Avengers: Infinity War is noteworthy not just for being the culmination of a story Marvel has been developing throughout the three phases of the MCU (or at least since the first Avengers back in 2012, when we got our initial look at Thanos), but for having basically damn near everyone who ever appeared onscreen in it, presumably even just people who were once extras on Charles In Charge. (Hence the third Avengers film being super-long.) And for a good while, Samuel Jackson’s Nick Fury was the connective tissue between a lot of the various superheroes, showing up in everything from brief post-credits stingers to being a vital supporting character. So it’s understandable that Jackson might be a bit put out by feeling like Marvel has pretty much abandoned him, which is the vibe he gives off in a new interview with Yahoo! Movies.
During a promotional interview for the upcoming action-comedy The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Jackson was asked about his future plans regarding Marvel films. And while he denies his involvement in Captain Marvel, this interview took place prior to Kevin Feige announcing Jackson’s return for that film, meaning Marvel has at least (hopefully) taken care of one thing the actor has been giving them shit about. “I’ve been rumored to be in several different Marvel movies that I haven’t shown up in,” Jackson says, all but turning to the camera and saying, “The fuck, Marvel?” “I wasn’t in the superhero argument movie,” he adds, which is a very good way of referring to Captain America: Civil War, and then confirms he wasn’t asked to be in Infinity War or the as-yet-untitled fourth Avengers film, presumably the second half of the story.
Of course, the latter of those two films is still in production, meaning there’s plenty of time to call in Nick Fury to pilot a quinjet, or something, but still, it does feel odd to have the culmination of your massive, decade-long cinematic experiment not include the guy who helped bring it all together. Though honestly, Jackson mostly sounds irritated he wasn’t asked to be in Black Panther. “How you gonna make a black Marvel movie and not let Nick Fury show up in it?” he asks, and the world asks with him.