'Secret Invasion': How The Big Fury Reveal In Episode 2 Adds Depth To His Kind Gesture For Another Avenger

WARNING!: SPOILERS for Secret Invasion 1x02, 'Promises'.

Anyone who expected Marvel's Secret Invasion to put it's foot on the brake after the apparent death of fan favourite Maria Hill in the series opener, were in for a surprise in episode two, as the shocks and twists just keep on coming.

Rather than the few hundred Nick Fury was aware of, Talos reveals that Earth is host to at least a million Skrulls, causing the two to fall out. Quite a few Skrulls have already worked themselves into positions of power in Earth Governments, and worse, Fury, a scapegoat for Gravik's bombing of Moscow, is fired from his job, robbing him of the connections that came with it ans leaving him to now deal with the Invasion on his own. However, perhaps the most surprising reveal came at the end of the episode: Nick Fury has a Wife, Priscilla.. who just happens to be a Skrull.

Aside from all the big reveals, plot twists, and new questions raised in the episode, some fans have noted that Fury's secret wife gives him common ground with one of his six original Avengers, and may explain a particular piece of assistance he granted them.

Secret Wife, Secret Life

Prior to the events of Secret Invasion, there has been no mention of Nick Fury having a wife, apart from a quick, throwaway exchange between Fury and Steve Rogers in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, shortly before Fury is shot in Steve's apartment.

"My Wife kicked me out.."

"Didn't know you were married."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me."

At the time, fans didn't pay the line much mind, as the above conversation occurred largely in code, with the pair believing that they were under surveillance. However, fans are now revisiting the scene in light of Secret Invasion's introduction of Priscilla Fury. Priscilla first appears in episode two's opening flashback, as the Skrull who introduces Fury to the orphaned Gravik. From this, we can assume at least two things: despite some debate among fans prior to the episode's airing, Fury does in fact know Priscilla is a Skrull, and whether he intended to officially confirm his marital status or not, they had likely already been married for sometime by the point of the Winter Soldier scene.

It is also apparent that Fury's marriage is not widely shared information. Fury does not usually wear a wedding ring, and the House he shares with Priscilla seems rather out of the way, perhaps even in a secret location. The secrecy could be for a few reasons, such as hiding Priscilla's Skrull status from those not privy to the alien race's existence, keeping the interspecies marriage secret from those who would frown upon it, or even as simple as keeping Priscilla safe from Fury's enemies.

Whatever the reason, although Nick Fury is now, retroactively, the first major MCU character to have kept his marriage hidden, he is certainly not the only one.

'Fury set this up..'

During his cameo in Thor, and first major appearance in The Avengers, the relationship status of Agent Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, does not come up. Most of his teammates seem to assume he is single, so, when the team are forced to flee to a safehouse of Clint's choosing in Avengers: Age of Ultron, all but Natasha are surprised to be introduced to Clint's pregnant wife, Laura, and children, Cooper and Lila. The couple's third child, Nathaniel Pietro Barton, is born before the end of the film.

It is also revealed that Fury set up the safe house when Clint joined S.H.I.E.L.D, and Clint asks that his teammates continue to keep his family's existence and location a secret from the world at large. While at the time fans assumed Clint kept his family secret to protect them from potential consequences of his work, the Hawkeye series implies that it is actually Laura who must remain hidden, as she had had dealings with the dangerous Kingpin during her secret past as S.H.I.E.L.D's Agent 19, better known to comic fans as Mockingbird.

Now, we know that Fury understands, and has for some time, the need to hide one's loved ones from those who would do them harm. This adds a previously unknown element to the seemingly close relationship between Clint Barton and Nick Fury (aside from Clint's role in Fury's Big Week), as well as a new depth to his decision to help hide Clint's family.

With Fury and Clint among the few major Phase One characters still in play in the current stage of the MCU, perhaps we will see this relationship built upon in the future.