Ultimate Nick Fury
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| Nick Fury | |
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| Publication information | |
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| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #5 |
| Created by | Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Allred, based on the character created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Nicholas Joseph Fury |
| Team affiliations | S.H.I.E.L.D. Ultimates United States Army Ultimate X-Men |
General Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional military officer, Gulf War veteran and spy, featured in Marvel Comics.
Ultimate Nick Fury is a reinterpretation of the classic Marvel character Nick Fury. One of the most notable differences between the two is the fact that Classic Fury is a Caucasian colonel with brown hair, while Ultimate Fury is a bald African-American general, and was in fact specifically tailored after actor Samuel L. Jackson with his permission.[1] While his eyepatch is generally worn over his left eye (consistent with his mainstream Marvel counterpart), it has occasionally been switched to his right in some comics by mistake.
Fury has a heavy presence in all the Ultimates books, appearing first in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up and Ultimate X-Men and later reappearing regularly in Ultimate Spider-Man and finally securing a regular, recurring role as the General of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the leader of The Ultimates, a re-imagining of the Avengers.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
Nicholas Fury fought for the United States in World War Two. During the invasion of Sicily, he, along with Private Fisk and Canadian soldier James Howlett attempted to loot a house. American Military police arrive to arrest them, and all three are subdued. Fisk is grazed by a bullet, while Fury is imprisoned in an unknown location alongside several other black men and Howlett, despite protests that he's Canadian, is also shipped to an unknown location.[2]Fury is selected to be the next test subject for Project Rebirth, as his bloodwork most closely matches that of subject 22, the most successful of the previous test subjects. He is injected with a serum that gives him super-strength, which he uses to free himself and the other prisoners, who then escape. The scientists who were working on him let him escape, deciding that they have all the information that they need for now.
After attending college in India, Fury enlisted in the military, where he was deployed into various conflicts such as the Kosovo Wars. He was later assigned to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Weapon X program in the original Gulf War. While transporting Wolverine in his adamantium cage, an Iraqi guerilla ambush killed his team and inadvertently freed Wolverine from his prison. After slaughtering the Iraqi guards, Wolverine discovered Fury, the only survivor of the ambush, and transported him back through the desert to the Allied forces. Although Wolverine was summarily subdued and reimprisoned by his handlers, a bond between the two men was formed.
The relationship between Fury and Wolverine would prove essential years later when the X-Men were abducted and imprisoned by the Weapon X program. This program was overseen at the time by Wraith, who had previously staged a coup against General Ross. This coup had prevented Ross from dismantling the Weapon X program altogether. Wolverine, the only X-Man who eludes capture, later asks Fury for help in freeing the other X-Men and bringing down the Weapon X program. During the operation, which also involves the Brotherhood of Mutants, Wraith was about to kill one of the X-Men and is shot dead by Fury.
Fury is summarily promoted to General and resumes the duties of the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. He was tasked with forming a team to battle metahuman threats and resurrecting the Super-Soldier program, two objectives that resulted in the formation of the Ultimates. Fury operates as the commander of the team, at times leading them into action, though he often shares duties with Captain America. Nick Fury is also responsible for monitoring metahumans who are not affiliated with the U.S. Military, including Peter Parker and the X-Men.
Nick Fury recently lost his right arm in a battle against the Liberators in Ultimates (vol. 2). However, in story arcs that appear to be set after this, he has 2 arms - in issue #107 of Ultimate Spider-Man.
Nick Fury has also been involved in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. In them he meets Peter after Norman Osborn returns. He states that S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to figure out who Peter was because of the security shots of the Oz Spider biting Peter, as well as Dr. Octopus screaming that Peter Parker is Spider-Man while in jail. Nick Fury has been watching Peter as he will eventually be property of S.H.I.E.L.D. due to his illegal mutant status. Although Fury wants him to be part of the Ultimates, this may have changed because the Ultimates broke apart. Peter and Fury's relationship became strained after the Hobgoblin arc. Peter punches Fury for ignoring his questions for why Harry became the Hobgoblin. At that point Fury told one of his scientists that he wanted to know everything about Oz and that it was time for Peter Parker to lose his Spider powers. This follows on to the Clone Saga in which it is revealed by Fury that the Tinkerer's Spider Slayers were developed to handle Peter if and when he ever went insane; after learning that Pete, who idolises Fury, is not an immediate threat to him or S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick decides against removing his powers. It can be assumed that he's on somewhat good terms with Peter Parker.
