Marvel Studios Had 1 Requirement for Nick Fury’s 2023 Return, Reveals MCU Director

When it comes to Nick Fury’s big 2023 MCU return, Marvel Studios had certain requirements for the character in Secret Invasion.

The last time Samuel L. Jackson’s Nicholas Fury had a big role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was in Spider-Man: Far From Home—and that wasn’t even really him. Prior to the Tom Holland adventure, he fought alongside Brie Larson in Captain Marvel, where he met the Skrulls for the first time.

The mysterious character is now back in the spotlight with the shape-changing Skrulls in tow.

This time around, however, “[Nick]’s trying to solve a problem without people who have superpowers.”

Nicky Fury’s Film-Noir Arrival

In an interview with Total Film, Secret Invasion director Ali Selim revealed that Marvel Studios required Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury to show up “as a film-noir character” when he made his MCU return. 

From there, Selim shared that Fury then “transitions into more of a lone wolf, western character as the show goes on:”

“We leaned into the notion that Nick Fury shows up as a film-noir character, and transitions into more of a lone wolf, western character as the show goes on. So we were looking at ‘The Third Man’. We were looking at Clint Eastwood, ‘Unforgiven’. There are little tips of the hat to ‘The Searchers’. Ultimately, that’s what Marvel required and requested, and, I’d like to think, appreciated.”

Selim’s experience on the television series The Looming Tower, which explored the inner workings of the FBI and the CIA, was something he utilized when creating Secret Invasion.

One plot element that makes the upcoming Marvel Studios project unique is how its key antagonists have the ability to shape-shift, something the director called “a really great spy and espionage device:”

“It’s a really great spy and espionage device… And then there’s also this sense that interested me and Sam Jackson, which is the sense of ‘other’. Nick has a deep friendship with Talos, and yet he is of the enemy. So there’s this constant, shifting sense of ‘other’ that is interesting to explore.”

Nick Fury Is on His Own

Nick Fury has always been prone to paranoia, but it seems that his time in Secret Invasion will not only bring those tendencies back to the forefront but also strengthen them as well.

Given that the entire premise of Secret Invasion centers around not being able to trust anyone, even one’s closest allies, it makes sense—and sounds like Fury’s worst nightmare realized.

It’s likely not only Skrulls that he’ll be up against, either. Olivia Colman is cast as a villain named Sonya Falsworth, an MI6 agent who Samuel L. Jackson described as “coldblooded.”

While it’s always possible she, too, is a Skrull, the show will probably retain some form of human threat to keep audiences guessing.

But, if the show is going to push Nick Fury into being more of a “lone wolf,” does that mean his days as Talos friend are behind him? And that he’ll no longer be going around assembling big superhero teams?

Secret Invasion hits Disney+ on Wednesday, June 21.