It is a truth multiversally acknowledged that every character in the MCU has to get superpowers eventually. Peggy Carter? She’s Captain America herself in multiple universes these days. The kid from Captain Marvel? Now she’s all grown-up and the co-lead of its sequel, The Marvels. Given that, it’s mighty impressive that Nick Fury, officially the longest-lasting character in the entire franchise at this point, has woven through Phases One to Five while remaining human.
And yet Secret Invasion has presented Samuel L. Jackson’s former S.H.I.E.L.D. director with the perfect opportunity to join the ranks of the Avengers himself. Episode five introduced The Harvest, a vial of combined Avenger DNA that Gravik hopes to use to juice himself up with every superpower you can think of. While his Super-Skrull machine is naturally made for Skrull genetic manipulation, there exists the tantalizing possibility that Fury could decide to somehow use the Harvest to give himself powers instead.
This is a bit of a pie-in-the-sky idea, but whether it happens or not, it raises an intriguing question; not whether Fury could ever get powers in the MCU but whether he should. So let’s take a look at the reasons for and against this being a good idea. For starters, the pros…
Why Nick Fury should get powers
1. It’s comic book-accurate
For the perfect proof why Fury deserves some superpowers of his own, I only have to direct you to the source material.
The original comic book Nick Fury fought in World War II (it was he who was the leader of the Howling Commandos, not Captain America), so to explain his longevity, it was explained that he had to take a special serum called the Infinity Formula (no relation to the Infinity Stones) to extend his life. Fury had to ingest the formula each year in order to keep himself young and fit.
While getting powers from The Harvest would be quite the leap, it is a point of Marvel canon that Fury takes a serum to enhance himself so the idea of him getting super-abilities in Secret Invasion isn’t as crazy as it may sound.
2. It’s the logical endpoint for the character
What is Nick Fury in the MCU? He’s the Avengers’ greatest ally, that’s what. From recruiting Tony Stark to welcoming Steve Rogers into the 21st century to coming up with the Avengers initiative when he first encountered Carol Danvers, Fury is effectively the power behind the throne and the reason Earth is protected by these heroes in the first place.
With it feeling like Fury’s epic MCU arc is nearer its end, then, it’s surely only right that Fury finally gets a taste of being a superhero himself. Secret Invasion initially seemed set to be Fury at his most heroic, but actually, that hasn’t been the case, due to the character being plagued by self-doubt. But that could all change if he got himself a handy-dandy power boost.
3. Fury has lost faith in the Earth’s dependency on the Avengers
Secret Invasion episode five introduced a curious (some might say wildly unbelievable) explanation for why Fury hasn’t called in the Avengers to help with the Skrull situation. Apparently, Fury doesn’t think the planet should rely on these heroes to protect it anymore. This is pretty rich coming from the guy who brought them together in the first place, but it could also explain his decision to take their powers for himself.
It’s possible Fury feels betrayed that the Avengers failed to stop the Blip from happening in the first place (even if they eventually reversed its effects five years later), so he doesn’t trust the heroes enough to summon them to help with the Skrulls. If that is the case, then of course Fury would go behind their backs, create The Harvest serum, and then perhaps even use it on himself so that he doesn’t have to assemble the Avengers ever again.
4. Samuel L. Jackson isn’t going anywhere
Even since S.H.I.E.L.D. shut down way back in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Nick Fury has been somewhat awkwardly hanging around the MCU without a proper purpose. He is the head of S.W.O.R.D. these days, by the looks of it, and he’ll return to his more traditional role in The Marvels, but it does seem a little bit like the franchise has outgrown him, like a child not needing its parent around anymore.
And yet Samuel L. Jackson has got a lot more gas left in the tank when it comes to Fury, as he’s made clear that he’d love to be in every Marvel Studios production going if it was up to him — he’s particularly keen to take a trip to Wakanda. Well, Marvel would be foolish to waste him, and giving Fury superpowers of his own would be one way to propel the character forward in a whole new direction that would open up even more opportunities for Jackson to show up.
Why Fury shouldn’t get powers
1. In Fury’s hands, any superpower will get dangerously misused
It is not news to anyone that Fury doesn’t do well when it comes to handling power. When he got his hands on the Tesseract, he planned to harness its powers to create powerful weapons. Then we had Project Insight’s Hellcarriers and their agenda to cancel out future threats that got hijacked by HYDRA in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
In fact, even after being burned twice and while processing his return to life, Fury still scoured the wreckage of the Battle of Earth after the events of Avengers: Endgame to collect the DNA of every super-powered hero who shed their blood. He turned that collection into “The Harvest,” which essentially kickstarted the whole drama in Secret Invasion as Gravik is salivating after it.
I shudder to imagine what Nick Fury would do if he suddenly found himself blessed with superpowers. Forget Gravik (who wiped the floor with Kang the Conqueror), Thanos, and the High Evolutionary… the MCU would have a true villain destroying its shaky peace.
2. Secret Invasion is about Fury accepting his past
The series was never supposed to be the origin story of Fury’s superhero journey. Yes, his getting powers would be comic-book accurate, but Secret Invasion was designed to allow Fury to acknowledge the mistakes of his past, rectify what he can, as well as process the trauma he suffered post-Blip, something he had been relentlessly suppressing since he came back. The six episodes are about him facing the demons of his past — it should not end with him pushing that all down once again to don a suit of his own.
3. It would alter what Fury signifies in the MCU
Balance — that’s what Fury is a symbol of in the Marvel cinematic universe. Just having a superpowered suit or a zillion powers doesn’t make you a hero. It is the will to make the tough decisions, make use of your wit, lead when no one else dares to, and take risks because the situation demands it, not because your super abilities afford you the chance to be reckless.