There’s a Black Nick Fury?
Well there is now!
In what has to be one of the silliest, most ham-fisted attempts to force the Marvel comics universe to look like the Marvel movie universe, the company is doing away with the classic Nick Fury and has invented, out of the ether, a brand new Nick Fury that looks exactly like the one appearing in next week’s The Avengers movie. He’s got the eye patch, he’s got the goatee, and most importantly, he’s black. They even came up with an insane, soap opera-esque way that he can be called ‘Nick Fury’.
Meet Nick Fury Jr., the long lost son of the normal Nick Fury, who just happens to bear a striking resemblance to Samuel L. Jackson.
He’s also wearing Captain America’s hand-me-downs
It boggles the mind that Marvel would be this desperate to try and get fans of the movies to pick up the comics. Haven’t sales shown that this doesn’t work? There is no huge increase in comic sales correlating with big budget movie releases. The crossover in sales just doesn’t happen!
But Marvel doesn’t seem to care. They’re more than willing to throw continuity and common sense in the garbage if it means even a tiny bit more brand awareness. I hate when executives get their hands on the creative properties.
Join me after the jump for a bit more explanation.
So here’s the deal: last year, Marvel started teasing this mysterious new character named Marcus Johnson. He was this black soldier who was just an ordinary guy in a world of superheroes, and Marvel made him a big deal. ‘Who is Marcus Johnson?’ they would ask in their advertising. Well the final issue of his mini-series Battle Scars came out this week, and the answer to the question is that Marcus Johnson is Marvel’s attempt to force their comic book universe to look exactly like their movie universe.
To soften the deal, Nick Fury Jr. is bringing Agent Phil Coulson with him. I have no problem with this part, since Coulson has been pretty damn cool in the Marvel movies so far. He was bound to show up in the comics eventually.
So the name ‘Marcus Johnson’ has absolutely nothing to do with anything?
But why not just team Coulson up with the normal Nick Fury? Why go to this insane retcon and say that “Oh yeah, Nick Fury has always had this secret son who is black and is also named Nick Fury. And we’re also going to make sure he loses an eye and needs an eye patch”. It’s just silly. It screams of some suit higher up in the company demanding the change, so that anyone who sees the movies and wants to read the comics can find the familiar faces.
I’m not knocking this practice. It makes perfect sense to want the crossover appeal. But it’s a little insulting to us longtime comic book fans to churn out some brainless comic book that hammers a square peg into a round hole, demanding that we just deal with it and beg them for more.
Well I’m not going to stand for it! Though it’s a good thing I never cared much about any version of Nick Fury anyway.
So what am I getting all bent out of shape about? Allow me to explain! Because it’s really a fun story, I think.
Meet the original Nick Fury:
Old white dudes just aren’t popular anymore
Nick Fury, or Sgt. Fury, debuted in 1963 in the series Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos. It was a World War II comic, about a group of roughneck soldiers kicking Nazi ass. It ran for 167 issues between 1963 and 1981. So pretty popular.
War is Hell – also awesome
After the World War came the Cold War, and Nick Fury was transformed into a secret agent! That’s his most famous role, and then he joined SHIELD. For 20 years or so, Nick Fury was the top secret agent in Marvel Comics. He was an eye-patching wearing, cigar-chomping, tough-as-nails son of a bitch who was always working on something to save the world. Because in a place like the Marvel Universe, the world needs a lot of saving.
Then along came the Ultimate Universe in the early 2000s, a modern reinvention of the normal Marvel Universe. And when it came to redesigning the characters, the creative types decided to make Nick Fury black. Because why not? It was a neat little change that added more diversity to the cast. Then when they reinvented the Avengers as the Ultimates, writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch brought Fury along and decided to model him after Samuel L. Jackson. Because it’s safe to say that no one is as badass as Samuel L. Jackson.
Actual comic book panel
When Marvel started making their own movies, starting with Iron Man, someone had the brilliant idea of using SHIELD and Nick Fury as a glue to bring all the franchises together. One or both (as well as Coulson) appear in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, The Incredible Hulk and Captain America: The First Avenger. And now all of those films will combine into The Avengers, with Fury and SHIELD playing a big role. And another stroke of genius, someone decided to just hire Samuel L. Jackson to play Nick Fury because it worked so well in the Ultimate comics.
All brilliant ideas.
Until this week. This new change is just silly. Why not just put a bigger focus on Ultimate Nick Fury? The Ultimate Universe was designed for new readers anyway. Oh that’s right, the Ultimate Universe is a pile of insane, continuity-heavy crap that you were trying to escape when you created it. But why force this Nick Fury Jr. character down our throats? It’s just going to annoy longtime comic fans, and the few readers who may gravitate to the comics from the movies won’t care enough to make the change worthwhile.
Utter silliness.
