Since the post-credit scene of Iron Man in 2008, Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury has been an integral Marvel Cinematic Universe character, and here is every one of his appearances ranked. Fury first appeared in Iron Man as the Marvel Comics superspy responsible for bringing together the live-action version of the Avengers. A year after Iron Man's release, Jackson signed an unprecedented nine-movie deal with Marvel Studios, solidifying his future career as the character.
Since then, Fury has gone on to appear in several MCU films and TV shows. In total, Jackson's Fury has played a role in 13 different MCU projects albeit in roles of varying size. From the earliest days of the MCU's Infinity Saga to headlining his own show with Secret Invasion in the Multiverse Saga, here is every one of Nick Fury's MCU timeline appearances ranked in order of worst to best.
13 Avengers: Endgame
Despite Avengers: Endgame being arguably the most important MCU project to date, Nick Fury's appearance in the culmination of the Infinity Saga is surprisingly brief. Fury is only present in one scene during Avengers: Endgame when he is shown attending Tony Stark's funeral towards the film's climax. While this is a nice sentiment and neatly ties into Fury's post-credit scene in Iron Man as the two characters who essentially began the MCU, the cameo is only a few seconds long and contains nothing of note from Fury. Due to the short length and lack of emotional presence in Avengers: Endgame, it counts as the worst of the character's MCU appearances.
12 Avengers: Infinity War
As was the case with Avengers: Endgame, Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury played a frustratingly small role in its predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War. Fury is not present in the film's main story, instead being relegated to the film's post-credit scene. Again only lasting a few minutes, the scene shows the effects of Thanos' snap from Fury's point of view, with the character disappearing as he uses a pager to call Carol Danvers' Captain Marvel to Earth.
The scene was vital to setting up the events of both Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, which is why Fury's Infinity War appearance does not rank last on this list. However, despite the humorous nod to Samuel L. Jackson's iconic foul-mouthed roles of the past, the scene offers little of note on Fury's actual character. Fury is used more as a vehicle to introduce Captain Marvel to the MCU, with the exploration of his views on Thanos' attack being left for Secret Invasion. As such, Fury's Avengers: Infinity War appearance comes second-last above only his appearance in the film's sequel.
11 Thor
Similar to Fury's appearance in Avengers: Infinity War, Fury's role in 2011's Thor is undeniably important to the overarching story of the MCU. Fury is shown in Thor's post-credit scene, introducing Erik Selvig - unknowingly under the influence of Loki - to the Tesseract which is essential to the story of 2012's The Avengers. That said, this scene also fails to give Fury anything of substance regarding his character other than setting up his appearance in the final film of the MCU's Phase 1.
10 Captain America: The First Avenger
Unlike Fury's Thor cameo, the character's appearance in 2010's Captain America: The First Avenger offers slightly more concerning substance. Fury appears in the film's final scene, revealing that he and his allies at S.H.I.E.L.D. were the ones looking over the titular superhero since he was recovered from the Arctic. While only again having a short role, Fury's Captain America: The First Avenger cameo shows a little more about his character than his prior Phase 1 appearances.
The ruse of housing Steve in a 1940s-esque room showcases Fury's competence as a spy as he is willing to create such an environment for his own gain. Beyond that though, Fury's direct interaction with Steve Rogers shows his somewhat more comionate side, as he reveals the environment was crafted so as to not overwhelm Rogers' new time period. This scene makes The First Avengers’ ending one of the MCU’s strongest, largely thanks to Nick Fury. Furthermore, the post-credit scene of the film has Fury presenting Cap with the mission for The Avengers, further solidifying his importance to the 2012 film.
9 Iron Man 2
Standing out among Nick Fury's cameo appearances in Phase 1 of the MCU is his Iron Man 2 appearance. The follow-up to Iron Man gave Fury much more to do regarding his character, establishing his connection with Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in the process. While not the most integral to the plot of Iron Man 2, Fury's appearance in the 2010 film served as further setup for The Avengers while showing a little more about what his character could offer aside from being the Avengers' mediator as he was shown in Iron Man, including his more antagonist side.
