'What If..?': Revisiting The Events Of The REAL 'Fury's Big Week'

While the second episode of What If..? was set in a timeline in which things are arguably better than the original, episode three dives into a world where things are probably going to turn out much worse. The third episode of Marvel's Multiverse hopping animated series focused on a rather tragic timeline in which four of the five original Avengers are murdered before the team has a chance to form.

The episode was set in an alternate version of a series of events known to fans as 'Fury's Big Week'. In the original timeline, the events of Fury's Big Week are why The Avengers exist. Most of the major events in the big week are seen onscreen during the MCU’s Phase One films, but Fury’s role was mostly behind the scenes, in a comic prelude to the first Avengers film.

Here's a refresher course on the original version of events.

Funding Cuts

While supervising a long-running operation in the Arctic to recover Steve Rogers, who he believes may still be alive, Nick Fury is called to a meeting with the World Security Council (aka, The assholes who tried to order a missile strike on New York, even when the Avengers were bringing the situation successfully under control). The Council informs Fury that they are redirecting the majority of S.H.I.E.L.D's funding towards studying and creating weapons from the Tesseract.

Fury's search for Rogers, and his pet project, 'The Avengers Initiative', are to be shut down immediately. The council believes that these programs are a waste of time and money, claiming that the world will never need The Avengers. Angered at the council's decision, Fury plans to continue his program in secret. On the very same day that Fury's hunding is cut, all hell begins to break loose. Tony Stark is in trouble, Bruce Banner has returned to America, and strange atmospheric disturbances are appearing in the sky above New Mexico. Unfortunately, most of Fury's personnel had already been reassigned, and he is left with the help of only three loyal Agents: Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, and Phil Coulson.

Saving Stark

Natasha, who has been doing surveillance on Tony Stark for the Avengers Initiative while undercover as Natalie Rushman, contacts Fury, informing him of the current situation between Stark and Ivan Vanko, while also explaining the reason behind Stark's recent erratic behaviour: He is terminally ill, being slowly poisoned by his arc reactor's palladium core. Fury and Romanoff meet up with Stark at a Donut Shop, with Fury revealing that Stark's Father, Howard, was one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D. He also gives Tony some of Howard's belongings, including a diorama of an old Stark Expo from which Tony draws the information needed to build a new, safe element for his reactor core.

Later, Romanoff aids Stark in the final battle against Vanko by returning control of the War Machine armor to James Rhodes. The comic reveals that she is then contacted by Fury, who sends her to secretly monitor Bruce Banner, who is in hiding at Culver University.

The Hammer

Meanwhile, Coulson and Barton have travelled to New Mexico to investigate the atmospheric disturbance. Once there, they discover a crater containing a strange hammer no-one can pick up: The mythical Mjolnir. On Fury's orders, Coulson confiscates the research of Jane Foster and Erik Selvig, to keep it from potentially falling into the wrong hands.

While in New Mexico, Coulson and Barton witness Thor raiding the temporary S.H.I.E.L.D in his failed attempt to regain Mjolnir. In the comic, it is Barton's idea to let Thor leave with Selvig and Jane Foster, in the hope of gaining more information.

Later, Coulson witnesses a restored Thor's defeat of the Destroyer during the Battle of Puente Antiguo, and accepts Thor's offer of an alliance, in exchange for the safe return of Jane's research. Coulson and Barton transport the remains of The Destroyer to S.H.I.E.L.D HQ. It is eventually revealed that the Council hopes to convert the technology into 'handheld weaponry', heavily implied to become the weapon a dying Coulson uses against Loki in The Avengers.

Around the same time as the Battle of Puente Antiguo, Romanoff witnesses The Hulk fighting General Ross's men at Culver University, as well as an enhanced Emil Blonsky prior to his full transformation into The Abomination. Fury enlists Tony Stark as a consultant for the Avengers Initiative.

The Battle Of Harlem

After learning of the mutated Blonsky, Fury realises that General Ross is attempting his own Super Soldier program. He meets with Ross in an attempt to have the dangerous program ended. Ross refuses, determined to capture The Hulk. All Fury can do is order Natasha to keep an eye on the situation.

Sadly, Natasha is unable to save Bruce Banner from being taken into custody by Ross. She seeks help from Samuel Sterns, the Doctor who had been helping Bruce search for a cure to his Hulk transformations. As she reaches Stern's building, Blonsky, fully transforming into The Abomination, goes on a rampage, and Nat's phone is broken, cutting her off from contact with Fury. Even worse, when she finds Sterns, his brain has been mutated by exposure to Banner's blood, forshadowing his future as villain The Leader. Rejecting an offer to become Sterns' servant, Natasha incapacitates him with a gunshot to the leg, and uses his equipment to call herself an extraction team. Like in The Incredible Hulk film, Sterns' fate after this point is not revealed.

During her escape, Nat witnesses the end of the brutal Battle of Harlem, between The Hulk and The Abomination, and later expresses doubt to Fury that a creature like The Hulk could ever be controlled. While Banner escaped, Blonsky was taken into custody.

After the Battle of Harlem, Fury sends Stark, in his new role as a consultant, to discourage Ross from submitting Blonsky for a spot on the Avengers Roster.

Back In Business

Fury, in typical Nick Fury fashion, wastes little time turning the above series of events to his advantage. During a check-in with the Council, who want to hear about what progress Fury has made on the Tesseract, he claims that he has made a lot of progress that week. Stark’s new element along with Howard Stark’s old research, and the technology gathered from the Destroyer, will aid towards the Tesseract project, and he indirectly prevented Ross’s misguided attempt at renewing the Super Soldier program (subtly hinted to have been backed by the Council) from becoming a complete disaster. Fury also expresses the belief that finding Steve Rogers, the original Super Soldier, could both provide a way to renew the program safely, as well as help with the Tesseract project, as he is potentially the only person alive to have seen it in action. Therefore, Fury took the liberty of sending a small team back to the Arctic to continue the search for Steve.

The Council reluctantly agrees with Fury’s plan. At the end of the week, Steve Rogers is discovered frozen in the ice. While the Avengers Initiative remained dead on paper, Fury managed to keep it going.

To this day, ‘Fury’s Big Week’ remains one of the most pivotal stretches of time in the whole MCU.