I don’t think that has anything to do with Malick’s power. Squidward wanted to turn Malick into a True Believer ™ but the touch from This is Your Life Guy turned him against Hydra. He’s probably still a bad guy, but An Enemy of my Enemy …
Nice tie in to the flash forward of the Quinjet filled with blood exploding in space. Have we seen anyone else wearing a cross besides Yo-Yo?