Nick Fury’s Secret Invasion storyline was summed up perfectly by Samuel L. Jackson over a decade ago. Fury has been one of the longest-serving MCU characters after appearing in the film that began the franchise, 2008’s Iron Man.

When viewing the Marvel movies in order, Jackson makes more MCU appearances as Fury than any other actor besides Stan Lee, whose various cameo roles rank him as the most commonly appearing cast member.

While it is not clear as of yet where Jackson will appear as Fury in upcoming Marvel movies, his 2023 appearances have offered a suitable showcase for his character’s development.

The main way Fury’s character has evolved of late came in Secret Invasion, the 2023 Disney+ series that saw Fury take a lead role for the first time in the franchise.

Despite Secret Invasion ranking among the worst Marvel TV shows overall, Jackson’s performance as Nick Fury was one of his best. While the Phase 5 storyline for Fury had some issues concerning the character’s decisions, an unearthed quote from Samuel L. Jackson from over 10 years ago helps to explain these inconsistencies.

Samuel L. Jackson’s Description Of The Avengers’ Nick Fury Explains His Phase 5 Decisions

The quote in question from Jackson comes from the promotion of 2012’s The Avengers.

In the book The Art of Marvel’s Avengers, Jackson is quoted as describing Nick Fury as “a rational battlefield technician. He’s a pro, the guy you bring in when things turn bad.” Jackson then goes on to speak about Fury’s perception of The Avengers, stating that “He knows this collective is the only thing that can save Earth, and he fully believes in them.” These quotes from Jackson are interesting and certainly track with what is shown of the character in The Avengers.

Interestingly though, Jackson’s view of Nick Fury as a tactician can be applied to the events of Secret Invasion, specifically to explain why Fury did not call the Avengers to help with Gravik’s attack against Earth.

Given the covert nature of Gravik’s invasion of Earth, the situation was much more delicate and called for a more tactical view of the situation. In this light, Fury’s character had the perfect set of strengths and abilities to oppose Gravik rather than the more brute force powers of the Avengers.

This is supported by how Jackson described Fury back in 2012 and shines a more positive light on Fury’s frustrating Secret Invasion decision not to call Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Why Secret Invasion Made Nick Fury’s MCU Arc Look Less Logical Than It Is

Despite Jackson’s insight into Fury’s character providing more of a logical outlook on Secret Invasion, the show itself failed to present its main character’s decision in this way. Much of Secret Invasion’s six-episode story avoids providing adequate explanation as to why Fury does not call the Avengers for help.

While he states he does not wish for Skrull impostors to take the form of any Avengers and also explains that his war with Gravik is a personal vendetta, these reasons are simply less logical than if the show had used Jackson’s exploration of the character as reasoning.

If Secret Invasion had adequately demonstrated that espionage, tactics, and other strengths of Fury’s character were necessary to stop Gravik, the character’s decision not to enlist the Avengers would have made more sense.

However, Secret Invasion ended with a huge, CGI-infused battle between G’iah and Gravik that utilized several of the Avengers’ powers anyway, meaning it made even less sense not to involve the MCU’s super-team. While Jackson’s unearthed comments certainly make Secret Invasion‘s Fury arc more logical in hindsight, the show itself failed to present the Avengers’ absence in this way.