This Week’s Episode of Marvel’s What If…? Is Samuel L Jackson’s 12th MCU Project

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has existed for more than 13 years now, bringing the stories of Marvel Comics to life and breaking box office records in the process. Countless actors have been involved in the franchise in one way or another, but none have appeared in more MCU projects than Samuel L. Jackson. Playing former Avengers founder and former Head of SHIELD Nick Fury, Jackson helped Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark launch the entire MCU, and he’s still around leading new franchise projects over a decade later.

Marvel’s What If…? will debut its third episode on Disney+ this Wednesday, and the new installment of the animated anthology tells the story of a world where someone stopped the Avengers from ever coming together. Nick Fury plays a role in the episode and Jackson is returning once again to voice him.

For those counting, What If…? makes 12 MCU appearances for Jackson, by far the most of the franchise’s core cast. Some of those parts were nothing more than cameos, while others saw Fury take on a lead role. Over the course of 13 years, and 12 movies, Jackson has helped make Fury an iconic on-screen character, and one of the most integral pieces of the MCU.

Let’s take a look below at each and every Nick Fury MCU appearance over the years.

Iron Man (2008)

The first-ever appearance of Jackson’s Nick Fury, wowing Marvel audiences by popping in to name-drop the Avengers and begin the lasting legacy of post-credits scenes in the MCU.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

After skipping out on The Incredible Hulk, Fury returned in Iron Man 2 to once again deal with Tony Stark. He had more than just a cameo the second time around.

Thor (2011)

Jackson made two more cameos as Fury in the lead-up to The Avengers, helping put together the rest of the team. The first of these appearance came in the Thor post-credits scene, where he showed Erik Selvig the Tesseract.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Just a few months after popping up in Thor, Fury appeared in Captain America: The First Avenger, leading the operation to pull Steve Rogers out of the ice. 

The Avengers (2012)

The Avengers not only brought all of the individual characters from the previous films together, but it also gave Fury his first prominent role in an MCU film. 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

The armored car shootout, fake death scene, and terrifying eye patch reveal in Captain America: The Winter Soldier help give Fury his best role in the MCU to-date.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Fury took on a much smaller role in the second Avengers movie, following the collapse of SHIELD. Though he does have a great scene with Tony Stark that helps shape Iron Man’s journey going forward.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Nick Fury is the character responsible for some of the biggest post-credits scenes in the MCU, including the massive tease at the end of Infinity War (his only scene in the movie) that confirmed Captain Marvel was on her way.

Captain Marvel (2019)

De-aging technology has had a spotty track record over the years (looking at you, Grand Moff Tarkin), but Marvel and Jackson pulled it off with their take on ’90s Nick Fury in Captain Marvel.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Fury appeared briefly in the biggest movie of all time, standing alone at Tony Stark’s lakeside funeral.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Jackson was three-for-three in 2019, appearing in every MCU movie released in the year. Spider-Man: Far From Home‘s Fury was a Skrull for most of the movie, but the post-credits scene set up an even bigger future for the character going forward. That space tease was addressed in WandaVision and will lead directly into Fury’s involvement in both Secret Invasion and The Marvels.

Marvel’s What If…? (2021)

The new episode of What If…? is going to deal with the idea that the Avengers were pulled apart before they could ever get together. So, naturally, Nick Fury is going to be involved in the story.