Samuel L. Jackson says he’s sitting out Avengers: Doomsday — but he’ll be back for the follow-up
With Avengers: Doomsday nearly upon us, most fans are still waiting to see exactly how that’s going to pan out, but of course the bigger speculation machine has already fired up for what comes after.
Yes, it's all about Avengers: Secret Wars, which is set to hit cinemas on 17 December 2027. Marvel aren’t saying much officially—plot details are locked down tighter than Stark’s lab, and casting is almost all returning faces from Doomsday. The only definite newbie so far is Noah Jupe, but nobody knows yet who he's playing or why he’s turning up so late in the saga.
Avengers: Secret Wars lands in cinemas on 17 December 2027.
Samuel L. Jackson’s Return
Here’s where it gets at least a little interesting for long-time fans: an actor who’s basically MCU Royalty is returning after a proper break. At the London premiere of his film The Beast, Samuel L. Jackson was stopped by The Direct and asked (as always) about Nick Fury and future MCU plans. He was pretty unambiguous in response. According to Jackson, his next go-round as Fury will not be Doomsday, but the film after that—Secret Wars.
When the interviewer pushed for more, Jackson kept it honest, saying he hadn’t been briefed on anything about Secret Wars beyond simply being told he’s not in Doomsday, but he will be in Secret Wars. And just to be clear, there’s no formal confirmation—Marvel Studios themselves are yet to announce Jackson's return in any press release or splashy panel. But then again, it would be a bit pointless to have the Multiverse’s swan song without him.
Asked on the red carpet what the next Marvel film for Nick Fury would be, Jackson replied:
"Next movie... [The] movie after this one."
Fury's Journey—and a Bumpy Patch
Samuel L. Jackson has pretty much been holding down the MCU since day one, ever since that post-credits cameo in Iron Man that introduced Fury himself. The comics version from 2002’s The Ultimates was actually inspired by Jackson’s look, so the casting was a comic-to-screen moment before it was trendy. His Nick Fury has shown up just about everywhere: Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, The Winter Soldier, Age of Ultron, both parts of Infinity War and Endgame, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and even popped up on the TV side with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Secret Invasion miniseries.
The last on-screen Nick Fury sightings were in 2023’s Secret Invasion and The Marvels. Neither, if we’re honest, went down especially well: Secret Invasion is often cited as the weakest MCU project to date, and The Marvels scored the dubious honour of being the franchise’s first outright box office belly-flop. (Although, for trivia lovers, that’s also where Kelsey Grammer returned as Beast—just ahead of Doomsday. Not that you need to watch The Marvels for any MCU rewatch. Marvel know nobody’s putting it on their marathon list.)
The Bigger Picture—And What Could Come Next
By the time Secret Wars arrives, we’ll be nearly twenty years out from the original Iron Man, which is long enough to make anyone feel ancient. There’s every possibility this film will be pitched as the end of Marvel’s Multiverse storyline, maybe even a send-off for the entire run as we know it before they try to start something new. And honestly, if that’s the case, it would almost be wrong if both Robert Downey Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson weren’t there to bring the curtain down—whether they call it a finale, an 'event', or just the longest victory lap in superhero movie history.