In new series Secret Invasion, Nick Fury must thwart a conspiracy by those pesky, shape-shifting Skrulls. Yet as Samuel L. Jackson and more explain, this might be the most grounded – and most chilling – MCU adventure yet.
Read an extract from our exclusive Secret Invasion feature from our Summer 2023 issue below, or read the full article here.
We think we know Nick Fury.
As anyone who’s ever glanced at a T-shirt stall at Comic-Con can tell you, Samuel L. Jackson’s Avengers-assembling master-spy is instantly recognisable from his outline alone. The eye patch. The goatee. The long, black leather trench coat.
This is not the Nick Fury we meet in Marvel’s new six-episode espionage thriller Secret Invasion. “All those things are part of a Nick Fury that’s invulnerable,” explains Jackson, ruminating on why his character is finally exposing his Flerken-mauled left eye to the world. “Here you have a guy who’s showing his face, and showing his age. It’s an opportunity to humanise someone that everybody thinks is superhuman.”
For Marvel, Secret Invasion is also an opportunity to prove the studio is not afraid to sink its teeth into a dark, gritty, politically resonant story about refugees, terrorism and the unforeseen ramifications of its heroes’ actions. The series, created by Mr. Robot writer Kyle Bradstreet and directed by The Looming Tower’s Ali Selim, sees Fury investigating a secret plot to install double agents into positions of power around the globe. Complicating matters is the fact that this conspiracy is being carried out by Skrulls, shape-shifting, green-skinned aliens capable of flawlessly impersonating anyone they lay their eyes on. For once, Fury can’t call on the Avengers to help. “He’s trying to solve a problem without people who have superpowers,” says Jackson. “There’s a very good explanation for that. That’ll come up.”
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