Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum Dum" Dugan is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an officer of S.H.I.E.L.D. and is one of the most experienced members of Nick Fury's team, known for his marksmanship with rifles and trademark bowler hat.
Neal McDonough appeared as the character in the 2011 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain America: The First Avenger, the 2013 Marvel Studios short film Agent Carter (post-credits), in 2014 in the 1st episode of season 2 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and also in 2015 in the fifth episode of the first season of Marvel's Agent Carter and also returned as an alternate version of the character in the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021).
Publication history
Dum Dum Dugan first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (May 1963), and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Dum Dum Dugan received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #2.
Fictional character biography
Dum Dum Dugan was originally portrayed as a British citizen in Sgt Fury #1, but later retconned to be born in Boston, Massachusetts. During World War II, while working as a circus strongman, Dugan helps Nick Fury and Sam "Happy" Sawyer escape the Nazis during a mission. Dugan joins the British Army, and when Sawyer is charged with creating Fury's First Attack Squad, formally listed as "Able Company" and nicknamed the Howling Commandos, Sawyer invites Dugan to transfer into the US Army and be Fury's second-in-command. Dugan's exceptional strength saves the day in several of his adventures in the Sgt. Fury comic books. Dugan is an enlisted man with the rank of corporal, and wears the chevrons of his rank on the front top of his trademark bowler hat throughout World War II.
Dugan leaves the U.S. Army before the Korean War, but rejoins during the war as Second Lieutenant under the promoted First Lieutenant Fury, once again as his second-in-command of the reformed Howling Commandos. Fury had already received a battlefield promotion to Second Lt. earlier. Dugan remains with Fury when Fury continues his military career into the Vietnam War, as shown in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Annual #3-4, and later into espionage work. Dugan's exact rank is not stated, but he is addressed as "Captain" at one point. He remains with Fury when Fury goes into the CIA and later into the original S.H.I.E.L.D.
Different accounts state that Dugan and other members of the Howling Commandos receive the Infinity Formula to explain how they all remain youthful and active despite being all into their 60s and 70s in the modern era. Other stories contradict this artificial maintenance of youth by Dugan as merely dyeing his hair and suffering a heart attack.
Later on in life, he is placed in charge of internal security on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
Dum Dum is placed in charge of a SHIELD unit coined the Godzilla Squad, charged with the task of tracking and stopping the radioactive kaiju. Over the course of the twenty-four issue Godzilla, King of the Monsters series, Dugan goes from loathing the creature's destructive tendencies to accepting the beast's existence after Godzilla saves him on numerous occasions. Dugan goes on to recall a long list of his greatest nightmares, one of which includes Godzilla.
After suffering a heart attack, Dugan is formally promoted to Fury's permanent second-in-command of S.H.I.E.L.D. as "Deputy Director", though he has acted as such before his formal appointment.
Power struggles
In Marvel Graphic Novel #18: She-Hulk, Dum Dum Dugan ran S.H.I.E.L.D. during one of Fury's absences. His authority is usurped by the craven, sex-obsessed agent Roger Dooley. She-Hulk and Wyatt Wingfoot are illegally captured to which Dugan protests Dooley's forcible strip search of She-Hulk in public but is overruled. Dugan regains his authority when Dooley is killed in action.