Nick Fury was last seen in Age of Ultron and if new rumors prove true, we have a better idea of how the MIA former director of SHIELD will fit into the future of the MCU. Captain Marvel is reportedly starting principal photography and according to an insider, Nick Fury has a large presence in the film.
The scoop comes from Omega Underground’s Christopher M, who writes on Twitter, “Looks like [Samuel Jackson] will indeed be co-starring with [Brie Larson] in Captain Marvel. Expected to begin shooting on January 8th in ATL.”
Adding fire to the flame, Jackson did seemingly confirm his role in Avengers: Infinity War last year.
"I think I'm in Avengers 3 and 4, but I'm not in Civil War, ” Jackson told Fandango at CinemaCon.
If the latest scoop is true, it would give more credence to the previous rumors about Fury appearing in Avengers: Infinity War. Captain Marvel is also rumored to appear in Infinity War and that would be the perfect place for the two characters to meet.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige calls Captain Marvel the most powerful hero in the MCU and there’s no question Nick Fury is the most powerful non-powered man in the MCU. It’s only right the two get acquainted.
Nick Fury has been the glue that holds everything together since the first Iron Man when he pops up in the post-credits scene to tell Tony Stark about the Avengers Initiative. He’s since appeared in Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron in some capacity. He also appeared in Agents of SHIELD Season 1 to help provide some backstory to Phil Coulson, who ‘died’ during a fight with Loki in The Avengers. Nick Fury ‘died’ in Captain America: Winter Soldier but in his last appearance in the MCU, Age of Ultron, he swoops in with SHIELD’s helicarrier and we can only assume he called in a favor to good ole Phil Coulson.
Jackson revealed he wouldn't be part of MCU’s Phase III kickoff last June, and also filled Coming Soon in on what his character may have been up to in his absence, and it certainly suggests SHIELD will come into play.
“Yeah! For sure, definitely. Why wouldn’t there be? There’s some way of fixing what they created, and hopefully somebody has that going on or Nick Fury is out there — wherever he is, probably hanging out with Jules and walking the world — figuring out what happened and how it got to that particular place. Maybe they’ll find out that all that was part of a ruse to get to something else also. That would be great. They’ll bring me back somehow, some way, for some reason. I mean, they didn’t have me around to referee the kids when they didn’t go to their rooms and got in this big old fight. We’ll see what happens.”
Civil War screenwriter Stephen McFeely also said at LAT Hero Complex, Don’t you assume you’ll see everybody in the “Infinity Wars?”
It’s worth noting the Agents of SHIELD Season 4 finale may have left a huge clue about what Fury has been doing. A group of agents approach Phil Coulson (who the MCU believes to be dead) and seemed to have recruited him to space.
The aftermath of Captain America: The Winter Soldier was reflected on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Captain America: Civil War ’s Superhero Registration Act (aka Sokovia Accords) was also reflected on the show with the introduction of inhumans, which has resulted in a spin off film-turned-show called Marvel’s Inhumans. This working relationship gives us no reason to believe the series hasn’t also been foreshadowing future happenings in the Marvel film universe.
Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, is closely associated with an organization called S.W.O.R.D. in the comics, which is the fan theory for the Agents of SHIELD Season 4 cliffhanger. S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation & Response Department) is a S.H.I.E.L.D. counterpart that deals strictly with extraterrestrial and intergalactic threats to Earth. While it’s technically a subdivision of S.H.I.E.L.D., the organization is known to run independently. Captain Marvel is said to be the hero who connects outer space to Earth in the MCU so this Agents of SHIELD easter egg may not be a coincidence. It's possible Nick Fury has been up in space cooking up a plan to deal with impending extraterrestrial threats to Earth.
Tony Stark’s vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron is a large part of this theory. The Avengers lay sprawled on the ground on a rock in outer space. Amongst them are a few agents that, at first glance, look like S.H.I.E.L.D., but their uniforms have a slightly different logo patch.In fact, S.W.O.R.D. appears in the Infinity storyline in the comics. In desperation and in danger of Thanos, the organization asked the Guardians of the Galaxy for help.
Thanos, an extremely powerful alien, is the main baddie in Avengers: Infinity War, and who better to help the Avengers deal with an extraterrestrial threat than the Guardians, Captain Marvel and S.W.O.R.D.? Like McPheely said, all hands on deck. This sub-division of SHIELD’s presence has been foreshadowed by the fact the show almost exclusively deals with alien and inhuman threats and Phil Coulson himself is part Kree.
While all of this is certainly a lot to digest, it’s still all speculation for now. But one thing is for sure, the MCU started with Nick Fury, Phil Coulson and SHIELD and it’s about time they all come come back. While we may not see SWORD in Agents of SHIELD since the show only loosley connects to the movies, maybe Nick Fury sent some of his agents to come get the team out of a jam becuase well, that's what he does. Either way, all this new info could be a big clue to what Fury has actually been doing all this time while he's been letting the Avengers fight against one another and Coulson run SHIELD. That would be pretty easy to do if you're in outer space. Only time will tell what Marvel has in mind. Infinity War arrives in theaters May 2018.
