Samuel L Jackson's Marvel contract is a multi-picture deal that ties him to the cinematic universe for the long haul, so his appearance in the studio's movies, no matter how big the part, is something of a given.
He's recently been chatting about his upcoming appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and he told USA Today that "you see Nick Fury as the office guy, he's going about the day-to-day work of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the politics as opposed to that other stuff. It's great to have him dealing with Captain America in terms of being able to speak to him soldier to soldier and to try to explain to him how the world has changed in another way while he was frozen in time".
He added that "some of the people who used to be our enemies are now our allies – him trying to figure out 'well, how do you trust those guys?' or 'how do we trust guys that you didn't trust who don't trust you?' And explaining to him that the black and white of good guys/bad guys has now turned into this grey area. Nick lies to him all the time, too".
Jackson then went on to discuss Robert Redford's role as Alexander Pierce. "He's part of that World Security Council I was talking to in The Avengers, just he wasn't there. We also know each other because we've been comrades for a very long time … there's some stuff that's said that gives you an idea of how he's been a part of that environment for a long time and the kind of guy he was".
More on Captain America: The Winter Soldier when it's available.