8 Spider-Man: Far From Home
Undoubtedly the lengthiest of all Nick Fury's MCU appearances mentioned on the list thus far comes in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Unlike the four prior movies, Spider-Man: Far From Home makes Fury integral to the film's plot. Samuel L. Jackson's consistently great performance, Fury's action sequences, his importance to Far From Home's story, and his interactions with Spider-Man are enough to rank this MCU appearance from the superspy above the prior four entries. However, what stops Nick Fury's Spider-Man: Far From Home appearance from ranking any higher is the shocking revelation that the film did not feature Nick Fury at all, at least until the film's post-credit scene.
All the best parts of the film centering on Nick Fury become somewhat tarnished after the reveal that it was actually his Skrull friend Talos impersonating him throughout the film, one of the MCU's several Nick Fury retcons. Therefore, Fury's only actual appearance in Far From Home comes in the last few seconds of the movie as he is shown in space with a group of Skrulls to set up Secret Invasion. Despite this, Jackson's performance is still great, and the importance of "Nick Fury" to the film's plot is enough to rank his Spider-Man: Far From Home appearance as eighth on this list.
7 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
While Nick Fury's brief appearances in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are not as lengthy as the one in Spider-Man: Far From Home, for example, they represent an interesting element of the franchise. Fury's appearances in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1 served as the first true crossover between Marvel Studios' film and TV projects. On top of this, Fury's appearances go to further his character somewhat by strengthening his relationship with Agent Coulson.
Fury's role in the final episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1 is a testament to this. Fury's cameo in the episode shows the superspy expressing his respect for Phil Coulson and stating that the former considers the latter an Avenger. This is a rare moment of true friendship showcased by Fury, which is improved when he appoints Coulson as the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. This scene works in the context of the wider MCU and furthers a deeper exploration of Fury's comionate side hinted at in Captain America: The First Avenger.
6 Avengers: Age of Ultron
Next in the list of Nick Fury's MCU appearances comes his role in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Much like the other higher-ranked projects in this list, Avengers: Age of Ultron shows a different side to Nick Fury's character. Rather than the one-note superspy that he was shown as in some of Phase 1's post-credit appearances, Age of Ultron shows Fury after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. as simply a man who is trying to galvanize the team he put together to defeat a common enemy.
The lack of S.H.I.E.L.D. shows a much more relaxed side to Nick Fury, with Age of Ultron's biggest strength being that it shows the Avengers as friends rather than colleagues. This extends to Fury himself, whose deeper connections with Captain America and Black Widow shine through in the scene at the Bartons' homestead. This more at-ease version of Fury then makes his return to action in the film's climax more exciting, with Fury's Avengers: Age of Ultron appearance being one of the few in the MCU to show more than one side to the long-lasting character.
5 Iron Man
While the rest of Nick Fury's post-credit Phase 1 appearances have ranked lower on this list, the overall importance of his similar role in Iron Man cannot be understated. Despite not showing a deeper side to Fury's character, Iron Man's post-credit scene is perhaps one of the most game-changing sequences in modern cinema. What began as a standalone movie based on a D-list Marvel Comics character quickly became the inception of a shared universe that will prove to be one of Hollywood's most successful franchises in history, all because of the appearance of Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury.
Hearing Fury utter the words "The Avenger Initiative" is enough to rank his Iron Man appearance above the others below it, primarily due to its importance to what the MCU would become. The scene worked incredibly well as a setup for what was to come, foreshadowing both Iron Man and Nick Fury's importance to future MCU stories. Without this scene, Nick Fury would not have had any of the other appearances featured in this list, proving his Iron Man cameo as a top-five MCU appearance.
4 Secret Invasion
Nick Fury's first lead role in the MCU came in 2023's Disney+ series Secret Invasion. More than any other project that Nick Fury has appeared in, Secret Invasion offered the best look at the man beneath the leather jacket and eyepatch. From showing the effects that Thanos' snap had on him to his relationship with the Skrulls and his mysterious wife who had only been mentioned once in the MCU up to that point, Secret Invasion featured the deepest exploration of Nick Fury's character to date. Secret Invasion also explained Nick Fury’s space excursion, answering a mystery about the character from Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Not only that, but it is the only MCU appearance of Fury's to address his background as a black man in America, which provided for some fantastic scenes in the show's earlier episodes. Samuel L. Jackson expectedly rose to the occasion of having his first lead MCU role, with his performance often carrying the series as a broken yet still competent Nick Fury. While the exploration of Fury himself is fantastic, unfortunately, the overall quality of Secret Invasion prevents his appearance from being ranked higher, yet fourth place is an irable spot for Nick Fury's well-deserved MCU spotlight.
