The return of Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe in Spider-Man: No Way Home has set a new Guinness World Record, but there is one MCU actor on the current roster who could break this. Since the conception of the MCU, multiple actors have served long-running careers as their characters. The one actor in question who could contend for the title currently held by Maguire and Dafoe is still a solid presence within the MCU.

Maguire portrayed Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy between 2002 and 2007. Dafoe, on the other hand, only appeared twice as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin when including the Spider-Man 2 cameo. Returning for Spider-Man: No Way Home, Maguire and Dafoe broke the Guinness World Record for the longest career as a live-action Marvel character, which was previously held by Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart for their portrayals of Wolverine and Professor X in the X-Men franchise. Breaking the previous record of 16 years 232 days set by Jackman and Stewart, Maguire and Dafoe's new record currently stands at 19 years 225 days.

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Samuel L. Jackson has been present since the start of the MCU, making a debut appearance as Nick Fury in Iron Man. Since this first appearance in 2008, Jackson has served as Nick Fury for a current total of 13 years 176 days, with credits as the character in a total of 12 installments of the MCU, including the Disney+ series What If...?. With his next appearance set for the Disney+ series Secret Invasion, Nick Fury's future in the MCU shows no signs of slowing down. That said, Samuel L. Jackson has a solid chance of dethroning Maguire and Dafoe of their current record, being a rival that many may not have considered.

Nick Fury - featured image

There haven't been confirmations as of yet whether Tobey Maguire or Willem Dafoe are set to reappear in any future MCU installments, so if they both remain absent from the franchises immediate future, Samuel L. Jackson could break their newly claimed record fairly easily. With the establishment of the multiverse in the MCU, it doesn't completely eliminate the possibility of Maguire or Dafoe returning to their iconic roles. The advantage that Samuel L. Jackson has for portraying Nick Fury is that the character can be included in multiple storylines across the MCU seamlessly.

Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury has appeared in Phase 4 already, voicing variant versions of the character throughout four episodes of What If...? season 1. This isn’t the last time that Nick Fury will show up in Phase 4, with upcoming appearances in Secret Invasion and The Marvels. Although not much has been revealed about Nick Fury’s involvement in these installments, it does confirm that Marvel Studios have a plan mapped out for the character going forward in the franchise's future, which will most likely lead them into Phase 5 of the MCU. Nick Fury has had such an impact on the MCU. They have served as a crucial part of the franchise thus far. Their most notable achievement comes in the form of being the mastermind behind assembling the original Avengers roster in The Avengers, consisting of members like Black Widow and Hawkeye.

Although Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe’s iterations of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Norman Osborn/Green Goblin have become iconic since their first appearances, their impacts on the MCU haven’t been as considerable as Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury despite No Way Home's success. The title that Maguire and Dafoe currently share is a huge achievement in its own right, but it is a record that Jackson can easily break if Nick Fury reappears in Phase 5 and beyond, which is highly likely to be the case.

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