Marvel is moving on from SHIELD, but Nick Fury's story can continue through the organization known as SWORD in Phase 4 of the The Avengers.
SHIELD became even more important when of the organization received their own series on ABC, titled Agents of SHIELD is wrapping up with its seventh and final season, which is set to premiere in late May. After that, it'll be a remnant of the MCU's early years.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is 12 years old now, and a lot of things have changed, with Marvel putting characters like Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans) behind them, and moving on to new heroes and concepts like WandaVision.
In the comics, SWORD is similar to SHIELD, but its function is different. The group, which is led by a woman named Abigail Brand in the comic books, focuses on extraterrestrial threats, whereas SHIELD was always largely concerned with global threats. Set photos from Spider-Man: Far From Home when Nick Fury was seen on a space station, but that connection has not been confirmed. But if Far From Home did include SWORD, it would seem that Nick Fury is either involved in the MCU's version of the space agency or is their leader and founder.
Nick Fury leading or at least being part of SWORD makes sense for his character. For most of his career as SHIELD's director, Fury naturally had to deal with enemies that he understood, but Fury's life hasn't been like that for a while now, with most of Earth's biggest threats coming from outer space. But SWORD, an agency that operates on a much grander scale, can act as sort of an evolved version of SHIELD that has the tools necessary to protect the world from enemies that the terrestrial organization wouldn't have had a defense for. If this is what the MCU has in store for Nick Fury in Phase 4, then his role could be established through a cameo in WandaVision and explored further in Captain Marvel 2.
