Nick Fury

"There was an idea called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people so they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to to fight the battles we never could."

- Nick Fury

Colonel Nicholas "Nick" Fury is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D..

Iron Man
After Tony Stark revealed himself as Iron Man, the mysterious Nick Fury appeared in the home of Tony Stark to tell him that he had become part of a bigger universe and to talk to him about the Avenger Initiative.

The Incredible Hulk
Fury's name appears on a government document.

Iron Man 2
After a fight between Stark and James Rhodes at Stark's home, Fury found Stark heavy with a hangover sitting on a Randy's Donuts sign. He got Stark to come down and talk with him, Stark reminded him that he didn't want to join Fury's "super-secret boy-band". Fury informed Stark that he was not S.H.I.E.L.D.'s only problem and that there was a problem on the South Coast.

Fury sent S.H.I.E.L.D. to Stark's house to keep Stark on the premises. Fury mentioned that it was Stark's father Howard who formed S.H.I.E.L.D. and gave Stark a casket which belonged to Howard. Fury assigned Phil Coulson to guard Stark and Natasha Romanoff to remain as Stark's assistant.

After a fight between Stark and Vanko at the Stark Expo, Fury debriefed Stark on the events and presented Agent Romanoff's report to him. Fury told Stark that he had been found unsuitable for the Avenger Initiative but was brought on as a consultant.

Thor
Fury visits a Loki-controlled Erik Selvig to show him the Tesseract and recruit him to S.H.I.E.L.D..

Captain America: The First Avenger
Fury arrices to New York City to inform Steve Rogers that he has been in a cryogenic coma for nearly 70 years. Post-credits he approaches Rogers, about to tell him about the Initiative.

The Avengers
Fury recruits Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye to battle Loki.

Abilities
Nick Fury is a master strategist and an astute judge of character. He uses these talents to great effect in his leadership of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury has done what would be called questionable tactics over his years but nonetheless, he will ultimately do what is right. Point in case, when the Council ordered him to strike the city with a nuke, but he wouldn't; even going as far as disabling one of the planes ordered to strike the city with a rocket launcher and warning Stark about it. He has shown while an man of great resolve and will, he too can feel, as he was shaken with the death of Coulson. At this time, it is unknown but more than likely, he does have a fairly extensive military background but it is not revealed in full at the moment. Nonetheless, he is a seasoned unarmed- and armed-combat expert as he was able to take down two brainwashed agents with ease. He is also trained to use US military firearms (standard and automatic).

Equipment
S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform: made from 9-ply Kevlar (able to withstand ballistic impact up to .45 caliber bullets) and a fire-resistant material whose kindling temperature is 1,700 °F (930 °C). Numerous S.H.I.E.L.D. paraphernalia including a radio-link tie.

Fury carries a government issue USP pistol. Also, an array of SHIELD weapons, conventional and otherwise. In addition, due to him being the leader of a secret but covert/military organization, he has access to the most cutting edge technology S.H.I.E.L.D. has to offer.