| Nick Fury Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Artwork for the cover ofNick Fury #1 (April 2017). Art byBill Sienkiewicz. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Battle Scars #1 (January2012) |
| Created by | Matt Fraction Chris Yost Scot Eaton Cullen Bunn Paul Neary |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Marcus Johnson |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | S.H.I.E.L.D. Secret Avengers United States Army 75th Ranger Regiment |
| Partnerships | Phil Coulson Teresa Parker |
| Notable aliases | Nick Fury |
| Abilities | Skilledspy |
Nicholas Joseph "Nick"Fury Jr. (Sgt.Marcus Johnson) is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. He is a son and successor of formerU.S. Army hero/super-spy and the intelligence agencyS.H.I.E.L.D. directorNick Fury.[1] The character first appeared inBattle Scars #1 (January 2012), which was written byMatt Fraction,Chris Yost, andCullen Bunn, and penciled byScot Eaton.
The character was introduced in the debut issue of the miniseriesBattle Scars (January 2012), which was written byMatt Fraction,Chris Yost, andCullen Bunn, and penciled byScot Eaton. The character bears a strong resemblance to theUltimate Marvelversion of Nick Fury and theMarvel Cinematic Universeincarnation as portrayed bySamuel L. Jackson;[2] the Ultimate version's appearance was based on that of Jackson before the actor's portrayal in the films.[3]
Nick Fury Jr. appears in the 2013Secret Avengers series byNick Spencer andLuke Ross.[4]
In January 2017, Marvel announced that the character would get his first ongoing solo series namedNick Fury.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
In 2023 the character was the co-main character of the double sized one-shotFury published to commemorate the character Nick Fury's 60th anniversary.[12]
Marcus Johnson was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, by Nia Jones. At age 18, Marcus passed on numerous college football scholarships in order to enlist in the US Army, serving inIraq. After his enlistment, he earned a degree in philosophy from theUniversity of Georgia. Marcus then re-enlisted in the Army, achieving the rank of staff sergeant.[13]
While serving inAfghanistan with2nd Battalion,75th Ranger Regiment, Marcus is told that his mother was murdered back in the United States. He returns home and is attacked by the men who killed his mother, and byTaskmaster, but is saved.S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrive and take him to one of their facilities; Johnson comes to feel he is being held there against his will and escapes,[14] but is caught by Taskmaster once again. Before he can obtain any information, a man in a mask saves him, but then flees. Johnson catches up toNick Fury Sr. who is revealed to be his father.[15] Fury and Johnson are then captured by the organizationLeviathan's former member Orion who has Johnson's left eye cut out and confirms that Johnson has the Infinity Formula in his DNA, which has been behind Fury's long lifespan. Fury helps Johnson escape, but Fury himself has blood transfused to Orion so Orion's youth can be restored, draining Fury's remaining Infinity Formula. Johnson saves Fury with the help of his Ranger friendPhil Coulson, and later kills Orion. After convalescing, Johnson is given the Super Soldier uniform to wear. As a new agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., he is also informed of his birth name Nick Fury Jr.[16]
Fury and Coulson make acameo appearance inScarlet Spider #5,[17] and are part of theframing sequence inMarvel NOW! Point One.[18]
As part of theMarvel NOW! branding, Nick, Coulson, andMaria Hill form the S.H.I.E.L.D. version of theSecret Avengers withHawkeye andBlack Widow. Fury is involved in their first mission, which involved fighting a group ofal-Qaeda terrorists.[19] Fury then joins the Secret Avengers to raidBagalia in order to recruit Taskmaster. While the Secret Avengers are fighting theMasters of Evil, Fury manages to pay offCrossfire to free Taskmaster from imprisonment.[20] Fury andDaisy Johnson also dealt with theIron Patriot armor has been programmed with a low-level A.I. and stolen byA.I.M. which are ultimately utilized by S.H.I.E.L.D.[21][22]
During the "AXIS" storyline, Nick was with S.H.I.E.L.D. when the organization has gatheredCaptain America to discuss what was to become of theRed Skull, now that theStarkSentinels had been dismantled and the concentration camps torn down. Fury tried to convinceSam Wilson to hand him over. But under the inversion spell's influence, Wilson was violent and punched him before leaving.[23]
During the "Civil War II" storyline, Fury is on a mission to neutralize a Hydra cell that is posing as a S.H.I.E.L.D. squadron. One of the visions of theInhumanUlysses Cain, which were believed to predict the future, indicated that the Hydra cell would launch a deadly attack on S.H.I.E.L.D. When heading to a base in Arizona, Fury is attacked by actual agents, instead of Hydra infiltrators as suspected. In order to find the traitors, Fury fakes his death and goes into hiding.[24] His investigation takes him to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base Ulu in Alaska,[25] where he encounters the unknown mastermind behind the plot who then escapes.[26] Upon infiltrating the base Ogma, Fury downloads classified data,[27] which leads him to the underground base Kratos, where he encountered Leader, a rogueLife Model Decoy of his father who states that Cain's prediction does not involve the Hydra cell, and that it will cost him his life. Leader learns about Cain's abilities, and wants to neutralize Fury in order to take over S.H.I.E.L.D. In order to stop Leader, Nick destroys a central support beam that collapses Kratos, killing Leader.[28] Upon surviving the collapse, Nick salvages Leader's head so that he can hack it and learn how he discovered his plan. Nick forgives Hill for sending him on a mission that would've resulted in his death, and states that he is not ready to return to S.H.I.E.L.D. yet.[29]
Upon his return to S.H.I.E.L.D. as a top-ranking agent, Fury infiltrates the French Riviera, where he ends up in a cat-and-mouse game with Hydra Agent Frankie Noble.[30]
In the aftermath of the "Secret Empire" story line, S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded but Fury continued to work as an independent operative. Fury observesFrank Castle slay every Hydra agent in an abandoned warehouse as a way to atone for siding with Hydra.[31] Fury then gives Castle access to theWar Machine armor for adeniable operation against a rogue Eastern European state caught using old S.H.I.E.L.D. resources.[32] He later imprisons Ripley Ryan (aka Star) bearer of the Reality Gem.[33]
Nick Fury Jr. initially appears to have no superhuman qualities but he inherited his father's Infinity Formula at birth, slowing his aging process, speeding his healing time, and granting him peak human physical fitness.[16]
Fury was trained inespionage under Maria Hill.[34]
The reaction by comic book fans to the revelation of Marcus Johnson being Nick Fury's son and replacing his father has been mixed.[2][35][36]Tom Brevoort, Marvel's Vice President of publishing, believed this was a prudent move by Marvel because theAfrican American incarnation appears in films, animated shows, and other licensed adaptations.[37]
| Characters | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | |||||||
| Comics |
| ||||||
| In other media | |||||||
| Related | |||||||
| Characters |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bases and facilities | |||||||||
| Technology and units | |||||||||
| Publications | |||||||||
| In other media |
| ||||||||
| Related | |||||||||
