Samuel L. Jackson Reveals Nick Fury Won’t Be The Character We Know In His New Series
Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury is the constant that holds the MCU together, but he says when you see him next, he will not be the same.
Samuel L Jackson has portrayed the former head of S.H.I.E.L.D./ freelance spymaster/ badass Nicholas J. Fury in 11 movies so far, not counting his voice appearances in the Disney+ series Marvel’s What If…? and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The gruff, grizzled, and borderline omniscient Fury is one of the few constants of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has inspired, fought, and misled superheroes and villains alike, but according to Jackson, we will be seeing a different version of the character soon. And not some fakeout multiversal variant of Fury (looking at you, What If…?), but some unseen aspect. Samuel L Jackson recently gave an interview with Entertainment Weekly in which he cryptically hinted at some changes for Nick Fury. Check it out:
To hear Samuel L Jackson tell it, even he is not entirely sure what is going to happen with his MCU counterpart. But it does sound like the upcoming appearances of Nick Fury will likely explore some non-badass side of the character. This would be the ideal time for it; while Samuel L Jackson has appeared in the MCU more than almost any other character, he has never actually led a film or series himself. The closest we have gotten to a sustained co-lead performance by Jackson was in 2019’s Captain Marvel when the 1990s, two-eyed version of Fury assisted Brie Larson to eventually beat up Jude Law.
But the near future promised a good deal more of Nick Fury content. Samuel L Jackson will be reprising the character in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, in which he will doubtlessly scowl at Paul Rudd while he does something charmingly inept. He will also be reuniting with Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris for The Marvels (which will also add Ms. Marvel herself, Iman Vellani, into the mix).
And finally, Samuel L Jackson is scheduled to star in the Disney+ series Secret Invasion. He will be joined by returning actors Ben Mendelsohn (as the Skrull leader Talos), Cobie Smulders (as former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill), and Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke in an undisclosed role. The Secret Invasion series is based on a well-regarded Marvel Comics crossover event in which it turns out the shapeshifting Skrulls have covertly replaced a number of superheroes with their own agents. Given that Captain Marvel retconned the MCU’s Skrulls to be something of a group of interstellar refugees rather than an evil invading empire, it will be interesting to see how they change up the plot.
It will also be interesting to see Samuel L Jackson take on a different aspect of his iconic character. While Jackson is legendary for his badass characters on screen, he also has a rich body of work demonstrating his dramatic chops, and it will be great to see him stretch his MCU range for a change. Of course, maybe Marvel Studios will change their minds and just try to kill him off again, but that never seems to work out.
