Samuel L. Jackson Probably Won't Be In 'Black Panther' Or 'Avengers: Infinity War'

Without Nick Fury, there would have been no assembly of The Avengers. In a credits scene after Iron Man hit theaters in 2008, Samuel L. Jackson appears in Tony Stark's mansion to chastise his cockiness and talk to him about something called The Avengers Initiative. After that came four more movies leading up to the debut of Marvel's superhero team on the big screen and an entire cinematic universe that is still growing. But it appears Nick Fury isn't as important to the future of the MCU as he was in the beginning.

Samuel L. Jackson recently sat down for an interview to promote the upcoming release of The Hitman's Bodyguard, which hits theaters this weekend, and he revealed that he wasn't asked to make an appearance in either Black Panther or Avengers: Infinity War. Find out what the actor had to say about the lack of Nick Fury in Avengers Infinity War and more below.

Before Samuel L. Jackson was confirmed to star in Captain Marvel with Brie Larson (which will be a prequel set in the 1990s that introduces the aliens known as Skrulls), the actor was only rumored to be part of the movie. At the time of the interview, that was news to Samuel L. Jackson, who explained to Yahoo Movies UK that he hadn't signed a contract or seen a script. Even Brie Larson, who had apparently just spoken to Jackson recently, didn't mention anything about it. Jackson went on:

"I wasn't in the 'superhero argument' movie ['Captain America: Civil War'], I'm not in 'Avengers 3 and 4'. They're shooting them now, and they haven't called me yet. They wouldn't let me go to 'Black Panther'-ville, so it's kinda like how you gonna make a black Marvel movie and not let Nick Fury show up in it?!"

It does seem like a bummer that Nick Fury won't be appearing in Black Panther with the huge roster of black talent that's involved in Ryan Coogler's adaptation of the Marvel Comics title. But if it doesn't make sense narratively, then there's no reason to shoehorn Nick Fury in there. Plus, even though production may be finished on the movie, there's no guarantee that a credits scene featuring Nick Fury couldn't be shot in post-production during the usual reshoots.

As for Avengers: Infinity War, a credits scene is also a possibility, but it does seem rather strange that Samuel L. Jackson wouldn't be involved in the third Avengers movie after being a key part of the first two films in the franchise. Then again, Infinity War is already chock full of actors and actresses, so there might not be much room for him.

Though Jackson says he wasn't called for The Avengers 4, that movie only just started shooting earlier this month. There's plenty of time for Nick Fury to get called back into action. Considering Thanos is going to be creating some trouble for Earth's mightiest heroes in Infinity War (as we saw in the footage that played D23 and Comic-Con), I think we're going to need all hands on deck to deal with the Mad Titan in The Avengers 4, so the return of Nick Fury seems inevitable.

It wouldn't be surprising if Samuel L. Jackson didn't know about his future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even after Marvel Studios confirmed the actor for a prominent role in Captain Marvel, he wasn't quite as up to snuff on details about the movie until he read about them online after the announcement. The actor found out he was going to play Nick Fury with two eyes by reading the news announced at San Diego Comic-Con, so Jackson could easily be coming back down the road, but just hasn't been told about it yet.

Since Nick Fury was such an integral part of The Avengers forming, and The Avengers 4 is supposed to mark the culmination of everything we've seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, it would be a bit of a disappointment for the former SHIELD director not to come back in some capacity. Then again, what if Samuel L. Jackson's role in Captain Marvel reveals that the real Nick Fury has been replaced with a Skrull, and the entire time we've known the character he's been an imposter? That would make for a hell of a reveal in Captain Marvel and set the stage for some kind of betrayal in The Avengers 4, and it would explain why Jackson is being kept out of the loop for the time being.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues. Black Panther arrives on February 16, 2018 while Avengers: Infinity War follows on May 4, 2018. The Avengers 4 is scheduled for May 3, 2019, but before all that, we have Thor: Ragnarok to look forward to on November 3, 2017.