Nick Fury Jr.

Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury Jr. (Marcus Johnson) is a fictional character appearing in American comic 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.^[1] 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.

Publication history

The character was introduced in the debut issue of the miniseries

Nick Fury Jr. appears in the 2013 Secret Avengers series by Nick Spencer and Luke Ross.^[4]

In January 2017, Marvel announced that the character would get his first ongoing solo series named

Nick Fury.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]}

In 2023 the character was the co-main character of the double sized one-shot Fury published to commemorate the character Nick Fury's 60th anniversary.^[12]

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.^[13]

While serving in

Taskmaster, but is saved by Captain America. 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,^[14] 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, Nick Fury.^[15] 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.^[16]

Fury and Coulson make a

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.^[21]

During the 2016 "

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.[28]

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.^[29] 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.^[30] Later he imprisons Ripley Ryan (aka Star) bearer of the Reality Gem.^[31]

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.^[16]

Fury was trained in espionage under Maria Hill.^[32]

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.

• Mikel Fury

References