Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury Jr. (Marcus Johnson) is a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, ...

comic book character appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. He is a son and successor of former U.S. Army hero/super-spy and the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. director

Nick Fury Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury Sr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, he first appeared in ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos ...

.''Battle Scars'' #5. Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Battle Scars'' #1 (January 2012), which was written by Matt Fraction, Chris Yost, and Cullen Bunn, and penciled by

Scot Eaton Scot Eaton is a comic book artist, best known for his work on '' Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'', ''Thor'', '' X-Men: Endangered Species'', and '' X-Men: Messiah Complex''. Career In the early 1990s Eaton started penciling ''Doctor Fate'' an ...

Publication history

The character was introduced in the debut issue of the miniseries '' Battle Scars'' (January 2012), which was written by Matt Fraction, Chris Yost, and Cullen Bunn, and penciled by

. The character bears a strong resemblance to the Ultimate Marvel version of Nick Fury and the Marvel Cinematic Universe incarnation as portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson; the Ultimate version's appearance was based on that of Jackson before the actor's portrayal in the films. Nick Fury Jr. appears in the 2013 '' Secret Avengers'' series by Nick Spencer and Luke Ross. In January 2017, Marvel announced that the character would get his first ongoing solo series named ''

''.

Fictional character biography

Marcus Johnson was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, by his mother Nia Jones. At the age of 18, Marcus passed on numerous college football scholarships in order to enlist in the US Army, serving in Iraq. After his enlistment, he earned a degree in philosophy from the University of Georgia. Marcus then re-enlisted in the Army, achieving the rank of staff sergeant. While serving in Afghanistan with 2nd Battalion,

75th Ranger Regiment The 75th Ranger Regiment, also known as Army Rangers, is the U.S. Army's premier light infantry unit and special operations force within the United States Army Special Operations Command. The regiment is headquartered at Fort Benning, Georgi ...

, 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 by Taskmaster, but is saved by

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrive and take him to one of their facilities; after a while Johnson, comes to feel he is being held there against his will and escapes, 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 to the man, who is revealed to be his father,

. Fury and Johnson are then captured by the organization Leviathan'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 given Fury his long lifespan. Fury helps Johnson escape, but Fury himself has his 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 friend Phil Coulson, and later kills Orion. After convalescing, Johnson is given Steve Rogers's 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.''Battle Scars'' #6. Marvel Comics. Fury and Coulson make a cameo appearance in '' Scarlet Spider'' #5, and are part of the framing sequence in '' Marvel NOW! Point One''. In a 2013 storyline as part of the Marvel NOW! branding, Nick, Coulson, and Maria Hill form the S.H.I.E.L.D. version of the Secret Avengers with Hawkeye and

Black Widow Black widow may refer to: Spiders * Black widow spider, a common name for some species of spiders in the genus ''Latrodectus'' American species * ''Latrodectus apicalis'', the Galapagos black widow * ''Latrodectus curacaviensis'', the South Amer ...

. Fury is involved in their first mission, which involved fighting a group of

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

terrorists. Fury then joins the Secret Avengers to raid Bagalia in order to recruit Taskmaster. While the Secret Avengers are fighting the Masters of Evil, Fury manages to pay off Crossfire to free Taskmaster from his imprisonment. During the 2014 " AXIS" storyline, Nick was with S.H.I.E.L.D. when the organization has gathered Captain America to discuss what was to become of the Red Skull, now that the Stark Sentinels had been dismantled and the concentration camps torn down. Fury tried to convince Sam Wilson to hand him over. But under the inversion spell's influence, Wilson was violent and punched him before leaving. During the 2016 " 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 the Inhuman Ulysses 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. His investigation takes him to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base Ulu in Alaska, where he encounters the unknown mastermind behind the plot, who then escapes. Upon infiltrating the base Ogma, Fury downloads classified data, which leads him to the underground base Kratos, where he encountered a rogue Life Model Decoy of his father named Leader, 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. 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. 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. In the aftermath of the 2017 " Secret Empire" story line, S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded but Fury continued to work as an independent operative. Fury observes Frank Castle slay every Hydra agent in an abandoned warehouse as a way to atone for siding with Hydra. Fury then gives Castle access to the War Machine armor for a deniable operation against a rogue Eastern European state caught using old S.H.I.E.L.D. resources. Later he imprisons Ripley Ryan (aka Star) bearer of the Reality Gem.

Powers and abilities

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. Fury was trained in espionage under Maria Hill.

Reception

The reaction by comic book fans to the revelation of Marcus Johnson being Nick Fury's son and replacing his father has been mixed. Tom Brevoort, Marvel's Vice President of publishing, believed this was a prudent move by Marvel because the African American incarnation appears in films, animated shows, and other licensed adaptations.

References

External links