The Evolution Of Nick Fury & S.H.I.E.L.D.

#TalkNerdyToMeLover’s Awesome Applesauce: Charles Quevedo

Holy crapsicles! Good news comic book geeks … a “S.H.I.E.L.D.” movie is being planned!

According to Samuel Jackson (the actor who has made appearances in “Iron Man 1 & 2” as “Nick Fury”, the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.) … there are indeed plans for it. On RadioBigBoy, Jackson was quoted as saying:

“The Avengers should start shooting some time next year, and then some time after that there’ll be a big “S.H.I.E.L.D.” movie.”

Was it a slip of the tongue by the actor? Marvel Studios hasn’t offically announced such a film in the works. I’m just crossing my fingers and hoping that the rumor is true. IMDB.com already has a “Nick Fury” page where it states that the movie is due out in 2012, so I’m guessing it’s MORE than just a rumor. After the disappointing 1998 television movie, “Nick Fury: Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D.” (where the action scenes were laughable and David Hasselhoff gave a very forgettable performance), I gave up all hope of a decent movie being made on this group of super-spies. But now with this new “Nick Fury” movie (a.k.a. “S.H.I.E.L.D.”) movie happening, I’m totally hyped up about how awesome this could be. There’s just so much potential there.

As a kid growing up, I collected a few of the S.H.I.E.L.D. comic books that Marvel Comics published. I remember my older sister taking me to the comic book store where I would spend my saved-up allowance to purchase the older “Nick Fury” issues. In my youth, I read a different “Nick Fury” than the one that is portrayed today.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character was originally written as a World War II Army hero (a Caucasian male with streaks of grey hair), first appearing in “Sgt. Fury and The Howling Commandos #1 (1963), portraying Fury as the leader of an elite Army unit. Nick Fury then appeared months later in “Fantastic Four #21” (Dec. 1963) as a CIA agent. The character is transformed even further, portraying him as a super-spy and lead agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. (the fictional espionage and law enforcement agency, introduced in “Strange Tales #135); which dealt with criminal spy organizations, monsters and superhuman criminals. Over the years, S.H.I.E.L.D. revealed much about its labryrinthine organizational history. The S.H.I.E.L.D. storylines established themselves as the most groundbreaking, innovative, and accalaimed features in comic history.

“S.H.I.E.L.D.” was born out of an idea that occurred during trendy spy-action stories (about secret international agencies with cool acronyms) like television’s “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and the James Bond movies (SPECTRE). In the comics, the acronym originally stood for “Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law Enforcement Division”. In 1991, it was later changed in the comics to “Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage Logistics Directorate.” In the latest string of self-produced Marvel Studios films (“Iron Man 1 & 2” and the upcoming “Thor”), S.H.I.E.L.D. now stands for “Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division”.

Today, “Nick Fury” is now portrayed as African-American. The iconic eye-patch and the chomping on tips of cigars that has been a part of the character for many decades have been kept. In the new “Nick Fury” (“S.H.I.E.L.D.”) movie, the character will be a daring amateur boxer recruited by the Army for some top-secret assignments. Soon promoted to “captain”, he puts together the “First Attack Squad”, a group of elite soldiers who carry out elite missions. “S.H.I.E.L.D.” is the covert law enforcement agency that pulls “The Avengers” team together.

If Marvel Studios gives the “Nick Fury”/”S.H.I.E.L.D.” movie a decent financial budget to work with and great digital effects to blow our minds, then it should turn out awesome. Let’s just hope that Scarlett Johansson as the “Black Widow” (a.k.a. “Natasha Romanoff” from the “Iron Man 2” movie) and an army of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents dressed in “War Machine” armor make an appearance. I CAN’T wait to see the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier (their headquarters, a colossal flying aircraft-carrier). This is gonna be bad-ass! I’m so freakin’ excited!