Posted on April 26, 2012, in Avengers, Comics, Marvel and tagged Agent Coulson, Nick Fury. Bookmark the permalink. 33 Comments.
Henchman-4-Hire 
here’s an idea STFU i’m so over nerds bitching about shit they still spend time and money on, if you are really that against this idea why the fuck would you draw more attention to it? DON’T READ IT you hate a book, think an idea is stupid DON’T READ IT how can you justify this whining while you’re giving it more exposure? UH DUH ignore shit you don’t like it, it’s that simple. This kinda bullshit is why comics suck, not to let Marvel off the hook but why should they try and if the reaction is gonna be the same either way? Same with DC and everyone else you’re still giving the company the shit they need to survive, so how about you just stop? You and all the other faggles who pretend to be like man this is gay but still shell out the money for these comics? You’re ruining the industry by giving attention to bullshit.
Sorry to take the wind out of your rant, buddy. But I didn’t spend any money on this, nor do I plan to buy any future comics starring this character. And I give it this exposure to perhaps convince other comic fans that they also shouldn’t spend any money on this idea. Then Marvel will learn that they made a bad idea because nobody is spending money. But if you’re so upset by nerds bitching, why take the time to even read my blog and comment?
eh to be fair that wasn’t aimed solely at you, I was cruising the internet and hit a string of nagging/typical “let’s bitch about shit we’re still gonna read/ go see” articles and then hit this one which honestly isn’t even that big of an offender and just said OKAY FUCK THIS *commence rant*…. and alcohol lol
Well you know what they say: alcohol is the cause of, and solution to, all life’s problems.
^flash fact^
Im just gonna sit here and eat a pop tart
Ignore Starman313, he’s being a troll. He prolly comes from a broken home or something which doesn’t allow him to appreciate the idea of continuity or tradition.
I agree with your article Sean, as an X-Man fan of 18 years Ive lived through movie to comic character changes and it has annoyed me to no end. This s why I’ve stopped buying the books last year and resorted to downloading them for free.
hypocrite level epic much? I already explained why I said what i said which you clearly blew off, also where did I once say I approved of this idea? ya ask me it is stupid I like Black Fury in Ultimate Marvel but to have a clearly black man and try to play it off like Nick Fury Jr who also happens to have an eyepatch, IS ridiculously ham fisted. That wasn’t the point guy, the point was I DON’T approve of giving time, money or attention to something you’re not a fan of. But that’s how trolls do right? Apologize for going a bit overboard and explain there rants w/ tact.
Also the fact you blatantly said you’re annoyed by modern comics to the point you refuse to pay for em instead of ooooh idk FINDING OTHER FUCKING COMICS TO READ YOU’D ACTUALLY ENJOY shows that you’re the kind of person I’m talking about and you just got butthurt about what I had to say and wanted to throw a shot at me, cuz how dare I make sense in a way you don’t agree with!!!!
sidenote- Sorry for ranting on your blog again dude but that needed to be said lol
Let’s all keep it civil here. Nobody’s a troll.
In the next episode, it turns out Nick’s been on the “down low”. He’s successfully treating his AIDS and expects to live a normal healthy lifespan (with help from terrific federal benefits) but then… when not organizing the salvation of mankind from maurauding aliens, he gets involved in supporting gay marriage rights because he can’t stand the fact that he hasn’t got the right to marry his gay lover in his state. Federal mandates for healthcare and gay marriage are key to the ethical salvation of mankind… evil right wing henchmen attempt to thwart these attempts…(nope, too direct…) turns out Nick Fury’s just black, Thor’s gay…
I think its a great idea. I’ve actually been saying for years now that they should. Make Ultimate/Movie Nick Fury into the real Nick Fury.
Except I thought white Nick Fury should dye his skin black as a disguise and just not be able to change back.
But I’m all for this!
Once upon a time, the Beetle went through a surgical procedure to turn himself into a black man…for some reason. It didn’t stick.
This is racist as hell
Not nick fury the fact that all u guys are making suc a big deal about him now beig black
It’s not about racism, it’s about historical continuity. For people who have no clue to the history, it’s not a big deal. But for anyone who has read the original comics (I own a large number from when I was a kid) then it is a big deal to change something as major as race on such a character.
Even though we are talking about comic book reality, marvel is known for making their world fit, or try to anyway, our “real world locations, events and whatnot.
Given that, in WW2, the odds of finding a black Sgt leading a team against Hitler’s forces was slim to none. This was the era of the Tuskeegee Airmen for crying out loud, trying to get respect for being soldiers as much as anyone else.
I personally have no problem if it is a wholly different character playing the leader of SHIELD and all that. I just get tired of Marvel trying to re-invent established characters for the sake of political correctness.
