Nicholas Joseph Fury. The popular Marvel figure has mostly been the glue that’s kept the onscreen Marvel family together. Originally created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, Fury made his comics debut in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 in May 1963. The modern version of the character was introduced in Fantastic Four #21. At first, the live-action debut of the character went to Mr. Baywatch himself, David Hasselhoff in the television series Nick Fury: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. However, Jackson became a notable fixture in the role back in 2008, with his first onscreen credit being an Iron Man cameo in a post-credit scene. Jackson’s version of the character has been the main focal point in the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While his character doesn’t particularly have the focus on himself throughout any of the features, he’s responsible for the world’s mightiest heroes, though the character is actually the only major film presence that has yet to receive his own story.
Does this mean that Nick Fury deserves his own solo film? It legitimately depends on the way filmmakers want to portray Nick Fury. For the most part, Nick Fury is a James Bond-type character who happened to climb through the ranks of the division. The first incarnation of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D leader was born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, and was drafted into the United States Army to fight the Nazi’s in World War II. During this time, Nick actually lead a highly trained group known as the Howling Commandos. The solo feature would actually be better off if they focused on that aspect of Nick Fury’s life instead of a James Bond-like character. In truth, we don’t particularly need a backstory of Nicholas Fury. The Samuel Jackson character is a fun presence whenever he’s onscreen, but he’s never been a vital source for the Avengers or the MCU. It’s a strange balance since Fury is the man that brought the group together, but he’s not the leading cause for the events surrounding himself.
Fury has noticeably been absent for WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Both movies explain why the character isn’t present, but it exemplifies how he’s not much of a necessity. It’s pointless if Samuel Jackson’s version of Nick Jury is essentially a James Bond-type character because we’ve seen that kind of film a thousand times before. At this point, it would be ten years too late, like Black Widow. However, should this be an origin story, then the focus on Fury’s command over The Howling Commandos could be great. Though given the fact that the live-action films have switched the story where it was Captain America who was the commander and leader of the World War II squad, it’s unlikely that the MCU would mess with it’s timeline. A Nick Fury solo film would be best served by focusing on one of the S.H.I.E.LD’s outside missions. It’s rare that Fury has a lot of screentime, though in select movies like Spider-Man: Far From Home, his presence is a big one.
However, we as an audience have never truly seen the live-action version thrust in the midst of combat. Here and there, Fury would do something slick and cool, but nothing much. It would be great to see what type of warrior he is on the battlefield. Obviously, he’s an elite solider, why else would he be the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D, but exactly what is his fighting style? What mark has he left on the field that makes these huge heroes respect him so much? I suppose the blindness of his eye doesn’t particularly need to be answered as that plays back to time in the war. There’s fun to be had with the Nick Fury character and it would be great to truly see what makes him one of the core heroes of the franchise. There’s plenty of stories that could be transferred over from the comics in regards to the popular MCU character. As I previously mentioned, it’s too late for an origin story about the overall character and realistically, Fury doesn’t need one. Not every character’s past needs to be documented onscreen. Sometimes the air of mystery is better left to the imagination. Samuel L. Jackson’s version of Nick Fury isn’t exactly done with Marvel yet, so there’s still a slim possibility that we’ll get a moment to see the world through his eyes. Here’s hoping that if Nick Fury does get his own solo feature, but hopefully it won’t feel as outdated and unnecessary as the disappointing Black Widow prequel.Nick Fury
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