Nick Fury [marve lcodex]

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====== Nick Fury ======
===== Part 1: The Dossier: An At-a-Glance Summary =====
  *   **Core Identity: Nick Fury is the quintessential super-spy of the Marvel Universe, a master strategist and clandestine operator whose influence has shaped world events for decades, most famously embodied by the iconic, definitive portrayal of actor Samuel L. Jackson.**
  *   **Key Takeaways:**
    *  **Architect of the Modern Heroic Age:** In most of his key incarnations, particularly the [[marvel_cinematic_universe|Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)]], Fury is the visionary who recognizes the need for a response to superhuman threats, leading directly to the formation of the [[avengers|Avengers]].
    *  **The Man on the Wall:** Fury is defined by his willingness to make morally gray decisions and operate in the shadows to protect the world from threats it doesn't even know exist. This extends from his leadership of [[shield|S.H.I.E.L.D.]] to his more personal, covert wars.
    *  **A Tale of Two Furies (and an Actor):** A critical point of understanding is the distinction between the original, Caucasian Nick Fury of the prime comic universe ([[earth_616]]) and the African American version. The latter was first created for the Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610) with his appearance explicitly based on Samuel L. Jackson, years before the actor was cast in the MCU. This Ultimate version's popularity led to the introduction of Nick Fury Jr. in the main comics and became the basis for the globally recognized MCU character.
===== Part 2: Origin and Evolution =====
==== Publication History and Creation ====
The history of Nick Fury is a fascinating, multi-layered story that reflects the evolution of comics and their relationship with cinema. The character was not one, but two distinct creations that eventually converged.
The **original Nicholas Joseph Fury** was created by the legendary duo of writer-editor [[stan_lee|Stan Lee]] and artist-coplotter [[jack_kirby|Jack Kirby]]. He first appeared in **''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #1 (May 1963)**. This series, set during World War II, was a gritty war comic that capitalized on the popularity of the genre. Fury was depicted as a tough, cigar-chomping, Caucasian U.S. Army Sergeant leading an elite special forces unit. He was Marvel's answer to DC's Sgt. Rock, a hardened but heroic leader of men.
Just a few months later, Lee and Kirby reintroduced the character into the modern Marvel Universe in **''Fantastic Four'' #21 (December 1963)**. He was reimagined as Colonel Nick Fury, a CIA agent who brought his WWII grit to the world of Cold War espionage. This led to the landmark series **''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965)**, where Fury was fully established as the Director of the Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division, better known as S.H.I.E.L.D. This series, particularly with the groundbreaking art of [[jim_steranko|Jim Steranko]], blended James Bond-style spy-fi with psychedelic visuals, cementing Fury's place as Marvel's premier spy.
Decades later, in the early 2000s, Marvel launched its **Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610)**, a separate continuity designed to reimagine its characters for a modern audience. In **''The Ultimates'' #1 (March 2002)**, writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch introduced their version of Nick Fury. Seeking to create a character who was the "coolest man in the world," Millar and Hitch modeled their Fury's appearance, without prior consultation, directly on actor **Samuel L. Jackson**. In a famous piece of comic book lore, Jackson discovered this, and his representatives contacted Marvel. Rather than a lawsuit, an agreement was reached: Marvel could continue to use his likeness for Ultimate Nick Fury, provided that Jackson would be given the first right of refusal to play the character in any future film adaptation.
This real-world deal proved prophetic. When Marvel Studios began building its cinematic universe, producer Kevin Feige and director Jon Favreau approached Jackson to make a surprise cameo as Fury in the post-credits scene of **''Iron Man'' (2008)**. This scene, where Fury recruits Tony Stark for the "Avenger Initiative," not only fulfilled the comic book's vision but also laid the very foundation for the interconnected storytelling of the MCU. Samuel L. Jackson's portrayal became so definitive that it influenced the comics back, leading to the creation of a new character in the main continuity who would carry on the visual and tonal legacy of his cinematic counterpart.
==== In-Universe Origin Story ====
The in-universe origins of Nick Fury are drastically different and must be separated by continuity to be understood. The very identity of "Nick Fury" in the prime comic universe is now a legacy title, a fact that is central to his modern story.
=== Earth-616 (Prime Comic Universe) ===
The story of the prime Nick Fury is the story of two men: a father and his estranged son.
**Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury, Sr.:**
Born and raised in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in the late 1910s, the original Nick Fury was a young man when the United States entered World War II. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he and his friend Red Hargrove left their lives as street performers and enlisted. Fury's natural leadership and tenacity saw him rise to the rank of Sergeant, where he was tasked with leading the "Howling Commandos," a racially and ethnically diverse special forces unit. Their exploits against [[hydra|HYDRA]] and the Nazis became legendary. During the war, Fury sustained a grenade blast that cost him the sight in his left eye, the beginning of his iconic eyepatch-wearing look.
Critically, late in the war, Fury was gravely injured by a landmine in France. He was found and treated by a Professor Berthold Sternberg, who injected him with the **Infinity Formula**. This experimental serum not only saved his life but drastically slowed his aging process. This is the canonical reason why a man born in the early 20th century was still a physically capable field agent well into the 21st.
After the war, Fury joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA, and spent decades as a top intelligence operative during the Cold War. His expertise and unwavering commitment led to his appointment as Director of the newly formed S.H.I.E.L.D. For decades, he was the planet's ultimate protector, the "Man on the Wall" who stood between humanity and its worst threats. His long life came to an end, of a sort, during the //Original Sin// storyline. It was revealed that for his entire career, Fury had been secretly and brutally acting as Earth's sole defender against cosmic and interdimensional threats, assassinating nascent alien gods and committing untold atrocities for the greater good. After murdering Uatu the Watcher to protect these secrets, a dying Fury was punished by the other Watchers, transformed into **The Unseen**, an ethereal, chained observer on the Moon, forever forced to watch over the Earth he could no longer physically protect.
**Marcus Johnson / Nick Fury, Jr.:**
Years after the original Fury's disappearance, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Phil Coulson and Maria Hill discovered that the legendary spy had a son he never knew: Marcus Johnson. Marcus