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Black Superhero: Nick Fury

Nick Fury 

In 2001 Marvel asked Samuel L. Jackson if they could base the Ultimate Comics version of Nick Fury on his appearance. 7 years later in 2008 he appeared on screen as Nick Fury.

Nick Fury's background is shrouded in mystery, because that's the way he likes it. He's got more back stories than The Joker because he tells people something different every time. He's claimed to be raised by a single mother who is still alive. He's claimed to never have known either of his parents and was raised in an orphanage. Sometimes he claims he graduated from college in India 10 years ago. Sometimes he says he personally ended The Cold War. Two things always remain constant. One, he's a war hero and that isn't questioned by anyone. Two, he's been prepared to die since he was 18 years old. The rest of his life is a complete mystery. Nick Fury is a man of consistency, his past is a mystery and that's the way he likes it.

 In the past Fury worked alongside a spy named Clint Barton (He went on to be Hawkeye). The two got along well and worked together to found S.H.I.E.L.D. That stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Division. Neither felt they were right to lead S.H.I.E.L.D. so they chose General Ross who was Nick Fury's commanding officer. Shortly after S.H.I.E.L.D. was up and running Fury participated in The Gulf War. Nick lost his eye in an attack and was saved by Wolverine. The super soldier program was once again activated and failed for 6 years. Fury suggested that they offer the role to private companies.

Both Hammer Industries and Oscorp attempted to earn these contracts by proving their abilities. They both experimented on unwilling participants. When Fury discovered this he caused S.H.I.E.L.D. to cut ties with both companies. S.H.I.E.L.D. went on to develop their own super soldier formula and created a team they called The Ultimates. Fury blames himself for rise in the number of mutants and meta humans.

Soon after Fury discovered that Weapon X was actually a subdivision of S.H.I.E.L.D. He made it his personal mission to free Wolverine from the Weapon X program once he learned they were enslaving mutants. He managed to free Wolverine around the same time Charles Xavier and Magneto split. Wolverine went on to be recruited as the first member of the X-Men. Meanwhile Fury started breaking laws to increase S.H.I.E.L.D. access to advanced technology.

Later Fury would go to Delhi, India. There he he worked to stop violations of treatment of Superhumans. He discovered a project that was replicating mutant DNA and giving powers to the highest bidders. He was captured by enemies from another organizations. He was being taken to Napal but Wolverine returned the favor and saved him with the help of The X-Men who were being forced to work for the new Weapon X. Wolverine left a message telling him what was happening. So Fury repaid the favor and lead a raid on the Weapon X facility. Shutting them down yet again. This time he personally executed their leader John Wraith. Afterwards he became the official liaison to the X-Men. He also recruited Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver as inside spies for The Brotherhood of Mutants.

When General Ross stepped down as leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury was chose as the new director. His first initiative was to set up a black ops team of mutants that answered to him. He also convinced Hawkeye to and Black Widow to join that team. He also restarted the super soldier program by pointing out groups like The Brotherhood of Mutants. He managed to secure funding for the program and his Ultimates team. The Ultimates became a team of mutants, users of advanced technology, and mutated humans. The Ultimates grew to include The Hulk and Captain America. The team didn't get along great because personalities clashed. Fury finally managed to get them on the same page in time to stop a Chitauri invasion. Meanwhile Norman Osborn was blackmailing Peter Parker into killing Fury. Nick Fury ain't no joke. He had already seen this coming. He showed up and gave Spider-Man some S.H.I.E.L.D. upgrades insuring that he beat Osborn as the Green Goblin. Then he personally showed up to arrest Osborn. When Magneto returned from faking his own death and attacked the Brooklyn Bridge.

Fury asked the X-Men to work as his mutant relations peace keeping force. They agreed and worked with Fury to overthrow an anti mutant group that was planning to kill the president. However they also ruined S.H.I.E.L.D.s investigation of old Weapon X data.

Fury struggled with the fact that he didn't hate mutants. He also felt like he was responsible for the rise in the number of mutants and metahumans. But, he had to ask Wolverine to kill a mutant child. The child couldn't control his powers and accidentally wiped out a small town. Fury thought the child was too dangerous and at this time could cause the anti-mutant sentiments to rise. The president was disgusted by these actions and formed a pact with Emma Frost and her students. This was the tipping point that anti-mutant alliances needed. Sentinals were released to hunt down and kill mutants and mutant sympathizers. S.H.I.E.L.D. and the X-Men managed to stop this. Finally restoring faith in S.H.I.E.L.D. and the X-Men.

Later Earth is hit with a strange psionic wave that was forcing people to commit suicide. Fury hand picked a team of Ultimates to investigate. This lead to the team discovering The Vision at an abandoned Russian military base. The Vision was sent to warn Earth about Gah Lak Tus. A force that would destroy Earth. Fury put Falcon in charge of keeping Vision in line. The only reason that Vision's signal was causing suicides is because the Russians had been trying to gut him for parts they could use in their super soldier program. Fury again felt like he was to blame for this.