Fury was judged to be at least partially responsible for the devastation of much of Earth-31916 along with Emil Burbank. Burbank had sought a means to defeat the Hyperion of that universe. An alien organism, unleashed in an attempt to achieve this, spread throughout the United States causing widespread devastation. A probe sent by Reed Richards provided evidence that an "invasion from another universe" was responsible. The Squadron Supreme was dispatched to the Ultimate universe in order to arrest Richards so that he could stand trial for his 'crimes'. A lengthy battle ensued between the Squadron on one side and the Ultimates, Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four on the other. Richards, believing himself to be responsible when the Squadron produced his probe as evidence, surrendered himself. Fury was unwilling to accept this and convinced Thor to create a bridge to Earth-31916 through which the Hellicarrier was able to travel. Once there, another battle between the Squadron and the Ultimate universe heroes begins. Spider-Man learns that Fury had an ulterior motive - the retrieval of the probes and their data, and had conspired with Doctor Doom to do so. In addition, Fury had brought insurance in the shape of the Hulk. It takes the combined power of the Ultimate universe heroes, the Earth-31916 Squadron Supreme and their counterparts from Earth-712 to defeat the Hulk, but Doom had proven to be simply a Doombot. To stop the fighting, the Ultimates agree to turn over Fury to the Earth-31916 Squadron and to allow Power Princess to return with them to their universe. Fury tries to convince them that they are making a mistake, but his pleas are ignored.[3]
Fury is set to return, still stranded in Earth-31916, in the pages of Squadron Supreme 2 #1. [4]
[edit] Technologies
Fury has no trace of the Infinity Formula or other enhancements that the regular continuity's Fury has claimed. He is an exceptional combatant and strategist and a gifted field leader. He operates with technology years ahead of traditional forces, including the latest experimental weaponry, and some form of projected invisibility and the ability to walk through solid matter. These powers have very limited windows due to massive expense for any moment of 'uptime;' costs for these run to the millions for less than a minute of use. He once used a chewing gum that was programmed to explode after 200 chews. Fury is constantly monitored and shadowed by dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and all known observation technologies - and some which is not known.
[edit] Design changes
When Nick Fury first made his appearance in the Ultimate Universe he had a vastly different design and was characterizated much more in the James Bond mold of super-spy. The more familiar Samuel L. Jackson inspired design didn't appear until Nick Fury resurfaced in the Ultimates series.
[edit] Movies and television
- The 2008 film Iron Man saw Samuel L. Jackson portray Nick Fury in a short scene following the credits. He confronts Tony Stark in his home, warning him about the future, explaining that they need to speak about the Avenger Initiative.
- A Marvel straight-to-DVD feature movie entitled Ultimate Avengers and its sequel Ultimate Avengers 2 features Ultimate Nick Fury, voiced by actor Andre Ware (not to be confused with the Heisman-winning football player), who also did Fury's voice for the 2005 game Fantastic Four.
- Dave Fennoy provided the voice of Ultimate Fury in the Ultimate Spider-Man video game.
- A version of Fury identical to the Ultimate one also made an appearance in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse video game, voiced by Khary Payton.
- This version of Fury is available as a skin for the playable Nick Fury in the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance video game
[edit] Comics
- In Mighty Avengers #13, Nick Fury (of the Earth-616 universe) uses a disguise that is similar in appearance to Ultimate Fury. This receives comment from Daisy Johnson as "his worst disguise ever"
[edit] References
- ^ Samuel L. Jackson's Official Site - August 2005 Interview
- ^ Ultimate Origins #1
- ^ Ultimate Power #1-9
- ^ SQUADRON SUPREME 2 #1 - Marvel Comics Publishing Catalog
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