I’m 57 years old and remember loving Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos when I was a little boy. I don’t care that he’s now black, purple or pink – just make up a normal corny comicbook fantasy based explanation and be done with it. I think we could all swallow that – but just don’t say, “That’s the way it is cause I said so bullshit- that’s what’s so fucking offensive! So fix the problem and drive-on…
Well just throwing my two cents in, but dangit I loved old Nick Fury and think it is a no good dirty shame Marvel made the change. Currently reading Fury MAX and it’s pretty great. Nick Fury was the ultimate go to when Marvel heroes needed info, and dad gum if i’m not sad to see him go. Having said that, thanks to the blog writer because I had no idea the new guy was supposed to be NF Jr.
So…are now saying that the new black Nick Fury is Nick Fury’s son? Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2012 02:47:13 +0000 To: kmartin255@hotmail.com
Yep! That’s the case, at least in the 616 Marvel Comics.
That’s my understanding, just based on reading the information above.
Nig Fury.
Now. My gut is telling me you’re just being racist but… I need to settle down and look closely to what you’re saying. When I first heard of Nick Fury, it was in that animated Avengers film. So I knew him as a black man first and thought that was pretty badass. Nothing was really wrong with this character. He had attitude and command. This is kind of similar to how I was first introduced to a black Green Lantern.
One could say I was just glad that there were at least some badass heroes that were both black and played a large role in the comics. I would’ve hated the idea of them turning white, because I’d consider it racism. Which it might be if… well, it didn’t turn out they were originally white in the first place. So I feel for ya. Sure, we could use some more black heroes but changing the race of a character might come off as a blow to the fans of how he was.
It’s not that they changed Nick Fury’s race. Or that the new Nick Fury is black. Those are not my gripes. It’s that Marvel went to soap opera-level extremes to say that not only did Nick Fury have a long lost son that nobody knew about, but that his son was randomly black. Just so that they could sync up with the movieverse Nick Fury. They even went so far as to give this Nick Fury Jr. an eye patch. My gripe is the horrible, hackneyed retcon Marvel did to try and make Nick Fury match his movie counterpart.
Thanks for clearing this up for me, I was wondering where the hell this black nick fury came from and the only google results were talking about the cinematic version being modeled after earth-1610.
While I find it silly that now the comics are being modeled after the movies instead of the original order of vice versa, they could have done it so much better. How many years has the original Nick Fury been in hiding for over the last 50 years? a lot. How big of a reputation does he have in the main universe? It’s really big. (consequently, it makes going incognito in plain site very hard) How many connections does he have? a lot. Why not actually make him black? What better way of disguising yourself than changing your race? If MJ did it (well, vice versa) people who read comics about alien empires would easily accept nick fury having surgery to make him a better spy.
Maybe the hulk should be red….oh wait a minute
people crying because of race. jesus christ. you clowns r pathetic.
If you read the comic story arcs, Samuel L. Jackson is really Nick Fury, Jr., the biological son of Nick Fury. It was a fact unknown to Jr.’s character until later in life prior to taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. after Nick Fury retired. This can easily be verified by reading the chronological series of events leading up to this in Nick Fury, Jr.’s page on Wikipedia, or reading the comics. So, Nick Fury fell in love with a black lady and they had a kid. What’s the big deal?
There’s nothing wrong with that at all. My problem was Marvel’s bald-faced attempt to retcon a new Nick Fury to match the movie. Jr. has only ever existed to be a retcon. Samuel L. Jackson isn’t Nick Fury Jr. Samuel L. Jackson is Nick Fury, based off Ultimate Nick Fury.
Thanks for sharing that. All comic book BS aside, the American media as a whole has went to great lengths to demonstrate favoritism to African Americans. The double standard in outward racism is staggering. Having spent 31 years serving this country, it breaks my heart to see the direction we’re going. I’m glad I won’t be around 50 years from now to see what comes out of this.
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 23:26:31 +0000 To: kmartin255@hotmail.com
Hate to tell you buddy but Nick Fury became black first in the comic book before the Avengers movie
I wish everyone would just calm down about this. If you don’t like this story arc, wait it out. The original Nick Fury will be back (just like the original Cap, Thor, and Iron Man).
Here’s some fun facts:
There have been at least 4 different guys in the Captain America suit, and at least two females.
Tony Stark has died multiple times. He’s been replaced by Rhodey, Kang the Conquerer, Pepper Potts, and a younger, sober version of himself.
Thor has been female at least 3 times. As well as an alien with a horse-skull, an 80s hair band singer, and, no lie, and actual frog!
Batman has been replaced by Robin, Azrael, and several times by a reformed Joker!
There’ve been too many Supermans to even name here.
Here’s an idea… give the new stories a try, or ignore them. Either way, the original character will come back soon enough.
This is actually part of the comic book tradition since the beginning.
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