Marvel Theory: Nick Fury's Phase 4 Setup Was All A Trick
Spider-Man: Far From Home set up Nick Fury's future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - but it could well have been a trick. Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury played a key role in the first two phases of the MCU, but his status quo changed considerably after the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The collapse of SHIELD led to Fury going underground, and - although he briefly returned in Avengers: Age of Ultron - he subsequently vanished through most of Phase 3.
Tie-in comics revealed Nick Fury and Maria Hill were essentially working as global troubleshooters, and although they sat out the Sokovia Accords they attempted to persuade the Avengers to reconcile after Captain America: Civil War. Tony Stark wasn't the only one to fear a coming greater threat; Fury too was convinced the Chitauri invasion of New York was but a precursor, and he was proved right. Fury and Hill were both killed by Thanos' snap in Avengers: Infinity War, but they returned and seem to have immediately gotten back to work.
Samuel L. Jackson reprised the role of Nick Fury in Spider-Man: Far From Home, with most viewers taking a surprising post-credits scene as evidence he was setting up an organization named SWORD, dedicated to protecting Earth from extraterrestrial threats. But, surprisingly, evidence is building the MCU is about to take things in an unexpected direction.
Spider-Man: Far From Home's post-credits set up Nick Fury's future in the MCU. Although Peter Parker believed he'd been teaming up with Nick Fury throughout the main story, the post-credits revealed he had been deceived. Both Fury and Hill were actually Skrull impostors, working on behalf of the real Fury while he was busy on some sort of grand undertaking. The real Nick Fury was in the depths of space, apparently in charge of some sort of vast spaceship or space station, staffed by Skrull soldiers.
The logical assumption was that this set up SWORD, a rival organization to SHIELD in the comics, but presumably its successor in the MCU. Created by Joss Whedon during his Astonishing X-Men run, SWORD made SHIELD look like the Boy Scouts. Where SHIELD is principally concerned with Terrestrial threats, SWORD represents Earth's interests on a galactic level, identifying potential alien menaces and conducting (often quite corrupt) interstellar diplomacy. The acronym stands for the "Sentient World Observation and Response Department," and they're typically based on an orbital satellite called the Peak. Most assumed Nick Fury was stationed on the Peak in this post-credits scene.
All these theories were thought confirmed when Marvel Studios announced an upcoming Secret Invasion TV series, presumably continuing the story of the Kree and the Skrulls seeded in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Meanwhile, set photos for WandaVision began to suggest SWORD would make their debut there, a theory that was gradually confirmed. But now it seems Marvel has tossed something of a curve-ball when it comes to Nick Fury.
SWORD is indeed entering the MCU in WandaVision - but they don't appear to be comic book accurate at all. Marvel recently released a poster confirming the MCU's version of SWORD is the "Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division," an acronym that suggests they have a completely different role in the shared cinematic universe. They are not concerned exclusively with extraterrestrials; rather, they are essentially the next evolution of the Sokovia Accords, an organization dedicated to monitoring and responding to superhumans. Notice the philosophy underpinning that acronym, which seems rather unlike Nick Fury; it clearly views superhumans as "Sentient Weapons," the kind of view taken by Thaddeus Ross in Captain America: Civil War. "If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes," Ross snarled at Captain America, "you can bet there'd be consequences."
All this raises the distinct possibility Nick Fury is not involved with SWORD at all. The philosophy underpinning this group is very different to anything he would espouse, after all, and frankly, there's no logical reason the Skrulls would be involved in this version of SWORD. In fact, it's difficult to understand why the "Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division" would need an orbital headquarters like the Peak in the first place.
This would hardly be the first time Marvel Studios has conducted a sort of bait-and-switch, setting up something from the comics and then taking it in a very different direction. The Avengers teased a comic book accurate Thanos, one who was intrigued with the idea of courting death, but Avengers: Infinity War took a very different approach with Thanos. Murals in Guardians of the Galaxy set up cosmic entities for an accurate representation of Jim Starlin's classic Infinity Gauntlet miniseries, but that never happened. On those two occasions, Marvel's misdirection was actually simply because they hadn't figured their longer-term plans out just yet. This time, though, it feels a little more calculated - as though they knew Spider-Man: Far From Home's post-credits scene would be seen as setting up one thing, when they intended to deliver something very different.
Several elements of Spider-Man: Far From Home's post-credits scene actually contradict the idea Nick Fury is involved with SWORD. When the Skrull shapeshifter Talos contacts Fury, he suggests his long-time ally is on a specific assignment. "Hey there, hope your mission is going well," he says as he opens the call. The post-credits scene shifts to the depths of space, and on closer observation, it's clear Nick Fury is not on a space-station at all - meaning this isn't the Peak. Stars can be seen in the background, meaning Fury is actually captaining a spaceship. What's more, while Nick Fury is in charge, this doesn't appear to be a joint human-Skrull initiative; while it's safe to assume Maria Hill is aboard as well, only Skrulls are shown walking around. Talos even hints Fury is a considerable distance from the Earth. "We need you to come back," he tells Fury, in a tone that suggests he's asking Fury to abandon the mission.
In the MCU, the Skrulls have been locked in conflict with the Kree for millennia, and it's interesting to note Spider-Man: Far From Home features a scene in which Talos (then in his guise as Fury) mentions Kree sleeper cells planted on the Earth. It's logical to assume that Fury's mission with the Skrulls is somehow connected to these cells - and, furthermore, that it leads to the MCU's upcoming Secret Invasion. Speaking to Collider ahead of the release of WandaVision, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed both Nick Fury and the Skrull shapeshifter Talos will be appearing in the Secret Invasion TV series. "I mean, we're interested in the political paranoia aspect of Secret Invasion and really showcasing the stars with Samuel L. Jackson [as Nick Fury] and Ben Mendelsohn [as the Skrull Talos]," he explained, "two amazing actors that you want to have in any series, and we're very lucky to have them for that." It's safe to assume the MCU's Secret Invasion is an inversion of the comics, with the Skrulls as heroes - allies of Nick Fury - and the Kree as the villains. Thus far from setting up SWORD's presence in Phase 4 and beyond, Spider-Man: Far From Home was actually focused on preparing the way for the Secret Invasion Disney+ TV series.
There'd be a certain degree of irony to this approach. Misdirection was essentially the main theme of Spider-Man: Far From Home, as seen both in the character of Mysterio and in the reveal that Nick Fury had been replaced by Talos in the first place. But Marvel may well have used that film to misdirect the audience themselves in another, far more fundamental way; setting them up to believe Nick Fury was tied to SWORD, when in reality he was operating independently in a way that could prove far more interesting in the MCU's upcoming Secret Invasion series.