Warning! This article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode 1.Secret Invasion's treatment of Nick Fury raises the question of why the spy was in space before the series, and why he deserted the Skrulls after the events of Captain Marvel. The ending of Captain Marvel saw the titular heroin and Nick Fury swearing to protect the Skrulls from the Kree. This led to Carol Danvers taking the Skrulls into deep space to find them a new home. Since then though, the Skrulls have been largely absent from MCU storytelling, that is before their somewhat villainous resurgence in Secret Invasion​​​​​​.

Secret Invasion episode 1 quickly reveals that this dream from Captain Marvel's ending did not come to fruition. The Skrulls were abandoned by Captain Marvel and Nick Fury, resulting in a younger group of Skrulls led by Gravik planning an invasion of Earth to serve as their new home. Secret Invasion brings Nick Fury back to Earth after many years in space to aid his former ally Talos in stopping this invasion. In doing so, the show raises some intriguing questions by the time the ending of Secret Invasion episode 1 rolls around: why was Nick Fury in space, and why did he abandon the Skrulls when they needed him?

Why Nick Fury Was In Space Before Secret Invasion

SABER space station as shown in The Marvels trailer

Concerning Fury being in space, this subplot was hinted at back in 2019 with the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home. The multiple end-credits sequence of that film revealed that Talos and his wife were impersonating Nick Fury and Maria Hill throughout the whole film and that the real Nick Fury was on an unidentified space station. The true nature behind these teases has finally been revealed four years later with Secret Invasion episode 1, including why Nick was in space in the first place and how his mission has changed.

In of the former question, Fury was in space working on a station named SABER. This is mentioned twice in Secret Invasion episode 1, once by the Skrull impersonating Everett Ross in the episode's opener and once by President Ritson. SABER is an MCU space station, also teased in the trailer for The Marvels which releases in November 2023. While the nature of Fury's mission with SABER was unclear before, Secret Invasion episode 1 reveals that Fury was responsible for overseeing SABER's construction as a complex aerospace defense system.

This likely spawned from the multiple extraterrestrial attacks that Earth has faced in the MCU. While the Avengers were responsible for defending the planet from otherworldly threats like Loki, the Blip from Avengers: Infinity War proved that they cannot always win. Despite eventually defeating Thanos and returning the universe to somewhat normalcy, Thanos proved the Avengers could lose. This likely prompted the U.S. Government, and Fury himself as he explains his crisis of faith in Secret Invasion, to begin building SABER as a first line of defense against alien threats, explaining Fury’s off-world status before the beginning of Secret Invasion.

Why Nick Fury Deserted The Skrulls & How

Custom split image of Nick Fury and Skrulls

Many Easter eggs in Secret Invasion episode 1 referenced the events of Captain Marvel, including Talos mentioning that Fury and Carol abandoned the Skrulls. While Secret Invasion does not delve into the exact details of how or why this happened, some lines of dialogue can explain why the Skrulls felt like they were deserted. Firstly, Nick Fury's aforementioned crisis of faith will seemingly serve as his character arc in the series, with many characters pointing out how different he is after the Blip. This crisis of faith likely led him to invest all of his time in SABER, as he no longer trusts himself nor the Avengers to always protect mankind.

After the five-year Blip, Fury went to space to work on SABER and has not returned to Earth since. This probably meant that he neglected his duty to the Skrulls, forgoing his promise to them in favor of his work in space. While again, Secret Invasion episode 1 does not divulge exactly what happened on the Skrull homeworld founded by Captain Marvel to warrant Gravik and the other displaced Skrulls seeking to invade Earth, this unknown, inciting incident likely stems from Nick Fury's abandonment of them.

As Secret Invasion reveals more about its story and characters, as well as the time Fury spent in space with SABER, the exact reason behind Fury's desertion of the Skrulls will almost undoubtedly be revealed. It is likely the theorized dedication to SABER is what caused Fury to abandon the Skrulls, as perfecting the space station could in turn protect the Skrull homeworld he helped to establish. Whatever the case may be, it is clear that Skrulls like G'iah and Gravik blame Fury for their current predicament, resulting in them infiltrating a planet they have come to call home: Earth.

How The Blip Changed Nick Fury's Space Mission

nick fury being snapped away in avengers infinity war

As with exactly why Nick Fury abandoned the Skrulls, Secret Invasion episode 1 also does not reveal specifically how the Blip changed Fury's mission in space directly. However, it is clear that the Blip directly influenced Fury's decision to both start SABER and subsequently leave it, due to the crisis of faith he is enduring. Secret Invasion is the first time any MCU project since Avengers: Endgame has explored post-traumatic stress from the Blip, with Fury clearly still feeling the effects of disappearing thanks to Thanos' snap only to return five years later. This trauma affected Fury enough for him to leave Earth completely and work on SABER.

As explored previously, his dedication to SABER caused the Skrull infiltration of Earth somehow, leading to Nick feeling responsible for the show's titular invasion. Nick then abandoned SABER and returned to Earth in order to work with Maria Hill and Talos to stop Gravik's invasion. Through this turn of events, it is clear that the Blip changed Fury's space mission massively. Initially, before the Blip, Nick's mission was to work with his various superpowered allies to protect the innocent people of the MCU cosmos. This was shown as early as the 90s in Captain Marvel, and all throughout the Infinity Saga.

After the Blip though, Fury's mission changed. He began to place his faith in companies like SWORD, linking back to his days as the director of SHIELD. Through SWORD, SABER was likely started as a means of protecting Earth in light of the Avengers' initial loss to Thanos, and then somewhat retirement after defeating him. This caused his mission to stray from directly helping people like the Skrulls to setting up ways - like SABER - of furthering the protection of mankind and other sentient beings of the universe. Hopefully, Fury’s work with SABER and abandonment of the Skrulls will be further explored going further into Secret Invasion’s layered, complex characters.

New episodes of Secret Invasion release every Wednesday on Disney+.

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