As The Avengers prepares to start shooting in April and hitting theaters next summer, all of the pieces of the Marvel Universe are starting to link up, and the common denominator for all of them is Nick Fury. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had a major role in Iron Man 2 as he tried to recruit Tony Stark for his league of superheroes, and now Samuel L. Jackson has confirmed that Fury will be performing a similar duty in both Thor and Captain America, the pre-Avengers films set to hit this summer.

Talking to Jimmy Fallon-- who basically got the kind of scoop we movie bloggers dream of constantly-- Jackson said he has yet to film his scenes for Thor and Captain America, and he has no idea if they'll be part of the film or after the credits, but that he'll appear in both films. He also dropped a little bit of information about The Avengers, namely that he'll have a female sidekick in the film. He'll be screen-testing alongside five contenders for the role this week, and describes the part as "a new character that's with me all the time." The "new character" bit suggests it's not Wasp, the female superhero frequently rumored to be part of the film.

So who will the character be? Will she have powers or just be kind of an overblown secretary? Speculate away in the comments, and check out the video of Jackson talking to Fallon below.