The MCU's Timeline Confirmation Makes Fury's Avengers DNA Twist Worse (2024)

The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline update makes Nick Fury's DNA experimentation reveal in Secret Invasion worse. Marvel Studios' first Phase 5 Disney+ series marks the return of Samuel L. Jackson's beloved MCU character. This time, however, he comes back to Earth a significantly changed man. After missing much of Phase 3, Fury's comeback in Secret Invasion is motivated by a new crisis. After failing to deliver on his and Captain Marvel's promise to find the Skrulls their own home planet, he is faced with the difficult job of stopping Gravik and his followers from taking over Earth and claiming it as their own.

Despite being inspired by one of the most expansive stories in Marvel Comics, Secret Invasion deviates from its source material and goes down an unexpected narrative path. After losing both Maria Hill and Talos the Skrull at the hands of Gravik, Fury reveals his final card against the villainous alien via the use of The Harvest DNA samples. In one of the biggest twists in Secret Invasion, it's revealed that Fury secretly sent Skrulls to take DNA samples from the Battle of Earth grounds. This gives him access to biological specimens from almost every single Avenger who partook in the final Avengers: Endgame battle.

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Secret Invasion Taking Place After Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Makes The Harvest Worse

As James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 arrives on Disney+, Marvel Studios updates its official MCU timeline. According to the new timetable, the events of the threequel take place before Fury's tense conflict with Gravik in Secret Invasion. While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Secret Invasion take place in separate corners of the MCU with no explicit connection, the blockbuster preceding the Disney+ series makes Fury's DNA-harvesting shenanigans so much worse. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 primarily tackled Rocket Raccoon's heartbreaking origins story as a tortured subject of the High Evolutionary who attempts to enhance and anthropomorphize animal lifeforms.

Granted that Fury is likely unaware of Rocket's harrowing experience at the hands of the High Evolutionary as revealed in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, storytelling-wise, it's difficult not to feel enraged at what he did. The Harvest DNA sample admittedly helped him defeat Gravik and saved Earth from being taken over, but the end cannot simply justify the means in this regard, especially if it sets a dangerous precedent. Fury refuses to call the Avengers for help only to reveal that he secretly collected their biological specimens for his own is just definitively wrong.

Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Proves Just How Bad Nick Fury's Harvest Storyline Is

Fury has always been known to be morally gray in the MCU. In both The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he was caught not being fully truthful about his intentions or actions. Even as he aged and was tamed by his experience of being snuffed out by Thanos' snap, it doesn't seem like Fury's penchant for being cunning has been impacted as seen in the Secret Invasion twist. He can try and justify his actions, but it's difficult to give him a pass after seeing what Rocket has been through as the subject of the High Evolutionary's experimentation. Fury needs to be held accountable for what he did.