When Captain America: Civil War came out in theaters back in 2016, one question came to many fans' minds: where was Nick Fury? Among those wondering was the very actor who portrayed Fury himself, Samuel L. Jackson.

Captain America: Civil War centered on a conflict between the Avengers, with only a handful of members sitting out of the drama. While it made sense that Thor and the Hulk wouldn't make an appearance because they were off-planet, there was no explanation for why the former head of S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't present.

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In a recent roundtable for The Hollywood Reporter with other Marvel actors, including Jackson, Brian Cox, Tom Hiddleston, Oscar Isaac, and Michael Keaton, Jackson expressed both his frustration and confusion that Fury, who was the one who introduced the OG Avengers to each other in the first place, wasn't around for the internal struggle between the heroes six years ago. "The initial film was to introduce these people to who they are and these are the things they can do," Jackson said. "Now, this is how they interact and they’re not all nice. And I fussed at them, I still fuss at them, about (Captain America:) Civil War because I’m like, 'How could the kids fight and Nick Fury not show up?' Like, 'What’s going on here? Everybody go to your room.' But they didn’t need me for that. They did, but they didn’t." Tom Hiddleston then added that his character, Loki, was also not in the film.

Captain America and his teammates run toward battle in Captain America: Civil War

One possible reason why Fury was not included was that there was no need for him. Fury is more of a spy than he is a superhero. There's no reason for him to have a stake in the fight. Perhaps if the film's conflict was primarily about the Sokovia Accords more than anything else, perhaps Fury could have played a role, but it wasn't. The conflict revolved around Captain America trying to protect his friend from the punishment that he ultimately did not deserve because of the crimes he was forced to commit. Also, knowing the Hydra personnel that were still out there, it was in Fury's best interest to lie low.

From a plot perspective, including Fury also may have been seen as overdoing it. The film originally included Spider-Man for the sole reason of introducing the comic's most popular hero into the cinematic universe because they knew that is what fans wanted to finally see. Trying to fit that in as well as a subplot regarding Fury may have been too much. At the time, Captain America: Civil War was the most ambitious crossover Marvel Studios had ever done, so if there were characters they didn't have to include in the film, they didn't include them. Fury didn't have to be in the film, so they didn't put him in.

Still, they could have at the very least explained why he wasn't there. Considering that Marvel Studios has gotten very much into spinoffs and prequels, fans would like to see what else was going on when the Avengers were falling apart as a team. Maybe Marvel could do a series about Fury and Maria Hill taking down undercover Hydra agents in S.H.I.E.L.D. after they had been exposed because of the events that happened during Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Marvel Studios is squeezing every last bit of material they can out of their characters. Why not try something like that?

Captain America: Civil War can currently be streamed on Disney Plus.

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Source: The Hollywood Reporter