Thanks to new details from Marvel's WandaVision, it seems as though whatever Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has been doing in space, it's not related to the organization known as SWORD. Instead, his secret operations could very well be setting up the Winter Soldier's (Sebastian Stan) future in the MCU's Phase 4. In Marvel Comics, Jason Aaron's Original Sin event revealed that Fury was one of Earth's first defenders. Apart from leading SHIELD, Fury worked in the shadows as a one-man army known as the Man on the Wall, protecting the Earth from all kinds of threats. On a smaller scale, it could be construed that this is what's likewise beginning to happen in the MCU, especially now that it's confirmed Fury is now engaged in space operations. Regardless, it's evident that Fury has built his own independent outfit using various connections to make sure the world stays safe, and Bucky Barnes could soon play a big role in that effort.

Ever since the fall of SHIELD in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, former director Nick Fury has been working alongside Maria Hill to monitor and take care of various threats, such as when he provided the Avengers with a helicarrier in Avengers: Age of Ultron, or his recruitment of Spider-Man to help save the world in Spider-Man: Far From Home. However, the Nick Fury and Hill seen in the Spider-Man sequel were revealed to be the alien Skrulls Talos and his wife Soren, working undercover while the real Fury was surprisingly off-planet. Apparently, the actual Fury is in space, seemingly having expanded his operation to the stars in the film's post-credits scene. While many thought this was Fury building the organization known as SWORD, Marvel's WandaVision series has recently confirmed that SWORD was founded years earlier by Captain Marvel's Maria Rambeau, and was in operation with SHIELD simultaneously.

Related: Endgame: Why Captain America Didn't Take Bucky With Him To The Past

This means is that whatever Nick Fury is doing in space, it's most likely a solo venture on his part to protect the world from extraterrestrial threats. Again, this is not unlike his secret role in Original Sin, where Fury confessed to being the world's "Man on the Wall". However, the event also saw him ready to choose a successor in the event of his death, which is where Bucky Barnes comes in. In the comics, the Winter Soldier took on Fury's mission to be the new Man on the Wall, and the opportunity now exists for the MCU to follow suit.

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Sebastian Stan's next appearance as Bucky Barnes will be in Marvel's Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which will see Bucky and Sam Wilson dealing with the return of the villain Zemo. It's also expected that Sam Wilson will fully embrace the shield given to him by Steve Rogers in Avengers: Endgame, and he'll truly become the next Captain America by the series' end. However, it's unknown what's next for the Winter Soldier afterward. While he could certainly continue his partnership with Wilson into the future of Phase 4, it would also be impressive if he were recruited by Nick Fury himself to be the MCU's version of the Man on the Wall.

Whatever Fury is specifically doing in space with the Skrulls, it looks as though the payoff will most likely occur in the recently announced Secret Invasion series coming to Disney Plus, which has been confirmed to star Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn as Fury and Talos respectively. While it's just conjecture, it's certainly possible that the Winter Solider could make an appearance in this series as well, joining Fury in his efforts to keep the world safe on their own terms. Additionally, it would certainly be a dynamic cliffhanger for Falcon and the Winter Soldier if Nick Fury himself recruited the Winter Soldier to be the MCU's Man on the Wall at the end of the series, acting as a fun callback to when he recruited Iron Man for the Avengers Initiative at the birth of the MCU.

More: Netflix Answers What The MCU Can't: What If Falcon Was A Super Soldier?

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