Samuel L. Jackson Just Broke Robert Downey Jr.'s Marvel Trailer Record

By Jennifer McDonough Updated:
Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Marvel Studios logo

With the worldwide trailer release for The Marvels, Marvel veteran Samuel L. Jackson has officially been in more MCU trailers than Robert Downey Jr.

Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury has been in the MCU since the very first Iron Man movie, appearing from the shadows to recruit Tony Stark into the Avengers Initiative.

However, while Tony perished in battle during Avengers: Endgame, Fury lived on to fight the good fight, thus enabling him to rack up more appearances in the franchise than Downey did.

Nick Fury Appears in More Trailers Than Iron Man

With the release of The Marvels' new trailer, Nick Fury star Samuel L. Jackson has surpassed Robert Downey Jr. as the actor with trailer appearances in the most amount of MCU projects.

Check out every movie and series trailer that Jackson has appeared in as the Avengers founder Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe:

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Nick Fury in Iron Man 2
Marvel Studios

2010’s Iron Man 2 saw the mysterious SHIELD director crop up just when Tony needed him most and provided ol’ shell head with a nudge in the right direction in his search for a cure to his palladium poisoning.

The Avengers (2012)

Nick Fury in The Avengers
Marvel Studios

In the MCU movie that changed everything, The Avengers, Nick Fury assembled his squad of superheroes when Thor’s mischievous brother Loki came a-knocking at Earth’s front doorstep.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Nick Fury in Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Marvel Studios

Captain America: The Winter Soldier saw, among other things, the fall of SHIELD, and Nick Fury’s role as its director along with it. Fortunately, this event also struck a major blow to the terrorist organization known as HYDRA.

Agents of SHIELD’s Season 1 Finale (2014)

Nick Fury in Agents of SHIELD
Marvel

Despite Agents of SHIELD’s somewhat-dubious canonicity, Nick popped up in the finale of the ABC show’s first season to help a newly-resurrected Phil Coulson and company defeat Bill Paxton’s John Garrett.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Nick Fury in Avengers: Age of Ultron
Marvel Studios

Much like in his role in Iron Man 2, Fury appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron to give Tony a shot in the arm when things look bleak. This act also, of course, extended to the rest of the team when Nick showed up out of nowhere with a fully staffed helicarrier to aid in the evacuation of Sokovia.

Captain Marvel (2019)

Nick Fury in Captain Marvel
Marvel Studios

Post-Ultron, Nick Fury took a bit of a backseat in the MCU until his next major role in 2018’s Captain Marvel. Taking place in 1995, the then-SHIELD agent assisted Carol Danvers as she rediscovered herself. Fury also befriended the Skrull Talos in this film, which will come into play later.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Nick Fury in Spider-Man: Far From Home
Sony and Marvel Studios

In his first appearance after Endgame, Fury interrupted Peter Parker’s vacation Spider-Man: Far From Home and asked the Wall-Crawler for assistance in dealing with a man named Quentin Beck who claimed to be from another universe.

What If…? (2021)

Nick Fury in What If…?
Marvel Studios

Marvel Studios’ first venture into animation, What If…? included an episode where a Variant of Fury dealt with the fallout of the Avengers being murdered by an unseen assailant.

Secret Invasion (2023)

Nick Fury in Secret Invasion
Marvel Studios

Still yet-to-be-released, Secret Invasion will feature Nick taking the lead role of an MCU project for the first time ever. In the six-episode series, he‘ll work alongside Talos to try and expose a sect of evil Skrulls who have infiltrated the planet.

The Marvels (2023)

Nick Fury in The Marvels
Marvel Studios

In the trailer for the forthcoming MCU release The Marvels, Fury stands aboard SABER Space Station, supervising Captain Monica Rambeau before she instantly and accidentally swaps places with Jersey City superhero Kamala Khan.

All told, Nick Fury has shown up in a total of 10 Marvel trailers. Compare this to Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark who only appeared in the following eight: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.

The Continuing Adventures of Nicholas J. Fury

Jackson spent the most time in the MCU over its 15-year history and shows no signs of retiring from the role.

A noted comic book fan, Samuel L. Jackson clearly just loves playing the character. And why wouldn’t he? Marvel Studios has always given the actor interesting new material to play with which each of his projects.

Many speculated that Secret Invasion could be the last time out for Nick Fury, but The Marvels seemingly disproves that. That is if the movie does indeed place after the Disney+ show, which hasn’t yet been confirmed.

Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury will take center stage in Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion which premieres on Disney+ on June 21.

- In This Article: The Marvels
Release Date
November 10, 2023
Platform
Theaters
- About The Author: Jennifer McDonough
Jennifer McDonough has been a writer at The Direct since its 2020 launch. She is responsible for the creation of news articles and features. She also has a particular affinity for action figures and merchandise, which she revels in discussing in the articles she writes, when the situation calls for it.