Summary

• The new Ultimate Universe is missing the architect of the original, Nick Fury, which is surprising considering his importance in the original Ultimate Universe and the MCU.
• The new Avengers-like team in the Ultimate Universe is led by Tony Stark, but the absence of Nick Fury is notable.
• While there is a character in the new Ultimate Universe with similarities to Fury, it is uncertain whether there are any other links between them. Fury is likely to appear in a future Ultimate title, but readers can expect him to be different from previous versions.

Contains Spoilers for Ultimate Universe #1!

The newly created Ultimate Universe is already forming an Avengers-esque superteam of its own, but one hero crucial to the original Ultimate Universe hasn’t been seen yet: Nick Fury. Ultimate Fury was crucial to both the original Ultimate Universe and to the MCU designs that it inspired, so his absence is even more notable than most. However, it’s likely only a matter of time till a version of him appears, though he’s likely to be very different to his classic counterparts.

Ultimate Universe #1 – written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Stefano Caselli, color by David Curiel and lettering by VC’s Joe Caramagna features an unnamed Avengers-like team assembling.

This new iteration of the Avengers – or as they were known in the previous Ultimate Universe, the Ultimates – is led this world’s Tony Stark, but this team is missing a key member: the architect of the original, Nick Fury.

Nick Fury's

The Maker has ensured that most of this new Ultimate Universe’s superheroes are dead, captured, or never got their powers in the first place, giving him complete control of the world – at least until his temporary defeat at the end of the miniseries Ultimate Invasion. However, one major character has yet to be introduced in this new Ultimate Universe. Modeled after Samuel L Jackson, Ultimate Fury is one of the original Ultimate line of Marvel titles most important characters. Fury’s team, the Ultimates, were the model for the MCU’s Avengers, and the use of Jackson's likeness directly led to him being cast as Fury.

With that in mind, it is shocking that this new universe hasn’t even mentioned Fury yet. In Ultimate Invasion #2 – written by Hickman, penciled by Bryan Hitch, inked by Andrew Currie, colored by Alex Sinclair and lettered by Joe Caramagna – readers see a chart of heroes changed by the Maker’s manipulations, and Fury’s name doesn’t come up once. Interestingly, however, this Ultimate Universe does have a character with some distinct similarities to Fury. In Ultimate Invasion #1 the new Captain Britain, Henri Duggary, loses an eye to the new Ultimate Tony Stark, and his scars and eye patch are reminiscent of Fury.

Fury's Likely to show up Later down the Line

Duggary is one of the villains on the Maker’s council of evil superpowered world leaders, who manipulate geopolitics for their own gain. However, beyond the visual similarities, it’s hard to say yet whether Duggary has any other links to Fury. While the Maker’s council is secretive, Duggary isn’t exactly a spy, and he doesn’t act like the US military leader that Ultimate Fury was either. Whatever guise Nick Fury appears in the Ultimate Universe as this time around, it seems likely that he will emerge once more as one of its prominent figures – whether he once more takes a place of prominence among the world's heroes, or is recontextualized as one of its villains.

It seems likely that more on the new Ultimate Nick Fury is being saved for an actual "Ultimates" book. Tony Stark’s team don’t have their own title yet, and since their story is far from over, an eventual book of their own seems obvious. How this new Nick Fury might differ to his original counterparts will be one of the Universe's major question moving word. With The Maker’s council in control, it seems unlikely that Fury would be part of the US government, and there’s no sign yet that SHIELD exists. Like so much of this new Ultimate Universe, when Nick Fury eventually shows up, he’ll almost certainly be radically different from anything that’s come before.

Ultimate Universe #2 is available now from Marvel Comics!