All 15 (Yes, 15) Nick Fury’s MCU Appearances in Order

We always like to say that there wouldn’t be the Marvel Cinematic Universe we have today if it weren’t for the first Iron Man movie, starring Robert Downey Jr., that started it all. And yes, that’s true. When the first Iron Man movie was released, the MCU was just an idea that rarely people believed could become a reality. And now, 17 years later, here we are.

Samuel L. Jackson first appeared as Nick Fury in the original Iron Man movie in 2008. Although Nick Fury is a supporting character compared to all the superheroes MCU, Jackson is currently the biggest acting veteran who has ever taken part in the MCU. It’s been seventeen years since he debuted as Nick Fury, and there’s still no telling when and where he’ll portray the character for one last time.

Iron Man (2008)

It’s already widely known how important the original Iron Man movie was. Like we said a billion times before: it’s a movie that started it all! And we definitely wouldn’t be watching this MCU today if Iron Man hadn’t had such a strong start in both critical and commercial ways.

Apart from the first movie introducing Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, the movie also marked the first appearance of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in its post-credit scene. Fury introduced himself to Tony Stark, telling him that Iron Man wasn’t the only superhero in the world and that they needed to discuss something called the Avengers Initiative.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

After the original Iron Man opened the gate towards building the Marvel Cinematic Universe, its sequel served as the next step in building it. The movie introduced Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, who served as the MCU’s main heroine for the next 11 years.

Samuel L. Jackson reprised the role in the movie when he explained that Natasha works for him at S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury also revealed to Tony how his father, Howard, was one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. founders, and he explained to him what happened between Howard and Anton Vanko, the father of the movie’s main villain Ivan Vanko.

Although Fury and Stark have been discussing the Avengers Initiative as well, Fury later told Stark that S.H.I.E.L.D. would like to have him only as a consultant due to his difficult personality.

Thor (2011)

Earlier MCU movies were mostly made as standalone movies in which only the supporting characters served as the connection between them. Clark Gregg’s Phil Coulson and Jackson’s Nick Fury were some of those characters.

The original Thor movie introduced Marvel’s incarnation of God of Thunder to the big screen, and Jackson reprised the role once again in the post-credit scene. Erik Selving has met with Fury, who showed him the Tesseract. Invisible to them, Loki also appears in the scene, setting up his return in The Avengers.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Only two months after God of Thunder joined the MCU in the original Thor movie, it was time for Chris Evans’ Captain America to join the party. Most of the movie takes place during World War 2, following Steve Rogers’ path as the world’s first super-soldier.

Seventy years later, after Steve Rogers woke up from the ice, he found himself at S.H.I.E.L.D., where Nick Fury explained to him what had happened. This was the third time Nick Fury appeared only in a cameo role to create a connection between those first origin movies in the MCU.

The Avengers (2012)

After appearing in multiple MCU movies in small roles, Nick Fury earned more screen time in The Avengers, the climax of MCU’s Phase 1. After Loki stole the Tesseract and brainwashed Erik Selving and Clint Barton, Fury reactivated the Avengers Initiative, which eventually assembled Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye into a crossover that wasn’t seen on the big screen before. Nick Fury showed up in every movie of MCU’s Phase 1 except The Incredible Hulk.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020)

At the time of its release, The Avengers achieved success like no superhero movie before it. It was the third-highest-grossing movie ever at the time of its release, and apart from the fact that it gave the MCU an additional boost in going forward, it was responsible for further expansions of the franchise.

In 2013, Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen created a spin-off series with Clark Gregg returning as Phil Coulson, even though the character was killed off in The Avengers.

Apart from Coulson, the series introduced a new gallery of characters, but Nick Fury, as the official director of S.H.I.E.L.D. at the time, still appeared in two episodes; the second episode of the first season (2013) and the last episode of the first season (2014).

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

After The Avengers, 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier was also one of the most important movies for the character of Nick Fury. With HYDRA again stronger inside S.H.I.E.L.D.’s walls, Nick Fury survives an assassination attempt. He warns Steve Rogers not to trust anyone before he is murdered.

Or at least that’s what we thought. The movie later reveals that Fury faked his death to cover his tracks from HYDRA, and ultimately, he assists Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, and Maria Hill to stop HYDRA’s plan, but they also publicly expose all of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files to the world. After that, Fury lost his position as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s. He destroyed all the traces of his former life and went into hiding.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Although he went into hiding, Nick Fury still returned to Avengers: Age of Ultron to assist the team in a battle against Ultron. After showing up at Barton’s farm and talking with Tony Stark and the other Avengers, he showed up with the Helicarrier, which was kept off the records for emergencies only.

With the help of War Machine, the Avengers managed to evacuate the people of Sokovia before the town was ultimately destroyed after a battle against Ultron.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Nick Fury didn’t appear in Avengers: Infinity War until the post-credit scene. After Thanos’ snap, half of the universe started to disintegrate. Fury and his assistant Maria Hill were also victims of the snap. But before he disappeared, Fury used his pager to call Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, to help the Avengers save the universe.

Captain Marvel (2019)

The original Captain Marvel movie was released between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, but it was a prequel with its events taking place in 1995. Samuel L. Jackson reprised the role as digitally de-aged Nick Fury long before he was the director of S.H.I.E.L.D..

The movie offered us some answers about Fury’s past through dialogue with Brie Larson’s titular character. The movie also showed us how Nick Fury got his famous eyepatch, although we can agree that that path was a bit anticlimactic.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Nick Fury was one of the trillion victims of Thanos’ snap. Fortunately, surviving members of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy managed to pull off their time heist to find all the Infinity Stones and bring everyone back to life. Nick Fury didn’t have a huge role in the movie but was present at Tony Stark’s funeral after the final battle.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

After Tony Stark’s death, Nick Fury decided to take a galactic vacation on the Skrulls’ spaceship. Meanwhile, his Skrull friend Talos and his wife Soren shapeshifted into Fury and Maria Hill, who appeared in this movie, while the real Nick Fury appeared only in, you guessed it, a post-credit scene, which revealed that Fury and Hill in the movie were Skrulls all along.

The post-credit scene of this movie has set up a stage for the upcoming Secret Invasion series.

What If…? (2021)

If you’re an MCU fan or at least a subscriber to Disney+, you probably know what is Marvel’s What If…?. The first animated MCU series explored various alternate timelines in the Multiverse in which key moments from the MCU occurred differently. As one of the major MCU characters, Nick Fury appeared in four out of nine first-season episodes, with Jackson reprising his role.

Secret Invasion (2023)

In the Disney+ Secret Invasion series, Nick Fury returns to Earth after being stationed in space following the events of Avengers: Endgame. He learns of a Skrull invasion led by Gravik, a radical Skrull extremist. 

Fury teams up with his allies, including Talos, Maria Hill, and Everett Ross, to thwart the invasion and save humanity. The series explores a darker, more vulnerable side of Fury, as he grapples with the consequences of his past actions and the betrayal of his Skrull allies. 

The Marvels

In “The Marvels,” Nick Fury’s involvement with AI is primarily seen through the use of artificial intelligence in the opening credits sequence of “Secret Invasion,” a related Disney+ series. The show’s opening, created by Method Studios, utilized AI to generate a montage of moving paintings that depicted the Skrull invasion of Earth, fitting the show’s theme of shape-shifting and identity. 

While this sparked some controversy among artists concerned about the use of AI in creative fields and potential replacement of human artists, the studio maintained that no artists’ jobs were affected by the implementation of AI in this specific project.