Marvel Is Reinventing an Iconic MCU Hero By Turning the Spy Into a Literal Android: Here’s Why

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Warning! Spoilers for Ultimate Universe: One Year In ahead!

Marvel’s Ultimate version of Nick Fury is a shocking reinvention of the character, taking his classic use of “Life Model Decoy” androids to a disturbing new level. Though Fury has long been synonymous with the use of LMDs, the sinister forces that control Marvel’s Ultimate Universe have turned the technology against him in a way few readers anticipated.

Ultimate Universe: One Year In – written by Deniz Camp, with art by Jonas Scharf – centers around Ultimate Fury’s attempt to destroy the villainous Maker’s Council, the secret rulers of this timeline’s Earth. As director of H.A.N.D., an evil equivalent to S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury ostensibly serves the Council, though the one-shot reveals he is secretly acting against them.

In a gamechanging twist, by the end of the issue it is revealed that Fury is actually one in a series of malfunctioning Life Model Decoys, which is promptly destroyed and replaced with a subservient version.

Ultimate Universe: One Year In – Written By Deniz Camp; Art By Jonas Scharf; Color By Mattia Iacono; Lettering By Travis Lanham

When Fury’s coup attempt in One Year In fails, Emmanuel Da Costa kills him, at which point readers learn that the Ultimate version of Nick Fury is an android, programmed into serving the Maker and his Council. These Life Model Decoys have an ingrained flaw, however, which is that Fury’s heroic nature corrupts their programming, causing them to rebel – and necessitating that they be routinely replaced. It is a horrific change, transforming the iconic MCU superspy into an infinitely replaceable android. However, it’s also one that makes perfect sense in the Ultimate Universe.

Here, Nick Fury is reimagined as a completely disposable asset. To the Maker and his Council, he is a tool which can be destroyed when it breaks down and rebuilt to serve their purpose. This take on the character serves to underscore the inherent power the Maker’s Council wields, as well as establish how daunting a task it will be to stop them. When they are in control of a system this evil, any acts of defection from within the system don’t matter. They can replace the broken piece and move on with business as usual.

Nick Fury’s Role In The Ultimate Universe Is A Radical Departure For The Character

Here’s Why It’s The Right Move

This new take on Nick Fury paints a perfect picture of the work it takes for the Maker’s world to run, and deconstructs the idea of Nick Fury. This version of Nick Fury has a man killed for questioning if the Ultimates have a point. In his past, after joining the Maker, he killed the Inhumans, killed the Power Pack, and helped take out dozens of superheroes, so the Maker’s rule would remain unopposed. His hands are stained with blood in the name of serving what he believed to be the greater good.

The Ultimate Universe has radically reinvented Nick Fury, turning him from a spy into an android who can be replaced whenever his masters see fit to do so. This fundamental deprivation of Fury’s agency in this timeline is an important narrative choice, however, as it further emphasizes the power wielded by the Maker and his Council to reshape the world. Even more importantly, it deconstructs the idea of Nick Fury, condemning him to an endless cycle of living his life for “the greater good” and then dying for nothing.

Ultimate Universe: One Year In is available now from Marvel Comics.

“}]] The truth about Ultimate Nick Fury.  Read More