Samuel L. Jackson Confirms His Next Marvel Movie As Nick Fury (it's Not Doomsday)

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The upcoming superhero mashup picture "Avengers: Doomsday" already boasts an impressively large cast, culling actors from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe and beyond to team up and fight Dr. Doom (Robert Downey Jr.). Thanks to all the hype behind it, even the most casual readers likely know that Chris Evans will be back as the first Captain America, Chris Hemsworth will be returning as Thor, and so, so many others will join them. The real coup, however, is that "Doomsday" will feature many actors from the X-Men movie universe, finally paying off several X-Men cameos in films like "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," "The Marvels," and "Deadpool & Wolverine." 

One notable absence from "Doomsday" is Samuel L. Jackson, who played the stalwart super-agent Nick Fury across multiple MCU shows and movies since his debut in the credits stinger of 2008's "Iron Man." Fury, as all Marvel fans can tell you, is the one responsible for assembling the Avengers into a superhero team in the first place. His centrality to the MCU cannot be understated. 

So why is he not in "Doomsday?" Until the film comes out, Marvel fans can only speculate. However, they won't have to speculate very long, as Jackson has confirmed that he will be returning to the MCU in due course. According to an interview with The Direct, Jackson noted that he won't be in "Doomsday," but that he will be, in his words, "Next movie ... [the] movie after this one." And that movie, as many Marvel fans already know, will be called "Avengers: Secret Wars." 

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"Avengers: Secret Wars" is currently slated for release on December 17, 2027, although no concrete facts have yet been released. Hoping to get a scoop, The Direct asked Samuel L. Jackson if he had any information on what "Secret Wars" might be about.

"I have no idea. [Marvel] hasn't told me anything, other than, 'You're not gonna be in this movie. You'll be in the next.'"

And that's that. Nick Fury will return for "Secret Wars." The name of this movie comes from a major superhero crossover event that was published in Marvel Comics in 1984 and 1985. In essence, it's a massive boxing match, with dozens of heroes and villains from the Marvel universe being whisked away to a planet called Battleworld by a super-being called the Beyonder. They are told that heroes and villains are to fight, and that the winner essentially gets a wish. With that said, "Secret Wars" is, more so than any other superhero movie, based on every little-kid conversation that begins with "Who would win in a fight?" One can rest assured that the cast of "Secret Wars" — which will be directed by MCU mainstays Anthony and Joe Russo — will be appropriately huge, and that the film will feature plenty of action. 

Samuel L. Jackson's latest film is Renny Harlin's "The Beast," in theaters on October 9, 2026. In 2027, he is also slated to appear in "The Great Beyond," the next movie from star filmmaker J.J. Abrams. Just like "Secret Wars," the details of that film haven't yet been released.