Nick Fury
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #5
Created by	Brian Michael Bendis Mike Allred
In-story information
Alter ego	Nicholas Joseph Fury
Team affiliations	S.H.I.E.L.D. Ultimates United States Army
Abilities	Slowed or Halted aging from the Super Soldier Serum Skilled and experienced soldier Skilled with many weapons and fighting techniques Healing factor

General Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional character published by Marvel Comics. A reinterpretation of the character Nick Fury, one of the most notable differences between the two is that the mainstream Nick Fury is a Caucasian colonel with greying brown hair, while this Nick Fury is a bald African American general, specifically tailored after actor Samuel L. Jackson with his permission.^[1] Jackson appeared as Fury in the 2008 film Iron Man. Fury has a substantial presence in all the Ultimates comics, appearing first in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up and Ultimate X-Men and later reappearing regularly in Ultimate Spider-Man and finally securing a regular, recurring role as the General of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the leader of The Ultimates, a re-imagining of the Avengers.

[edit] Fictional character biography

Nicholas Fury fought for the United States in World War Two. During the invasion of Sicily, he, along with Private Fisk and Canadian soldier James Howlett attempted to loot a house. American Military police arrived to arrest them, and all three were subdued. Fisk was grazed by a bullet, while Fury was imprisoned in an unknown location alongside several other black men and Howlett, despite protests that he was Canadian, was also shipped to an unknown location.^[2]Fury was selected to be the next test subject for Project Rebirth, as his blood work most closely matched that of subject 22, the most successful of the previous test subjects. He was injected with a serum that gave him super-strength, which he used to free himself and the other prisoners, who then escaped. The scientists who were working on him let him escape, deciding that they have all the information that they needed for now.

After attending college in India, Fury enlisted in the military, where he was deployed into various conflicts such as the Kosovo Wars. He was later assigned to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Weapon X program in the original Gulf War. While transporting Wolverine in his Adamantium cage, an Iraqi guerrilla ambush killed his team and inadvertently freed Wolverine from his prison. After slaughtering the Iraqi guards, Wolverine discovered Fury, the only survivor of the ambush, and transported him back through the desert to the Allied forces. Although Wolverine was summarily subdued and re-imprisoned by his handlers, a bond between the two men was formed.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Years later the X-Men were abducted and imprisoned by the Weapon X program. This program was overseen at the time by Wraith, who had previously staged a coup against General Ross. This coup had prevented Ross from dismantling the Weapon X program altogether. Wolverine, the only X-Man who eludes capture, later asks Fury for help in freeing the other X-Men and bringing down the Weapon X program. During the operation, which also involves the Brotherhood of Mutants, Wraith was about to kill one of the X-Men and is shot dead by Fury.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Fury is summarily promoted to General and resumes the duties of the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. He was tasked with forming a team to battle post-human threats and resurrecting the Super-Soldier program, two objectives that resulted in the formation of the Ultimates. Fury operates as the commander of the team, at times leading them into action, though he often shares duties with Captain America. Nick Fury is also responsible for monitoring post-humans who are not affiliated with the U.S. Military, including Peter Parker and the X-Men.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Nick Fury recently lost his right arm in a battle against the Liberators in Ultimates (vol. 2). However, in story arcs that appear to be set after this, he has two arms, including issue #107 of Ultimate Spider-Man. The Ultimate Secrets guide claims that Fury replaced his right arm with a bionic one.

Nick Fury has also been involved in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. In them he meets Peter after Norman Osborn returns. He states that S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to figure out who Peter was because of the security shots of the Oz Spider biting Peter, as well as Dr. Octopus screaming that Peter Parker is Spider-Man while in jail. Nick Fury has been watching Peter as he will eventually be property of S.H.I.E.L.D. due to his illegal genetically altered status. Although Fury wants him to be part of the Ultimates, this may have changed because the Ultimates broke apart. Peter and Fury's relationship became strained after the Hobgoblin arc. Peter punches Fury for ignoring his questions for why Harry became the Hobgoblin. At that point Fury told one of his scientists that he wanted to know everything about Oz and that it was time for Peter Parker to lose his Spider powers. This follows on to the Ultimate Clone Saga in which it is revealed by Fury that the Tinkerer's Spider-Slayers were developed to handle Peter if and when he ever went insane. Mary Jane Watson tells Fury that Peter idolized Fury and would never threaten Fury and his various agendas for the Ultimate Marvel Universe's super-powered beings. This convinced Fury to let Peter keep his powers and to leave Peter alone.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Fury was judged to be at least partially responsible for the devastation of much of Earth-31916 along with Emil Burbank. Burbank had sought a means to defeat the Hyperion of that universe. An alien organism, unleashed in an attempt to achieve this, spread throughout the United States causing widespread devastation. A probe sent by Reed Richards provided evidence that an "invasion from another universe" was responsible. The Squadron Supreme was dispatched to the Ultimate universe in order to arrest Richards so that he could stand trial for his 'crimes'. A lengthy battle ensued between the Squadron on one side and the Ultimates, Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four on the other. Richards, believing himself to be responsible when the Squadron produced his probe as evidence, surrendered himself. Fury was unwilling to accept this and convinced Thor to create a bridge to Earth-31916 through which the Heli-carrier was able to travel. Once there, another battle between the Squadron and the Ultimate universe heroes begins. Spider-Man learns that Fury had an ulterior motive - the retrieval of the probes and their data, and had conspired with Doctor Doom to do so. In addition, Fury had brought insurance in the shape of the Hulk. It takes the combined power of the Ultimate universe heroes, the Earth-31916 Squadron Supreme and their counterparts from Earth-712 to defeat the Hulk, but Doom had proven to be simply a Doombot. To stop the fighting, the Ultimates agree to turn over Fury to the Earth-31916 Squadron and to allow Power Princess to return with them to their universe. Fury tries to convince them that they are making a mistake, but his pleas are ignored.^[3]

