Samuel L. Jackson has revealed that Nick Fury will appear in multiple Marvel movies after his starring role in Secret Invasion.
Speaking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast (thanks to comingsoon.net for the spot), Jackson confirmed that the former SHIELD director will guest star in The Marvels, as well as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, in 2023.
Jackson's Fury will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Secret Invasion, one of Marvel Studios' 2022 Disney Plus offerings. But, given that Fury has appeared in numerous Marvel movies, it was only a matter of time before he made his big screen comeback.
The last time we saw Fury, he was enjoying a 'vacation' on a Skrull spaceship in Spider-Man: Far From Home's post-credits scene. Now, though, we know we'll be seeing him appear in three Marvel Phase 4 projects over the next 12 months.
Initially speaking about his time in the MCU, Jackson said: “Well, you know, it’s kind of strange when someone tells you they’re going to give you a nine-picture deal. You know, you go ‘How long am I going to stay alive to make nine pictures?’ Because it used to take a while to make a movie. It still kind of does, but people make two or three of them at a time. In the Marvel Universe…it’s crazy.
“When I was in London just now, it was [Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania], and [The Marvels] was happening, and we were getting ready to do [Secret Invasion]," Jackson added moments later. "So it was like, three Marvel movies on one lot. I was kind of running around from place to place.”
Secret Invasion is one of four MCU TV shows set to land on Disney Plus before the year is out. Moon Knight will lead the way when it arrives on March 30, with Ms Marvel (June 8) and She-Hulk (launch date TBC) set to follow, too.
Analysis: why will Nick Fury appear in Ant-Man 3?
Nick Fury's likely appearance in The Marvels won't come as a big surprise. The founder of The Avengers was a supporting character in 2019's Captain Marvel, which starred Brie Larson as the titular hero. With The Marvels lined up as a sequel to that superhero flick, it would be a strange move if Fury didn't feature in the follow-up movie.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, though, doesn't initially seem like a movie where Fury would fit in. He's never met Ant-Man or the Wasp. He wasn't around for Avengers: Endgame to see how they used time travel to reverse the effects of the Blip either, because Fury was one of those snapped out of existence by Thanos. And, unless The Marvels' plot ties into Ant-Man 3, he may not fully grasp the fact that a time traveling villain – i.e. Kang the Conqueror – is on the way to install himself as the MCU's next big bad. Fury isn't as well connected as he was previously, so he won't have been able to keep abreast of every villainous situation that's come and gone (or set to arrive) on Earth in recent times.
Still, we'd expect a man of Fury's ilk to take more than a passing interest if a new major antagonist turns up and threatens to up-end the status quo. He set The Avengers Initiative up for a reason – i.e. the protect Earth from any and all threats. If Kang presents a clear and present danger to life on our world, you can bet on Fury taking a lead role in Earth's defense against any kind of supervillain.
It's likely that Marvel will be disappointed to hear that Jackson has confirmed his character's involvement in both movies. This is Samuel L. Jackson, though, so he's not likely to care much (if at all) about spoiling where Fury will turn up.
He's not the only one, either. Bill Murray, who will play a role in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, has already hinted that he'll play a bad guy in the threequel. Jonathan Majors, who played one of Kang's variants in Loki's season 1 finale, will be on chief villain duties as Kang in Ant-Man 3, though.
For more Marvel-based content, check out why Netflix's Marvel shows aren't available in 4K on Disney Plus yet. And read up on Ms Marvel's official release date and trailer, if you missed them earlier this week.
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