Spider-Man: Far From Home - The Real Meaning Behind Nick Fury's Secret

2. What Is S.W.O.R.D.?

Marvel Comics

As far as Marvel organisations go, S.W.O.R.D. is a relatively recent addition - and one inextricably tied to the X-Men at that.

Introduced in Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men #6, S.W.O.R.D. is an Earth-based intelligence organisation designed to protect the world from alien threats. Carol Danvers' new version of Alpha Flight would fulfil that role in later years, but for the vast majority of the 21st century, S.W.O.R.D. has been there to fight the battles S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't.

They operate in a satellite hovering over Earth called the Peak, and have butted heads with pretty much every hero group going, but mostly the X-Men and Nick Fury's own organisation.

Abigail Brand is the lead agent, and a character that Marvel could probably see working in the MCU further down the line. After all, Fury and Maria Hill can't be in every Marvel film until the end of time, and it makes sense to inject a little inter-agency drama into the equation. For now, though, there's nothing to suggest that her live action debut is imminent; this is Fury's rodeo as things stand.

As for the organisation's other members, the likes of Spider-Woman, Captain Marvel and even the X-Men's Beast have all been involved at various stages over the years. It certainly wouldn't be out of the question for Carol to lead this particular excursion, although it remains to be seen what moniker Marvel opt for in future Marvel films.

Ewan Paterson

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.

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