‘Secret Invasion’: Samuel L. Jackson Talks Nick Fury Stepping Out of the Shadows

“I think it’s great to go behind the curtain of Nick Fury’s life and see some things or make some discoveries."

Who’s the biggest champion for a Nick Fury solo project? Star Samuel L. Jackson himself.

Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion dives deeper into Fury’s past — and future — as he races against the clock to stop the (currently in progress) Skrull Invasion. Who can you trust? Whose side are you on? And why, after appearing across so many Marvel Cinematic Universe titles, was now finally the time for a Nick Fury series?

“I’ve been having conversations about a Nick Fury series for a long time. People asking, well when’s the Nick Fury movie? You know everybody else has a movie, when’s the Nick Fury movie?” Jackson explains with a chuckle. And for every time he watched the events of the MCU unfold without him, he found himself asking if, when, and how soon he could get back in on the action.

“I ask questions like, can I go to Wakanda? And they’re like, no,” He laughs. That’s because there was always a much bigger plan for unraveling the hidden, long-kept secrets about the agent. The last time viewers saw Fury he was yelling about his shoes on the S.A.B.E.R. space station, enjoying a seascape on his “vacation.” Don’t forget, he was only there because he had tasked Skrull Talos to take care of things (masquerading as Fury) back on Earth — a decision that might come back to haunt him.

When plotting out the series, Jackson explains, “We talked about what effect the Blip had on Nick Fury and why he was on S.A.B.E.R. for so long, and what was happening down here on Earth in terms of, you know, Talos pretending to be Nick Fury. Why? We reach a point where we sort of explain why Nick comes back and what’s been going on. Stuff has happened and there’s been time that passed and this [what’s happened to this] state of Nick Fury.”

While Fury has been a staple since the very first installment of the MCU — appearing out of the shadows to tease a “bigger universe” to Tony Stark — there hasn’t been much time spent diving into exactly who he is (aside from the fact that if toast is cut diagonally, he can’t eat it). Secret Invasion is going to peel back some of those layers on the super spy revealing long-hidden character traits for him.

“I think it’s great to go behind the curtain of Nick Fury’s life and see some things or make some discoveries that nobody’s known about him, or what’s going on in his life,” Jackson continues.

As viewers learn in episode 1 of Secret Invasion, Fury really has been MIA for a while now, by choice, much to the displeasure of those closest to him. And when he does come back down to Earth, he’s not the same Fury we’ve come to know over the years. Once back on solid ground, Jackson explains that Fury is “older, he’s tired, and he’s not sure of his footing anymore.”

“The times have changed,” Jackson continues. “The Super Heroes are gone and they’re doing whatever it is they’re doing so there’s no real Avengers for him to come down here or he’s not trying to call on them he’s not been in touch with anybody. He’s been incognito and up there on S.A.B.E.R., so it’s been a long time since he’s been in touch with people. He’s ghosted a lot of people and they call him; he doesn’t call them so he’s not coming back down here super willingly.”

Jackson also knows that since Fury’s does not answer any distress calls, he can’t expect the same from any other Super Heroes.

“We’ve got to reach a point where we don’t expect these guys to come and save us every time something goes wrong. This is one of those times, so it’s that kind of series where we try and solve things without being too superhuman but use the espionage angle as well as we can.”

And now, he’s been thrust back into the fight, right alongside his old friend, Talos. For Jackson, it’s exciting to step back into Fury’s world and get his hands dirty once again — though viewers should be prepared for anything.

“Even the Nick Fury that’s not, you know, that dynamic and forceful Nick Fury [previously seen]. I come to work and laugh about the seriousness of what we’re doing, and say, ‘how serious do we want to be’ and go ahead and do that, or you know how Fury’s a smartass so there’s always sarcasm to be thrown in somewhere… I’ve been a part of 13 of these things, I know who Nick Fury is and what I want to do.”