If you’ve ever seen a Marvel film, you know Nick Fury. He’s the spy of all spies, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D, the mastermind creator behind the Avengers and over the course of several films, he’s always managed to maintain a certain air of mystery. He’s played by the inimitable Samuel L. Jackson in a black, leather trench coat and trademark eyepatch, first appearing in Jon Favreau’s 2008 Iron Man.
Now, Jackson takes center stage in Disney+’s six-episode miniseries Secret Invasion. This time around, Fury forgoes the eyepatch, showing off his scarred eye, and according to Jackson, he’s not as unshakeable as he once was.
“[He’s] older, a little tired, not as confident as he used to be,” the actor told The Hollywood Reporter at the show’s Tuesday evening premiere. “You find out where he lives! Does he live in a condo? Is that a house?”
Set a few years after the Blip, Secret Invasion finds Nick Fury finally returned to Earth, after working for the U.S. government on a space station operation called S.A.B.E.R. With the looming threat of shapeshifting Skrulls threatening to infiltrate Earth’s highest positions of power, Fury comes back to finish what he started long ago.
“I think we’re very used to seeing Nick Fury who can handle anything and is always six steps ahead,” said executive producer Jonathan Schwartz. “He always knows what you’re thinking before you think it, and that’s not quite the Nick we’re gonna meet at the top of Secret Invasion.”
Director Ali Selim agrees. “Unlike any other Marvel show that we’ve ever seen, [Secret Invasion] is really about a human being whose feet are on the ground, and as episode one starts out, he’s older, he’s lost a little bit of his mojo,” he said. “And I think coming out of the pandemic, and being an older guy, I understood that and I think it really drew me to what this story had to say about discovery and trust and faith in moral codes.”
After playing the role for over 15 years, Jackson says he’ll keep coming back “‘till they stop calling me,” adding, “As long as my phone rings, they can call me.”
His longtime costar Cobie Smulders, who plays Fury’s right-hand Agent Maria Hill, echoed the sentiment.
“67 years,” the actress joked about how long she’s been in the MCU. “Feels like it!”
In all seriousness, Smulders shared that she didn’t even think she had gotten the role after her first audition. “For me, every time the phone rings, I’m thrilled about it. And this has been an especially exciting role because it is so much about Nick Fury’s story,” she continued. “I feel like our characters have been so intertwined for so long, so it’s great to be asked to come along to explore that story even deeper.”
Alongside Jackson and Smulders, the Marvel veterans are joined by returners like Martin Freeman, Ben Mendelsohn and Don Cheadle, as well as newcomers like Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke and Kingsley Ben-Adir.
Secret Invasion marks Clarke’s first major return to TV, since her acclaimed reign as Daenerys Targaryen on HBO’s Game of Thrones. Whether or not the actress had any hesitation before hopping onto another major franchise series — after having also appeared in Solo — the actress assured that she was up to the challenge. “Any hesitation disappeared when I reminded myself that ‘Hey, it’s Marvel,’” Clarke said. “And Olivia Coleman. Samuel L Jackson. Ben Mendelsohn. I mean, it was a good reason.”
Clarke plays G’iah, the daughter of Skrull leader Talos (Mendelsohn), who, much like her Thrones character, is not one to be trifled with.
“I think it’s because I’m so not a badass in real life, it feels kind of wonderful,” she said about taking on strong, action-packed roles. “Let’s act it, maybe we’ll become it, and then they yell cut. I’m definitely not a badass.”
Ben-Adir plays the show’s antagonist Gravik, the leader of a group of rebel Skrulls looking to inhabit Earth. But like other Marvel villains that came before him, Gravik isn’t just a bad guy for the sake of being a bad guy. He’s passionate about the cause of his people, willing to go to any lengths to see that through.
“How are Graviks created? What happened? How much trauma has he suffered to get to this point where he’s ready to turn around and see that inflicted on other people?” Ben-Adir mused about his character. “It was just about really digging into that. The points of concentration were like, ‘Wow, what would happen if you really didn’t trust anyone?’ Skrulls, humans, dogs, cats, men, women, kids, no one. I think he loved before, he had a life wherever, and now he’s like, ‘Fuck that. I was an idiot. Now, I know.’ It was kind of sick, so I had fun doing it.”
As for what it was like to go up against Jackson, Ben-Adir calls the experience “nerve-wracking” at first, noting that the veteran actor’s involvement was a “huge draw” to the project for him. “But we found our groove,” the One Night in Miami actor remembered. “Sam’s great fun to work with.”
And while Fury is trying to stop Gravik’s rebels in the show, Jackson emphasizes that the Skrulls are not the enemy.
“They’re not trying to kill us,” the actor said. “They just want to live like everybody else. It’s kind of like the problem we have right now. People are just coming to try and find a better place or a better life for themselves. And like those people, the Skrulls are here, but they don’t want to be secret invaders. They want to live in their own skin.”
Secret Invasion premieres on Disney+ on June 21.
Source: Hollywood