Spider-Man stopped working as close with S.H.I.E.L.D. and was starting to voice his distaste for Nick Fury's style. The X-Men were becoming harder to control. The Kree had sent observers for Galactus. The Hulk was revealed to be part of The Ultimates. Thor had an emotional breakdown. Despite being a US agency they were operating in foreign countries more often. This gained Nick Fury the reputation of being a loose cannon. Fury started feeling like his career was nothing but failure after failure despite starting out so strongly.

Fury arranged for Mister Nix to assassinate him. Mister Nix was the deadliest assassin on Earth and everyone knew it. Fury managed to kill Nix because he knew it was coming. This put Fury back in the good graces of the world and reminded them he wasn't "soft." However, he realized that he was gaining more and more responsibilities outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. every day. He started breaking more laws in order to fulfill them believing it was for the greater good.

Reed Richards requested help from S.H.I.E.L.D. in creating a formula to cure Ben Grimm's condition. S.H.I.E.L.D. provided funds and allowed Reed to send probes to other universes. Fury tried to shut it down because he feared that war make break out between dimensions. They really should have listened to the black guy. A group of heroes called Squadron Supreme from the Supremeverse arrested Reed Richards for destroying The Earth. Fury pulls together a team of X-Men, The Fantastic 4, Spider-Man and the Ultimates. It's revealed that Nick Fury's organization S.H.I.E.L.D. was funding Reed so of course he got arrested too. Carol Danvers takes over his role at S.H.I.E.L.D. and starts looking into his files. Jail is o big deal because he's been prepared to die since 18.

It was decided that Fury would have gone much further in the universe he helped destroy. When the Squadron Supreme went missing Fury was chosen to lead a new one. He picked heroes that were similar to the ones that he worked with on Earth. He traveled to yet another alternate dimension where the Squadron Supreme was alive and well. In this one he created a new S.H.I.E.L.D. and convinced the Squadron to join him. He also recruited new heroes to join that were linked to the Space Shuttle Icarus One. When he's finally relaxed he's recruited by Reed Richards and Dr. Doom to go back to his home universe to help stop Magneto.

When he arrives he touches down in the Savage Land. He quickly activates his contingency plan for Magneto. He causes Jean Grey to send memories to him non stop. The memories showed Magneto that mutants weren't God's gift and next step in evolution. Instead it showed them that they were actually a mistake made from the super soldier programs. This wasn't true, but it broke Magneto's will and he gave in. Cyclops still killed Magneto in a pool of blood and tears.

Back in S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury learns that Captain America went rogue when he learned Red Skull was his son. Fury activates Project Avenger. He gets a team of otherwise unstable heroes together to capture Captain America. Fury briefed his team of Avengers about AIM and went to Utopia to prepare with the X-Men. Fury led the operation to stop AIM from a S.H.I.E.L.D. base. During the fight between the Avengers and Red Skull, Captain America just decided to fly a jet through Red Skull. Red Skull lived long enough to tell his mother bye. He also explained he was working with AIM to get the Cosmic Cube and turn back time so he could have had Captain America (Rogers) around him when he was growing up.

Gregory Stark comes to work on Nick Fury's prosthetic arm. As they talk Gregory congratulates Fury on the mission. Fury says it was sloppy. Gregory explains that he knows Fury coaxed Red Skull out of retirement so he could reactivate The Avengers and keep a job at S.H.I.E.L.D. then eventually become director again. Fury just laughed and said "Plans like that is how I got the job the first time." Six  months past and Fury has gone under cover and turned off all the surveillance on him. A restaurant he's attacked by a monster that can manipulate energy. He fights the monster but Spider-Man and Human Torch show up. The monster escapes and the two of them start questioning Fury on where he's been for the last six months.

Fury later breaks into a S.H.I.E.L.D. base and hides in the women's room like some kind of creep. But he just waits to ambush Carol Danvers. He puts a gun to her head and asks why she's been sending people and monsters to kill him and kick him out of S.H.I.E.L.D. She swears that she isn't but he explains she's the only one with a motive to kill him. They then hear that Peter Parker's home is being attacked and forces her to send a team to prevent it.

Sue Storm brings everyone together to let them know that it's actually Reed Richards trying to kill everyone. Fury gets a group of heroes together to travel to the N-Zone. Reed is like Ant-Man at this point. He's an old white guy, likes science, treats his wife bad, things he's doing good and somehow ends up screwing everyone over no matter how smart he is. After the team defeats Reed, Fury just slides out and heads home because he doesn't care as long as people stop trying to kill him for no reason.

When Nick Fury learned that super soldier prototypes were on the black market he got another team of Avengers together. This time he chose Blade, War Machine, The Punisher and Hawkeye. They met with Tyrone Clash who transformed into his Hulk form. Eventually they were able to stop him with Blade's hypnotism. Blade was able to get Tyrone to explain how he transforms. Nick Fury then shot Tyrone in the head just to make sure he wouldn't be a problem anymore.

