Secret Invasion: The Spy Thrillers & Westerns That Shaped This Version Of Nick Fury

Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the very beginning when he appeared in the post-credits scene for 2008's "Iron Man" to tell him about the Avengers Initiative. Since then, he's popped up periodically to aid the Avengers and represent themes related to paranoia and control. Finally, he gets a chance to lead his own story in this universe with "Secret Invasion" on Disney+.

"Captain Marvel" established Fury as having a good foundation with the Skrulls, particularly Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), when they arrived on Earth in the 1990s. 30 years later, a faction of Skrulls want to make Earth their permanent home without any humans, so it's up to Fury and his team to stop them. However, there's the slight catch that Skrulls can shape-shift, becoming anyone close to Fury and possibly infiltrating the ranks of any government organization.

Paranoia-infused spy thrillers are nothing new, and to help flesh out this more mature MCU outing, director Ali Selim looked toward some all-time greats to inform the Marvel series. In an interview with Screen Rant, he said, "I was really interested in the themes of trust and themes of suspicion and identity, and that took me into film noir and, you know, so the creative team and I talked a lot about 'The Third Man' and [Francis Ford] Coppola's 'The Conversation," which is a great piece about suspicion, paranoia." But while film noir inspired the tone of "Secret Invasion," other movies helped inform Fury's character.

Nick Fury has remained a shadowy figure throughout his tenure in the MCU. He always has ulterior motives, keeping his true intentions and machinations hidden from as many people as possible. He brought the Avengers together and worked alongside Captain America (Chris Evans) in "The Winter Soldier" to purge HYDRA from S.H.I.E.L.D. However, his role in these films has always been in a supporting capacity. He was the paranoid figurehead who aided the heroes or gave them the information they needed to fight the bad guys. 

However, now that Fury finally has a lead role, he needs a bit more development. And to help inform his character as a fully-fledged hero, Ali Selim looked toward some surprising Westerns for influence: "Nick evolves in this series into a very clear, classic American Western, lone wolf gunslinger. And we talked a lot about 'The Searchers,' John Ford's 'The Searchers,' and Clint Eastwood's 'Unforgiven' and applied a lot of that."

It's easy to see these influences from the first episode of "Secret Invasion" alone. Both Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) in "The Searchers" and Will Munny (Eastwood) in "Unforgiven" have been away a long time when they're called into action again. When we're introduced to Fury in "Secret Invasion," he's been in space for a long time, reluctant to return to Earth after everyone came back from the Blip. He's broken and clearly on edge, and the events of Episode 1 likely won't soften those edges. Given the character's impact in the MCU so far, it only seems fitting for him to come into his own as a character in his own series.