Samuel L. Jackson Loses The Eyepatch In Secret Invasion First Look
Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury is ditching his trademark eyepatch for the upcoming Secret Invasion mini-series!
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Of all the different versions of Nick Fury in all of Marvel’s media, his eyepatch is a signature part of his look. But with the first look image released by Marvel for the upcoming mini-series Secret Invasion, Samuel L. Jackson’s version of the spymaster has set the patch aside. For some reason, Nick Fury will be facing an incursion of hostile shapeshifters with the scar he got in 2019’s Captain Marvel laid bare.
The new image comes as part of a whole series of reveals and previews on Disney+ Day. The streaming service released a 14-minute sizzle reel filled with teasers for upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe series like Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and Ms. Marvel. In comparison, Secret Invasion only gets the very briefest of attention, with a quick shot of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury with one less eyepatch, and a lot more beard. Plus, we get to see the logo for the upcoming series, which includes as much green as the aliens it references. You can see images of both below.
So exactly why is Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury going commando with his scarred eye? Is this just a style choice for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most famous director? Or could the patch be missing for a practical reason?
Based on what we know about Secret Invasion, the new, patchless Samuel L. Jackson may actually have something strategic in mind. Remember that toward the end of 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier — the first time we see Fury remove his eye patch — he’s able to use his scarred eye to trigger a Director override in the Triskelion, suggesting that there’s something special about that eye. Perhaps he’s installed some kind of cybernetic technology in there. Well, Secret Invasion will have a lot to do with the heroes not being able to tell who is who, so possibly Fury has removed the patch to make sure he can be identified as the genuine article at a moment’s notice.
Secret Invasion is based on a 2008 Marvel Comics crossover event and mini-series of the same name in which it’s discovered that certain key figures — such as Elektra, Spider-Woman, and Hank Pym to name a few — were replaced by shape-shifting Skrulls. If the Disney+ mini-series is as game-changing to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the source material was to Marvel Comics, we could see Samuel L. Jackson discover a few major characters in the MCU have secretly been Skrulls for years. After all, Captain Marvel is set in the ’90s — decades before most of the events depicted in the MCU — so the Skrulls have been working Earth-adjacent for at least that long.
Of course, it may seem confusing that the MCU Skrulls would be bad guys in Secret Invasion. After all, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson helped save them from the Kree in Captain Marvel and in a Spider-Man: Far from Home mid-credits scene, they seem to be working in concert with Nick Fury. However, there’s no reason to think that all Skrulls feel as grateful toward Earth as Talos (Ben Mendelsohn). It could be that they see its subjugation as a way to help them get back at the Kree.
We don’t have a precise release date for Secret Invasion just yet, however it’s expected to premiere on Disney+ next year. Along with Samuel L. Jackson leading the series as Nick Fury, Ben Mendelsohn is expected to return as Talos. Kingsley Ben-Adair (The OA) has been cast as a lead villain and Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) will likewise appear in an undisclosed role.
