Why The Avengers Won't Come To The Rescue In Marvel's Secret Invasion

Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury is a complicated figure. On one hand, he's definitely committed his fair share of war crimes, but on the other, the former S.H.I.E.L.D. leader has been saving the world since before the Avengers were even formed. Later on, by bringing the Earth's mightiest defenders together, he ensured that a team of heroes would be lying in wait for all the Thanos-sized problems bound to emerge from the depths of space.

There have been some considerable complications since then: the squad is short one Iron Man, is in the process of replacing their Captain America, permanently lost their Black Widow, and Hawkeye is too busy renovating stuff to rejoin the heroic effort. But there are always heroes waiting to be called upon. After all, Fury still has Spider-Man and Captain Marvel on speed dial. He has pull with all the biggest heroes on and off the planet... so why isn't he calling in favors when the world turns upside down during Marvel's upcoming series, "Secret Invasion"? As usual, Nick Fury has his reasons.

According to all the creative minds behind the Disney+ series, we can expect to see a side of Nick Fury that we've never seen before: in "Secret Invasion," he's more vulnerable than ever before. Plot specifics are still being guarded, but Fury's vulnerability might have something to do with the fact that this particular conflict is both geopolitical and personal.

"Sins from his past start to haunt him once again," executive producer Jonathan Schwartz revealed to Vanity Fair. "We often see Nick Fury doing the right thing. We don't always see him doing it in a perfectly morally correct way. All of those things have ramifications. Without getting too specific, the things that Nick Fury's had to do to protect the Earth have costs."

The series picks up when Fury uncovers a conspiracy to install double agents into positions of power all around the world. This isn't exactly brand new territory for him — it's not entirely unlike Hydra infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. way back in Phase Two. But there is one seismic complication: this time, those infiltrating are Skrulls, shape-shifting extraterrestrials who can appear as any human being at whim. And they're turning against humanity because of Fury's broken promise.

The seeds of this storyline were planted in "Captain Marvel," when Fury met Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) and formed an alliance with the Skrulls. They've been working together for years because joining forces allowed Fury to protect the world as no human ever could before. Jackson explained, "Nick had a whole Skrull spy network because they could shape-shift and go places that people couldn't go." But here's the problem:

 "They kept their word. They worked for him, but he hasn't done what he said he was going to do. They want a home. They want to live. They want to live like they are. They want to live in their skin. They don't want to live in ours."

Unfortunately for Fury, they aren't the only ones losing faith in him. Humans are also having second thoughts about the spymaster, because of his connection to all our favorite heroes. Throughout the intense action of "Secret Invasion," it seems Fury has no plans to call in any favors. "What he's not doing is calling in his super friends," Jackson explained. "People want them and he's not bringing them."

I can't imagine passing up the opportunity to use my personal connection with Carol Danvers as a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card, so Fury must have a very compelling explanation. "There's a very good reason he's holding back," Jackson teased. Too bad we won't find out until the show arrives later this spring.