Secret Invasion star Samuel L. Jackson spoke about delving deeper into Nick Fury’s racial identity in Marvel’s new Disney+ series.
While speaking with Variety, Jackson discussed the scene from Secret Invasion Episode 2 where Nick Fury and James Rupert “Rhodey” Rhodes clash on the matter of the Skrull invasion. The actor explained that the scene and the series overall allow for exploration into how even those with lots of power are affected by their racial identity.
“Rhodey and Fury have risen to this place where we have a certain amount of power, even though we’re better than the people who have power, we still got to suppress ourselves in a specific way,” Jackson noted. “And Marvel’s not afraid to let us explore that.”
Jackson also stated that he spoke with the writers of the series about what it’s like for Fury to have “that much power as a Black man, and how they can be diminished at any moment by someone else just saying a specific thing or changing the trajectory of one’s career path because of it.”
Who is creating Secret Invasion?
The Nick Fury-led Secret Invasion hails from head writer Kyle Bradstreet and director Ali Selim. The series features the return of Marvel Cinematic Universe vets Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders, Martin Freeman, and Don Cheadle, as they reprise their respective roles as Nick Fury, Talos, Maria Hill, Everett Ross, Rhodey. Joining them are Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Dermot Mulroney, Killian Scott, and more. The first two episodes of the series are now available to stream on Disney+.
Executive producers are Selim, Bradstreet, Kevin Feige, Jonathan Schwartz, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Brian Tucker, Jennifer L. Booth, Allana Williams, and Brant Englestein.
“In Secret Invasion, set in the present-day Marvel Cinematic Universe, Fury learns of a clandestine invasion of Earth by a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls,” reads the logline. “Fury joins his allies, including Everett Ross, Maria Hill, and the Skrull Talos, who has made a life for himself on Earth. Together they race against time to thwart an imminent Skrull invasion and save humanity.”