Secret Invasion: Samuel L. Jackson & Don Cheadle's First Shared MCU Scene Is 'Juicy'

Despite being major parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the past decade and then some, Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle haven't interacted as Nick Fury and James "War Machine" Rhodes a single time on-screen. It's one of those movie facts that feels like it should be false but is indeed true. However, that will no longer be the case very soon, thanks to the MCU Phase Five installment "Secret Invasion" on Disney+. The two franchise icons will finally meet on the program, and when they do, it'll supposedly be more than worth the wait.

"What's cool about this is we're seeing both of these characters in a very different way than we've seen them before," Cheadle explained during a "Secret Invasion" cast roundtable via Entertainment Weekly, teasing that Rhodey and Fury will almost be adversaries within the story of "Secret Invasion." At the same time, Jackson — who described the moment as "juicy" — notes that the unseen history between the two characters makes their first scene together incredibly powerful as they try to find common ground while serving their respective causes.

If you think the proper on-screen meeting of Rhodey and Fury is long overdue, you're not alone. The actors behind them are baffled that it took until "Secret Invasion" for them to share a scene.

Over the years, Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle have appeared in many of the same MCU productions, though their characters never interacted in the same frame. From "Iron Man 2" to "Avengers: Endgame," it seemed like there would be numerous opportunities for them to chat, but none arose. Though "Secret Invasion" rectifies this surprising injustice, it doesn't do so in the way the two actors would've expected it to. Cheadle shared, "We thought we should have been in Wakanda together. We thought, 'Really? You're not going to pull us into Wakanda?"

As for Jackson, he just wonders why Black MCU heroes like Nick Fury and James Rhodes don't chill together, adding, "We're in the same space in the Marvel universe, and we were questioning the fact of, 'How come the brothers in the Marvel universe never hang out?'" At any rate, both Jackson and Cheadle are just happy to finally work opposite one another in a scene after so many years of missed opportunities. As two holdouts from a bygone era in the MCU, it's only right that such a moment has come to fruition at last.

"Secret Invasion" will run for six episodes exclusively on Disney+.