During a recent IGN interview for his terrific spy actioner Kingsman: The Secret Service, which opens in theaters today, Samuel L. Jackson noted an extremely interesting piece of information about his current place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that makes us somewhat concerned for the future of his character, Nick Fury.
Asked about how long he expected to keep playing the former head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Jackson chuckled and said, “I’ve only got two more movies in my contract. That might be the end of it unless I get an extension!” Of course, the optimistic Marvel fan sees that and shrugs – because why wouldn’t Marvel renew Jackson’s contract? However, that’s not the only way the studio could progress.
The actor has played Fury in eight Marvel movies thus far – Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and this summer’s Avengers: Age of Ultron – and has only two more pics on his contract. Most would assume that those titles are Captain America: Civil War, given how integral Fury’s organization S.H.I.E.L.D. is to its story, and Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1, which will be the biggest Marvel movie yet in terms of scale. However, it is also possible that Fury could pop up in this year’s Ant-Man, stopping in to bring Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) into the fold sometime after he dons the Ant-Man suit. That would make Civil War Jackson’s last film on the current deal.
So, despite his death then resurrection in The Winter Soldier, one has to wonder whether Fury’s birth certificate already has an expiration date stamped on it. The original Civil War storyline ended (spoilers, obviously) with Cap being assassinated by Crossbones and a brainwashed Sharon Carter outside a courthouse, but if Marvel isn’t ready to part ways with Chris Evans just yet, Fury’s demise could be a decent way for the threequel to still provide a measure of emotional impact.
It just doesn’t seem likely that Evans’ Cap will perish in Civil War, especially with Bucky still on the run and nowhere near ready to take over the mantle – even Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man’s death seems more probable, given that the actor is rapidly growing older. But out of all the major characters in the MCU right now, Fury, who is estranged from S.H.I.E.L.D. because of its inadvertent nurturing of the villainous HYDRA, is by far the most expendable (outside of maybe Colbie Smulders’ S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill).
Otherwise, Fury dying in Infinity War – Part 1, which has been rumored to end with the Avengers broken and beaten by the Mad Titan Thanos, seems like a solid bet. In the same interview, Jackson expressed his desire for a Nick Fury standalone, but something tells me both the actor and the interviewer who asked him about it know there’s an ice cube’s chance in hell of that happening.
Tell us, what are your thoughts? Will Fury die in Captain America: Civil War, Infinity War – Part 1 or not at all? Sound off below!