Fury is seen still stranded in Earth-31916 in Squadron Supreme v2 #1. He has apparently fulfilled the prophecy made by Hyperion in Ultimate Power #9: "Given the strength of our military industrial complex, Fury would have risen here to even greater heights than your homeworld." ^[4]

Fury returns to the Ultimate Universe in Ultimatum #4 and is instrumental in defeating Magneto. Jean Grey telepathically relays the information discovered by Fury in Ultimate Origins that mutants are not the next stage in human evolution, but are in fact the result of experimentation done by humans. This revelation causes Magneto to reverse the damage done to the earth's magnetic poles.

Following the events of Ultimatum Fury is informed by Hawkeye about how Captain America discovered the secret of the Red Skull, Fury asks head of S.H.I.E.L.D Carol Danvers for permission to start up a 'death squad' in order to catch the Red Skull and Cap.

[edit] Abilities and technologies

Fury was not initially shown to use the Infinity Formula or other physical enhancements that the Nick Fury of the mainstream Marvel universe possessed (however, see "Expanded Origin", below). He is an exceptional combatant and strategist and a gifted field leader. In his earliest appearances he operated with technology years ahead of traditional forces, including the latest experimental weaponry, and some form of projected invisibility and the ability to walk through solid matter. These powers have very limited windows due to massive expense for any moment of 'uptime;' costs for these run to the millions for less than a minute of use. He once used a chewing gum that was programmed to explode after 200 chews. The number of instances in which Fury utilizes these technologies has decreased since Ultimates #1, and Fury is shown to primarily use conventional firearms. Fury is constantly monitored and shadowed by dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and all known observation technologies.

[edit] Publication history

[edit] Design changes

The original design for Ultimate Nick Fury.

When Nick Fury first made his appearance in the Ultimate Universe he had a vastly different design, featuring a full head of close-cropped hair, a clean-shaven, younger appearance (particularly as depicted in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up) and less visible scarring around his eye-patch, not to mention lacking a specific resemblance to any actor^{[original research?]}. He was also characterized much more in the James Bond mold of super-spy^{[original research?]}, wearing seemingly normal clothing which integrated outlandishly high-tech capabilities such as phasing, invisibility and "para-shoes" that allow him to descend hundreds of feet without the aid of a parachute (shown to be capable of flight in later issues). The more familiar Samuel L. Jackson-inspired design did not appear until Nick Fury resurfaced in the Ultimates series.

[edit] Samuel L. Jackson

Actor Samuel L. Jackson gave his consent for Marvel Comics to use his likeness in their redesign of the Fury character for The Ultimates^[5], and first appeared with this revised look in Ultimates #1, as drawn by Bryan Hitch. This is not a unique practice for writer Mark Millar, who similarly had artist J.G. Jones use the explicit likenesses of Eminem, Halle Berry and Tommy Lee Jones for the major characters in the miniseries Wanted^{[citation needed]} (although, in this case, apparently without their consent). The similarity is even noted within the comic itself, in a scene in which the Ultimates discuss who they think should play each of them in a hypothetical movie about the team. Fury's answer for himself is "Mr. Samuel L. Jackson, of course, no discussion." Such is the popularity of the Jackson-inspired version of the character that Jackson was contracted to portray Fury in Iron Man despite the film being an adaptation of the mainstream Marvel Universe version of the character^{[citation needed]}, rather than choose a Caucasian actor to play the matching classic version of Fury.

[edit] Expanded Origin

Up until quite recently Fury had displayed no indication of possessing any super-normal abilities, nor had any references been made to him being older than he appears, in particular there was no suggestion of him having fought in World War II, with his major service having hitherto been described as being in the First Gulf War. However, the current series Ultimate Origin provides a hitherto-unrevealed secret history of superhumans in the Ultimate Marvel Universe and their interrelated nature. The first issue reveals via a soft retcon that Ultimate Fury was indeed a WWII private like his Earth-616 counterpart, and that his dramatically slowed aging process is the result of being an unwilling test subject for Project: Rebirth, echoing the African-American test subject Isaiah Bradley in the mainstream Marvel Universe. However, it has yet to be clarified why this has not apparently given Fury similar near-superhuman physical prowess like Ultimate Captain America, or if so, why he has chosen to conceal it, as he has apparently done about his age. Also of note is that Fury in this period is depicted as having hair, thus reasserting at least this aspect of his pre-Jackson redesign canonical.