Fury takes War Machine with him to assault S.H.I.E.L.D. to kidnap Danvers. They run into the The New Ultimates (basically the standard Avengers team. Name switch was pointless because Fury is more associated with Ultimates and Captain America is more associated with Avengers. Yet, the teams swapped names for this) and things get messy. The fight spills out into the street because both the Avengers and Ultimates consider each other traitors. Captain America and Nick Fury fight all the way to the Queensborough Bridge. At this point Captain America thinks he finally has Fury on the ropes. Fury gives the signal and Punisher takes a sniper shot at Captain America. Luckily Spider-Man was there to throw the bullet off target. War Machine then blows up the bridge to make sure Nick Fury and Punisher can't be arrested.

Eventually Thor comes in and manages to capture Fury and his Avengers. They're imprisoned on a decommissioned war ship. Gregory Stark brings the team up to the deck and he explains that this was his plan to become cause an uprising of super soldiers in North Korea. Gregory has Fury shot in the back of the head. Nick Fury then stands up and transforms into a Tyrone Cash form of the Hulk. Gregory reveals that he's used nanites in his blood stream to give him super powers. Fury reveals that the other Avengers have taken Tyrone Cash's formula as well. They manage to defeat Gregory and throw him in the ocean.

Nick Fury once again becomes director of S.H.I.E.L.D. He disbands his team of Avengers and once again has The Ultimates under his control. When Peter Parker dies Mary Jane tells Nick Fury that she'll prove that the heroes were actually responsible for his death. It's true but it wasn't Fury's fault. Fury still cried and accepted blame because that's what he does. He said he'd been around since Peter's birth and should have trained him better. At Parker's funeral Captain America admits that it was he directly caused Peter's death. Nick didn't go to the funeral because it's obvious he wasn't wanted there despite being good friends with Peter. But he was forgiven, he still blames himself.

When Asgard appeared in Europe the European Defense Initiative sent their super soldiers to investigate. They got taken out by Thor. Eventually the battle made it's way to Germany where the Children of Tomorrow's base was. They attacked and killed most of the super soldiers. The Children of Tomorrow then followed Thor back to Asgard and killed all of the gods except Thor, but they left him depowered. This caused the president to activate Operation Winter Protocol. Nick Fury was removed as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and was to be arrested. Always one step ahead Nick managed to escape and go off the radar.

When the Nimrod invaded Fury helped protect people from sentinels and anti-mutant rebels. Afterwards he helps Kitty Pride make Utopia an official sovereign nation. He then used bio-camouflage to go undercover as Scorpio a member of HYDRA. The funny thing is his disguise was the appearance of Earth 616 version of Nick Fury. This was an homage because when Earth 616 Nick Fury went undercover using bio-camouflage he used the appearance of Ultimate Nick Fury. It was a way to make Nick Fury be undercover as Nick Fury. Just a strange little joke. He told HYDRA he was out for revenge but he had other plans. He was captured by The Ultimates because they thought he was giving S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons to HYDRA. Fury revealed that he was destroying HYDRA from the inside and the traitor was Commander Crimson. Crimson tried to use the Infinity Gem but it overpowered her and she vanished into thin air. Fury told S.H.I.E.L.D. he was leaving to create the Howling Commandos to destroy HYDRA.


When The Dark Ultimates launched missiles to conquer Earth Nick Fury appeared with his team of Howling Commandos including Falcon and The Punisher. They offered to do what S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't and take out the Dark Ultimates once and for all. The commandos made their way to The Aleph-One Base. They arrived in time to help The Ultimates defeat the Dark Ultimates. The team next headed to Europe to help put the EDI under control.

When Galactus attacked The Earth S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded. He recruited Reed Richards to help him create more contingency plans. He then restarted S.H.I.E.L.D. from the ground up. He also had the prison rebuilt outside of Manhattan. Things are getting back to normal for Nick Fury. They're consistent. Just the way he likes. But, if something happens, he's been prepared to die since he was 18.

Abilities and Equipment
  • People often forget Nick Fury is a Super Soldier
    • Super Strength
    • Agility
    • Reflexes
    • Speed
      • Not Quicksilver, but just as fast as Captain America
    • Agility
    • Stamina
    • Durability 
  • Other Enhancements
    • Nick Fury has also undergone other procedures to enhance his abilites
      • Enhanced Vision
      • Enhanced Smell
      • Enhanced Hearing
    • Healing Factor
      • Over 100 gunshot wounds took 2 days to heal
    • Immunity to disease
  • Trained in several forms of unarmed combat
    • Usually keeps a few knives just in case
  • Expert Marksman
    • Can shoot a fly of the side of a barn from a mile away
  • Advanced Technology
    • Nick Fury used advanced technology from S.H.I.E.L.D.
      • Bio-Camouflage
      • Invisibility
      • Tyrone Cash's Hulk serum
      • Phase through solids
      • Hulk-Buster and other Ironman based suits
  • Genius Level Intellect
  • Top 5 tactician and strategist
  • General Bad Ass
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet

Darrell S.

Hey, I write stuff, a lot of different stuff, that's all.

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