Nick Fury is a key character in Marvel’s cinematic universe. As originally depicted in Marvel comics, Fury is an experienced soldier, spy and expert strategist who becomes director of the international peacekeeping force known as S.H.I.E.L.D. The following summarizes his backstory and appearances across various films and shows.
Background
In the movies, Nick Fury grew up in New York City and had an extensive military career before joining the CIA. He rose to prominence in the 1990s upon becoming Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., where he began encountering super-powered individuals and extraterrestrial threats. For example, he met Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot who gained abilities from the Tesseract cosmic cube, and helped her fight the alien Kree and Skrulls. During this era, Fury also lost his left eye and conceived the Avengers Initiative to assemble Earth’s mightiest heroes.
Notable Appearances
As the connecting thread across multiple Marvel films, Samuel L. Jackson has portrayed Nick Fury in:
- Iron ManIron Man is a fictional superhero created by Marvel Comics. ... More – Recruited Tony Stark for the Avengers Initiative
- Iron ManIron Man is a fictional superhero created by Marvel Comics. ... More 2 – Assigned Natasha Romanoff to monitor Stark
- ThorThor Odinson is a fictional superhero from Marvel Comics and... More – Studied the Tesseract following its recovery from the ocean
- Captain AmericaCaptain America is a fictional superhero created by Marvel C... More: The First Avenger – Met freshly unfrozen Steve RogersCaptain America is a fictional superhero created by Marvel C... More to give him a mission
- The Avengers – United the team to counter Loki’s invasion of Earth
- Captain AmericaCaptain America is a fictional superhero created by Marvel C... More: The Winter Soldier – Targeted by Hydra infiltrators within S.H.I.E.L.D., went underground
- Avengers: Age of Ultron – Helped Avengers battle killer artificial intelligence Ultron
- Captain Marvel – Initial encounter with Danvers shown in `90s flashbacks
- Avengers: Infinity War – Signaled Captain Marvel as ThanosThanos is a villainous fictional character that first appear... More wiped out half of life
- Spider-Man: Far From Home – Supported Peter Parker against false threats from Mysterio
Fury also had minor roles in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Avengers: Endgame. Upcoming appearances include Disney+ series Secret Invasion.
Additional Notes
Further expanding on this version of the character:
- Fury has many contacts worldwide and a reputation for deception, spy mastery and strategic genius
- He maintains close bonds with superheroes like Danvers, Stark and Parker as allies and potential successors
- The eyepatch-wearing Fury is an expert fighter/marksman who utilizes advanced S.H.I.E.L.D. weaponry
- As shown in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Fury will sometimes employ Skrull allies to impersonate himself in covert operations
So while the MCU has tweaked aspects of Nick Fury’s comic book origins, he fulfills a similar role as Marvel’s preeminent spymaster and Earth’s line of defense against all manner of threats in an age of rising superheroes.