[edit] In other media

[edit] Television

• Nick Fury appears in the Wolverine and the X-Men episode "Wolverine VS The Hulk" voiced by Alex Désert. This version is the amalgam of the Earth-616 version and the Ultimate Marvel version. He and S.H.I.E.L.D. intervene on the MRD's hunt on Wolverine so that Wolverine can take down the Hulk. After Hulk and Wolverine defeated the Wendigo, Nick Fury arrived and Wolverine revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. was behind the Wendigo incident. Wolverine told Nick Fury that if he breathes a word about the X-Men's identities, he will mention about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s involvement in the Wendigo incident. Following Bruce Banner being punched by Wolverine and turning into the Hulk, Wolverine is thrown far by the Hulk. Wolverine then quotes "Have fun with Fury!"

• Nick Fury first appears in the Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode "Fun With Lasers" voiced by Dean Redman. This version is the amalgam of the Earth-616 version and the Ultimate Marvel version. He and S.H.I.E.L.D. tell Iron Man not to interfere with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s plan to reclaim a laser satellite from Living Laser. After a space assault failed, Nick considered to set the laser satellite on self-destruct. After Living Laser is defeated and remanded to one of the Helicarrier's prisons, Nick Fury tells Iron Man that when he messes up, S.H.I.E.L.D. will hunt him down. In "Technovore," Nick Fury has some S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents send for Tony Stark so that he can repair the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier's engines built by Howard Stark. Tony ends up in an argument with Nick Fury when he learns that Living Laser is dying.

• Nick Fury appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode "From the Atom...It Rises" voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.^[6] This version is an amalgam of the mainstream Marvel version and the Ultimate Marvel version. He poses as Scorpio to find out what Doctor Doom is up to. When he discovers that the Particle Collapser at the bottom of Super Hero City, he ends up caught by Abomination and MODOK. The Super Hero Squad ends up coming to his rescue and Nick Fury breaks free. He uses MODOK's hat to disrupt the Particle Collapser. His inspection on the Helicarrier is put on hold when he is called back to Washington DC. Though he does manage to autograph Iron Man's armor before leaving.

[edit] Film

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

• Samuel L. Jackson portrayed Nick Fury in the 2008 live action Iron Man film in a short scene following the credits. He confronts Tony Stark in his home, stating that there are other people like him in the world and that they need to speak about the Avenger Initiative. Jackson's role will be expanded in Iron Man 2^[7], while the comic book Fury Files one-shot expanded the character's role in the movie's continuity, showing that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been tracking the Hulk for some time. Recently, Jackson signed a nine picture deal to portray Fury.^[8]
• Ultimate Nick Fury appears in Ultimate Avengers and its sequel Ultimate Avengers 2 voiced by actor Andre Ware.

[edit] Video Games

• Ultimate Nick Fury appeared in the Ultimate Spider-Man video game voiced by Dave Fennoy.
• Ultimate Nick Fury was featured in the video game adaptation of the 2005 Fantastic Four film voiced by Andre Ware.
• A version of Fury identical to the Ultimate one appears in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse video game voiced by Khary Payton. When it came to the anti-air platforms, Professor X called in the assistance of S.H.I.E.L.D. to secure the platforms once their defenses are down. Nick Fury gives them their mission at the anti-air platforms by taking out the generators that protect the anti-air weapons, protecting S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sergeant Charles Kilroy as he shuts down the radar arrays, and destroying the auxiliary power generator.
• This version of Fury is available as two outfits labeled "Ultimate" and "General Fury" for the playable Nick Fury in the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance video game.

[edit] Comics

• In Mighty Avengers #13, Nick Fury (of the Earth-616 universe) uses a disguise that is similar in appearance to Ultimate Fury. This receives comment from Daisy Johnson as "his worst disguise ever."

[edit] References

1. ^ Samuel L. Jackson's Official Site - August 2005 Interview
2. ^ Ultimate Origins #1
3. ^ Ultimate Power #1-9
4. ^ SQUADRON SUPREME 2 #1 - Marvel Comics Publishing Catalog
5. ^ Larsuel, Kamal. "Copyright Kamal Larsuel, 2005". Samuel L. Jackson Official Website. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928015124/http://www.samuelljackson.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=44. Retrieved May 14 2008. 
6. ^ Comics Continuum
7. ^ Stephanie Sanchez (2008-10-19). "Samuel L. Jackson Talks Nick Fury's Role in IRON MAN 2!". IESB. http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5622&Itemid=99. Retrieved 2008-10-19. 
8. ^ Jackson signs seventeen-picture deal to play Fury