With so much casting news for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4, it's easier to ask who won't be appearing in these movies than who will. Well, contrary to earlier reports, it appears as if we can count Samuel L. Jackson among this particular group. Even though Nick Fury has been an important player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since he introduced himself to Tony Stark in Iron Man, Jackson apparently has not gotten the call yet to participate in either of the upcoming Avengers movies. According to Jackson:
I wasn't in the 'superhero argument' movie ['Captain America: Civil War'], I'm not in 'Avengers 3 and 4'. They're shooting them now, and they haven't called me yet.
Samuel L. Jackson expressed his displeasure earlier this year about not being able to appear as Nick Fury in Black Panther, and while being interviewed by Yahoo Movies, Jackson revealed that as of right now, he hasn't heard anything about him appear in either Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers 4. Fury was last seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron aiding Earth's Mightiest Heroes with evacuating Sokovia's capitol and setting up the team's new base. He was nowhere to be seen during the "argument" that was Captain America: Civil War, and his whereabouts haven't been addressed at all in Phase Three yet.
Avengers: Infinity War wrapped up its principal photography last month, so unless directors Joe and Anthony Russo decide to film something extra later this year, it doesn't appear that Samuel L. Jackson will be involved with the fight against Thanos next year. Avengers 4, on the other hand, kicked off shooting last week, and will continue until December. Since that will be the final movie of Phase Three, it's hard to imagine that Jackson isn't called in to at least make a cameo. One would think that Fury is important enough to revisit before the MCU enters this new era. After all, he is the man who brought the original Avengers team together. That's worth at least a few minutes of screen time.
Fortunately for Samuel L. Jackson, despite currently not expecting to appear in the upcoming Avengers movies, he likely won't be sitting out of the MCU for much longer. It was confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con that his character appear in 2019's Captain Marvel, though because that movie is set in the 1990s, Jackson will have to be playing a younger Fury (if they decide to go down that road). Nevertheless, it would be nice to know what's happened to his present day self following the conflict with Ultron, and from there either wrap up his story or set the stage for him to be involved with Phase Four.
Avengers: Infinity War will hit theaters on May 4, 2018, and Avengers 4 will follow on May 3, 2019. Captain Marvel will precede the latter by a few months, coming out on March 8, 2019.
