Nick Fury first appeared as the lead character in the war adventure series Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, as a Sergeant in the Army Rangers during WWII. A few months later appeared in Fantastic Four #21 which was set in the then-present day, as a Colonel and CIA Agent. Even later he appeared in Strange Tales #135, where took on his most well known mold as a spy-fi, James Bond-like secret agent of SHIELD. He eventually became director of SHIELD, a post he left in 2005 as part of the Secret War event, but has remained as the figure most well associated with the agency.
The character also spawned a popular alternate version in the Ultimate Marvel universe, modeled after Samuel L. Jackson, who allowed Marvel the use of his likeness under the provision that he get first refusal to play the character. Jackson went on to play Fury in four of five Marvel Studios movies to date, and is slated to play the character in a solo movie. No word as to who will write or direct, or who'll appear alongside Fury. So until we learn and get either disappointed or blown away, I have my own idea of what a good Nick Fury movie would be.
This year I had the pleasure of watching two of the greatest comic books I ever expect to see; X-Men: Class and Captain America: The First Avenger. Both are period films, which accounts for some of the appeal in the estimation of many viewer and critic. Both also have a colon in the title, just like "Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD", but that's not really important.
If I could dictate the direction of a Nick Fury movie, I'd have it set in the 1960s/70s. And it would draw inspiration from Jim Steranko's groundbreaking work on the character in
Strange Tales and
Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD, widely considered one of creative zeniths of the silver age of comic books.
So, the cast…
Nick Fury The mainstream version of the character was an Army Ranger and veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam who gained longevity through getting regular doses of the life prolonging formula called the Infinity serum, eventually rising through the ranks to be a Colonel before joining the CIA and subsequently becoming an Agent, and later director of the international super-spy organization SHIELD. The also popular Ultimate incarnation famously re-imagined Fury as a black man, now an early subject of the super-soldier program during WWII who later reemerged as a soldier during Operation Dessert Storm, and also became an Agent and later director of SHIELD.
The version I propose to see adapted would be a little different from both. Instead I'd have Fury as a Vietnam War veteran who ages normally, after loosing his eye in combat he is discharged from the Army, but is soon recruited by the newly formed SHIELD.
Sam Jackson is a base-breaker among Marvel fans. I prefer good old, mainstream, white Fury, but SLJ is here to stay, and when you get down to it, you could do a lot worse than SLJ.
S.H.I.E.L.D. At the time of the movie, SHIELD would be a newly formed agency, reflecting the spy organizations from spy-fiction of the genre such as UNCLE from The Man from UNCLE or the Ministry from The Avengers.
Colonel Rick Stoner In the comics, Rick Stoner was SHIELD's first director. He was a by-the-books officer in Intelligence during WWII, in which capacity he crossed path with Fury during WWII and got punched out by him. Years later he blocked the Howling Commandos' efforts to join SHIELD.
Glenn Morshower is an American character actor well known for playing military men, usually Colonels, in movies such as
X-Men: First Class and
Goodnight and Good Luck.
The Executive Board Originally, even when he was Director, Fury answered to the founding members of SHIELD who formed its executive board, whose identities were unknown. That's not so much fun, though, so I'd have it so the board's identities were known to Fury. There were 12 of them, but the three that I'd include in cameo roles are…
Howard Stark Founder of Stark Industries who was a member of SHIELD's forerunner, the SSR. Iron Man 2 already confirmed him as a founding member.
John Slattery is an American actor well known for his role as Ad Exec Roger Strling on AMC's
Mad Men. He appeared as Stark in Iron Man 2.
Dum-Dum Dugan A WWII veteran and member of the Howling Commandos. In the comics he was Fury's aide-de-camp in the Howling Commandos and later a fellow agent and his deputy director. I don't like the idea of the Infinity Formula so I wouldn't have it. Therefore Dugan would have aged accordingly.
Ted Levine is an American actor best known for his roles on
Silence of the Lambs and
Monk He was a fan-favorite for the role prior to the casting of Neal McDonough as Dugan in Captain America.
Gabriel Jones A WWII veteran and member of the Howling Commandos. In the comics he along with Dugan joined SHIELD and was one of his most frequent partners. I don't like the idea of the Infinity Formula so I wouldn't have it. Therefore Jones would have aged accordingly.
Danny Glover is an American actor best known for being too old for this shit in the
Lethal Weapon movie series.
Others Agents In the comics, Fury was often accompanied with a quartet of SHIELD agents. They were Dum-Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Jasper Sitwell and Countess Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Jones and Dugan have already been used in CA:TFA, though, and Sitwell appeared in Thor and will reappear in the Marvel short 'The Consultant'. So I'm coming choosing replacements for the above.
Eric Koenig In the comics, Koenig was a Luftwaffe pilot who defected to the allies and joined the Howling Commandos. I'd have him as a BND agent who joins SHIELD.
Thomas Kretschmann is a German actor best known for playing Nazis, Captains, or Nazi Captains in movies such as
Valkyrie,
King Kong and
The Pianist.
Percival Pinkerton In the comics, Pinkerton was an aristocratic British soldier who joined the Howling Commandos. I'd have him as a British Intelligence agent who joins SHIELD.
Simon Pegg is an English comedian and actor best known for his roles in
Spaced,
Star Trek and the soon to be Ice-Cream Trilogy.
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine A member of the European jet-set who joined SHIELD, looking for purpose. She was a frequent partner of Nick Fury and his on and off romantic partner.
Monica Belluci is an Italian actress best known for her roles in such films as
Irreversible and
The Passion of the Christ.
Villains
Jake Fury/Scorpio Nick Fury's resentful younger brother who served in the same war as he. He was a spy, terrorist, mercenary and leader of the organization known as the Zodiac Cartel.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is an English actor best known for his roles on
Lost and
Oz.
HYDRA As we know, Hydra appeared in CA:TFA as a rogue Nazi organization. While it was heavily implied that it was wiped out by the end, I don't think we've necessarily seen the last of it.
Baron Wolfgang von Strucker In the comics, he was a Prussian aristrocrat and early member of the Nazi party and along with the Red Skull one of the fuhrer's trusted men. He also took over the ancient organization known as HYDRA.
Seeing as we already know Schmidt created Hydra in the MCU, I think the movie Strucker could be a Nazi war criminal who managed to escape to South America near the end of the war, where he began to resurrect Hydra, building it back up from nothing, to be his own subversive terrorist organization.
Jeremy Irons is an English actor best known for his roles in far too many movies to mention, but he previously faced off against SLJ in
Die Hard with a Vengeance.
Ophilia Sarkissian/Viper An East European orphan who was taken in by Hydra and trained for years to be one of their top agents.
Emily Blunt is an English actress best known for her roles in
Charlie Wilson's War,
The Young Victoria and
The Wolfman. She was also Marvel's original pick for the Black Widow and was also tapped for the role of Peggy Carter, which she turned down.