wars 2 would work since Living Laser is a really, really cool villain.

 

[SirStrangefolk]

My only expectations would be that Phase 5 would be Dark Reign and we'd get an adaptation of World's Most Wanted.

If that's off the table, then maybe an adaptation of Armor Wars 2 would work since Living Laser is a really, really cool villain.

Okay, you might want to lower your expectations. We have no reason to believe this is anywhere near the direction Marvel is going. It would be better to assume that we will never get Dark Reign, and there will never be another MCU Iron Man movie. If it does happen, you can be pleasantly surprised, but since it most likely won't, you won't be dissappointed if Marvel doesn't do exactly what you imagined.

 

[Guard82]

I can't wait to see how they adapt Madame Masque in the show. It sounds like they've got some cool ideas for her character, and I'm sure she'll be a great villain for Peggy and co. to fight.

BTW, I don't understand why some people are so whiny that Madame Masque is being used on this show rather than in some other property like an Iron Man sequel. Instead of complaining over minor quibbles like that, we should all be overjoyed that Masque is being used, period. It was unlikely that Masque was going to make it into the movies, so this TV show provides a golden opportunity for us fans to see her in live action. Let's be grateful for that and wait to see how well the writers utilize her.

 

[psylockolussus]

Interesting. Though I wanted to see her in a film like Iron Man 4.

 

[Loki882]

It doesn't seem like we'll be getting an IM 4 anytime soon. I'd rather get Madame Masque as the MAIN villain on this show, then have her stuck as some secondary lackey/henchwoman (like every other female baddie in the MCU thus far has been) in a movie and not get much to do.

 

[just one thing]

she is a good character for the show, enjoying it a lot.

 

[The Caped Knight]

Look's like she'll be adapting that mask soon before the season finale.

 

[TheVileOne]

Wish we could've seen a different version of Madame Masque elsewhere in the MCU instead of this one.

 

[BatsDC]

Has there been any hint of her donning the mask yet?

 

[Tony Stark]

Has there been any hint of her donning the mask yet?

The most that's happened is that she wears a veil to cover up the side of her face from the scarring of the dark matter.

The more people she absorbs with the dark matter, the scar grows. I have a feeling by the end of this season we'll see her forced to don the traditional mask she has in the comics.

 

[BatsDC]

Cool. Haven't been able to check this season out yet, shall definitely try and get around to it

 

[Dark Raven]

Well, Whitney Frost wasn't Madame Masque at all. She never wore one and Whitney Frost wasn't even her real name.

Maybe the thread name could be changed to reflect this?

 

[Guard82]

Well, Whitney Frost wasn't Madame Masque at all. She never wore one and Whitney Frost wasn't even her real name.

Maybe the thread name could be changed to reflect this?

I think the thread should keep its current name because Wynn Everett did indeed play the character, albeit with changes.

I thought Everett embodied Whitney very well. Sure, the character had clear differences from her comic-book counterpart, as you point out, but her personality was spot-on as Whitney Frost/Madame Masque. Her brilliance, her sophistication, her unstable tendencies, her insecurity regarding her physical beauty, and her ruthlessness were all there. So while the character certainly had some changes, her personality was definitely that of Whitney/Masque from the comics.

 

[TheVileOne]

Weak villain for a weak and ultimately disappointing season.

 

[gildedmuse]

Weak villain for a weak and ultimately disappointing season.

I have to totally disagree. I mean, Whitney's equivalent in season one wasn't Dottie Underwood. It was Fennhoff, a guy so uninteresting I have to constantly google the spelling. Actually, Whitney's place in season one is held by Leviathan. Yet the whole group failed to get as much development and character growth as Whitney.

We get to see her grow as a person from a young child working on the radio, to a young girl escaping out to Hollywood, to an aging actress and unhappy wife of a politician, to powerful super villain in her own right. And we see the motivation that drives her forward: power, respected, and most importantly, how those things have always been denied to her. Here you have a woman with clear, born, natural genius and yet all the world is interested in is her pretty smile. Even her own husband writes her future of as having babies and playing housewife which is fine if those are the things you want but that is never what made Whitney happy. Yet the thing she wants - the thing she has EARNED through scientific contributions - is something the entire world has decided to withhold. The counsel never speaks to women, Whitney. You need to abandon your interest for the sake of your husband's career, Whitney. You are getting too old to be important, Whitney.

Personally, I am a huge fan of when powers are used to exaggerate real life traits (Kilgrave as the abuser) or are metaphors for their issues (The Hulk as repressed anger/emotional trauma) so that alone would have pleased me. But I think it was put to best use in Agent Carter where it really mirrors the struggles of our protagonist.

It shows how both woman have been shaped and disenfranchised by a culture that promotes sexism and highlights not just the obvious differences on how they seek to deal with that but the startlingly similarities. Like that's all it takes is a push here or there. Peggy could have wound up married and likely as miserable as Whitney had she not been pushed into joining the SOE program and finding an outlet for her independence. That's an important reminder. Because Peggy is so awesome it's easy to fall into the trap of believing that she would have found a way regardless of how sexist society had been, and here we get to see how close she was to being your typical 40s wife. She is not some omnipresent being who somehow exists outside the culture that she was born into and lives within; she is just as much a product as every other woman in the system. And yes, some of them like Whitney and Peggy are so remarkable that if you give them even the smallest edge they will seize it, but they still need that edge.

Both of them also totally use those cultural assumptions as a means to their own gain. Whitney is able to get her place in Hollywood by being a young, beautiful girl. A man with her same ambition would have had the advantage of being allowed his own agency while Whitney constantly has to turn to the men in her life to get things done, true, but because she is a woman in a man's world she is able to manipulate behind the scenes without suspicion and she exploits this advantage. Which is the same one Peggy was recruited on. The whole idea of making her a spy is that men were less likely to expect a pretty girl be doing something like smuggling state secrets - clearly a man's job.

No, Whitney was a strong character and a great mirror to Peggy's own experience. Now, the final episode of the series was super weak and I won't argue that, and the whole thing was far from perfect but I don't think that falls on the strength of the characters.