‘Secret Invasion’ Director Admits Show Has Nothing To Do With Original Comic Story, Says Changes To Nick Fury’s Character Came From Marvel
John F. Trent
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Secret Invasion director Ali Selim recently shared that the show has absolutely nothing to do with the comic book of the same name and that the changes the show makes to Nick Fury’s character did not come from him, but from Marvel executives.
(L-R): Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill in Marvel Studios’ SECRET INVASION, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Des Willie. © 2023 MARVEL.
Speaking with film critic and scooper Grace Randolph, Selim was first asked about changing the character of Nick Fury.
He shared, “Well, when I first got this job the first they said to me is, ‘Don’t read the comics. This has nothing to do with the comics.'”
“And I think the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done a great job of being inspired by the comics and taking characters from the comics but telling a story that’s unto the Cinematic Universe by itself,” he explained.
Director Ali Selim behind the scenes of Marvel Studios’ SECRET INVASION, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.
Switching to Nick Fury, Selim said, “It was time to tell the Nick Fury story. That was a decision made by Marvel. I think Kyle Bradstreet wrote a great script that had a main character who was a catalyst to a much more sprawling and complex story, but at the same time was a catalyst into his own personal story, which we’d never really explored before in the MCU, and into his own internal story questioning his mistakes, and his fears, and his doubts, and his decisions.”
“And all of that was very interesting to me as an aging man who has lost his step a little bit. And the same with Sam Jackson, an aging man who’s gained wisdom and experience, but lost his step a little bit. And I think a lot of what Sam and I talked about was the value of those things and how they related to Nick Fury,” he concluded.
Don Cheadle as James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes in Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.
Selim would also discuss Fury’s character with Brandon Davis of Phase Zero.
He shared, “I think it starts with a Nick who’s lived through the Blip and lived through just his absence and the disorientation that both of those things brought about. He’s been absent from his personal life and I think in order for his professional life, his avenging to go on he needs to address some issues in his personal life and that’s something we’ve never seen Nick Fury do.”
“And it’s a much deeper, richer level of acting that I think Sam was excited to do,” he added.
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.
Selim previously detailed in the show’s production notes how the show has a specific subversive Marvel tone in relation to Fury’s character.
He said, “It goes back to Nick Fury. It’s the Nick Fury story. And Nick is a human. Whatever we think about his trench coat and his eyepatch and how cool Sam Jackson is, Nick Fury is a human. He’s a human with a certain kind of power, but not a superpower like Captain America or Captain Marvel. So, that immediately demands a more grounded, gritty series.”
“I think that the series has a really interesting subversive Marvel tone that takes it and flips it on its head, which I think will challenge and surprise and please the audience and give them something unique and different,” Selim shared.
(L-R): Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as Talos in Marvel Studios’ SECRET INVASION, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Des Willie. © 2023 MARVEL.
Secret Invasion is a six-episode miniseries. The first episode is currently streaming on Disney+.
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