Agents of SHIELD Reveals Marvel’s New Nick Fury

Warning: SPOILERS For Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD‘s Series Finale.

The Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD series finale revealed that its version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a new Nick Fury: Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie (Henry Simmons). The beloved Marvel TV series wrapped up its seventh and final season on ABC, which was an epic time travel adventure where the Agents had to stop the alien Chronicoms from eliminating SHIELD’s very existence. The finale also gave each individual SHIELD member a fitting destiny, including Mack, who continues on as the Director of SHIELD.

Mack was a member of SHIELD’s Engineering division who joined Agents of SHIELD in season 2 in the aftermath of Hydra’s hostile takeover of the global spy agency. Initially, he was at odds with the team led by Agent-turned-Director Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), but Mack eventually gave him his allegiance against Hydra. Mack helped Daisy Johnson (Chloe Bennet) assemble her team of Inhuman Secret Warriors and he also developed romantic feelings for Yo-Yo Rodriguez (Natalia Cordova-Buckley), which she reciprocated. Armed with his signature weapon, a hybrid shotgun ax, Mack was part of the Agents of SHIELD’s many bizarre adventures, including being trapped in the virtual reality called the Framework, replaced with a Life Model Decoy, and he even briefly became Ghost Rider. After being trapped over 90 years in the future where Earth was destroyed, Mack and SHIELD saved the world from a Chronicom invasion. When Phil Coulson died at the end of Agents of SHIELD season 5, he appointed Mack as the new Director of SHIELD.

Mack continued as SHIELD’s leader throughout Agents of SHIELD seasons 6 and 7, the latter of which was a challenging time travel mission that created an alternate timeline where Mack’s parents were killed by the Chronicoms. Despite getting trapped in the early 1980s with Deke Shaw (Jeff Ward) and falling into despair, Mack picked himself up and led SHIELD to their ultimate victory over the Chronicoms. The final scenes of Agents of SHIELD‘s series finale, “What We’re Fighting For”,  showed the group convening one year after they beat the Chronicoms, although this get-together was holographic. Along with revealing what the other Agents have moved on to in their lives, the meeting showed Mack was not only still the Director but that he had become Agents of SHIELD’s Nick Fury.

The physical clues were obvious when Mack arrived at the holographic gathering clad in the long, black leather trenchcoat similar to the one worn by Samuel L. Jackson in the MCU movies (but without an eyepatch, of course, which Mack doesn’t need). Mack was also clearly fully in command, checking in with Daisy Johnson’s mission as she travels through outer space with her sister Kora (Dianne Doan) and her love, Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj), and with his own girlfriend, Yo-Yo, who not only commands her own SHIELD strike team but she also became Marvel’s version of The Flash.

Finally, when Mack disconnected from the holo-link, it turned out he was physically standing on the flight deck of a new SHIELD Helicarrier aloft in the skies, just like Nick Fury used to be in the first two Avengers movies. So, Agents of SHIELD ended with the global spy network returned to the heights of its power and influence, but this time, with Director Alphonso Mackenzie at the helm.

However, since he has SHIELD’s full resources at his disposal, Mack did give Coulson two final gifts: his own LMD remote control and a souped-up new version of Lola, his flying car. This shows that, unlike Fury, who was infamously secretive and aloof, Mack remains the same warm-hearted person who values the people he has come to see has his family, and he isn’t afraid to show it. Since Agents of SHIELDdiverged from the main MCU timeline and occupies its own spot in the Multiverse, the series finale smartly had Mack continue the position he has proven to excel in, and it heralds a bright future for SHIELD with Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie fully assuming Nick Fury’s role.

About The Author