For the better part of the past two decades, Samuel L. Jackson has appeared in several of the best Marvel movies, all kinds of family-family animated movies, and some of the best action movies in recent memory. The highest-grossing actor of all time has the right to take a break and enjoy life, but slowing down just isn’t in the cards for the bad mother…
As we look at what’s left of the 2024 movie schedule and start filling out our calendars with all those promising 2025 movies, we’re going to be seeing a whole lot more of the accomplished actor in the coming months and years. We might not know when we’ll see Nick Fury again, but we do know there are a ton of great upcoming Samuel L. Jackson movies to look forward in the very near future.
The Piano Lesson - 2024
Samuel L. Jackson is no stranger to appearing in big-screen versions of plays, as he previously led The Sunset Limited, one of the best Cormac McCarthy adaptations. Now, the Marvel star is slated to appear in The Piano Lesson, a star-studded adaptation of August Wilson’s decorated play. Per Netflix Tudum, Jackson and John David Washington will share the screen in the upcoming Netflix movie, reprising their roles from their turn in the 2022 Broadway revival about a family living in post-Great Depression Pittsburgh and the heirloom piano tracing back to slavery.
The movie, which is directed by Malcolm Washington and will be streaming for anyone with a Netflix subscription at some point in 2024, will also feature performances by Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, and Corey Hawkins.
Unholy Trinity - TBD
Throughout his career, Jackson has appeared in some of the best Western films, two of which are also some of Quentin Tarantino’s best movies, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the actor would return to the genre at some point. Well, that time will soon be here when Jackson takes on one of the major roles in Richard Gray’s Unholy Trinity, an upcoming revenge thriller set in the 1870s
According to Variety, the movie will follow a man as he’s tasked with tracking down and killing the man who framed his father for a crime he did not commit. But, when Henry Broadway (Brandon Lessard) rides into the town of Trinity, he finds himself caught between the local sheriff Gabriel Dove (Pierce Brosnan) and a mysterious man named St. Christopher (Jackson).
Afterburn - TBD
Everyone loves a great post-apocalyptic movie, right? Well, at some point soon, Samuel L. Jackson and wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista will share the screen in J.J. Perry’s Afterburn. Based on Scott Chitwood’s graphic novel of the same name, this upcoming book-to-screen adaptation will follow a treasure hunter named Jake (Bautista) as he is tasked with finding the Mona Lisa around a decade after a solar flare wiped out all technology and sent humanity back to the stone age. Jackson comes into the picture as Valentine, a freedom fighter.
According to Deadline, the upcoming action movie has been a passion project of producers Neal H. Moritz, Toby Jaffe, and Steve Richards for the past half-decade, and now it looks like it’s finally happening. We just don’t know exactly when at this time.
The Beast - TBD
Jackson has appeared in countless action movies over the years, and that won’t change in the near future, as he is slated to lead The Beast, the latest film from James Madigan. According to Deadline, Jackson will play the United States president as he becomes trapped in his heavily fortified limousine, nicknamed “The Beast,” during a coup attempt. The movie will also star Joel Kinnaman as the Secret Service agent assigned to protect POTUS during the attack.
No word on when this one will enter production, but considering both lead actors have a track record proving they’re up to the task, we’re very excited to hear more about this one in the coming weeks and months.
Head Games - TBD
Whether it’s movies like Patriot Games, Kingsman: The Secret Service, or Argylle, Samuel L. Jackson has a history of killing it in various spy films, and soon he’ll get a chance to do it again. According to Deadline, Jackson is set to lead Head Games, a sci-fi-centric spy thriller directed by Anthony Mandler that will see the legendary actor share the screen with Henry Golding of Crazy Rich Asians fame.
Head Games will follow a corporate spy as he poses as a personal chef to get close to the founder of a neuroprosthetics firm to steal a mysterious yet game-changing invention. The project was announced in May 2024 and there haven’t been any further updates since then, but we can likely expect that to change soon.
Last Meals - TBD
The actor should have at least one Oscar in his collection at this point in his historic career, but one of his most promising upcoming projects could finally be the one that does the trick. According to Deadline, Jackson is set to appear in Last Meals, a prison drama directed by Kenny Leon, that will see him take on the role of Walter, a disgraced White House chef who is now in charge of cooking the final meals of death row inmates. Playing opposite Jackson will be Boyd Holbrook, who is set to take on the role of Reed, an inmate who goes on a hunger strike to protest his eventual execution and make a claim for his innocence.
The movie is also set to feature Yellowstone’s Kelly Reilly, who will take on the role of a woman named Hannah who helps the two men take on the prison’s powerful warden (played by David Strahairn) while also helping other inmates in the prison.
Samuel L. Jackson's Future In The MCU
There are quite a few upcoming Marvel movies that have us all very excited, but there’s also a great deal of uncertain about nearly each of those highly-anticipated comic book movies. One of the biggest questions that comes up when talking about the next phases of the MCU is how Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury will play into things.
Ever since the first post-credits scene kickstarting the Avengers initiative at the end of Iron Man, Fury has been instrumental in the formation and growth of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and Jackson has been just as big of a part for the MCU. We last saw Fury during The Marvels ending, and it’s doubtful the character will go away and never been heard from again, but we just simply don’t know when or where that’ll be.
While we wait to hear more about what the badass actor has in store for us, now would be a great time to look back on the best Samuel L. Jackson movies and see how they hold up after all these years.
