Samuel L. Jackson Once Wasn’t Completely Sure Nick Fury Would Stay Black in Marvel Films
Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most central figures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in his role as Nick Fury. But Jackson wasn’t entirely convinced that the movie version of Nick Fury would resemble his comic book counterpart.
How Samuel L. Jackson reacted to Nick Fury looking exactly like him in the comics
Jackson wasn’t immediately aware of his likeness being used for the Nick Fury character in the comic books Marvel produced. Jackson has always been an avid comic book reader and collector. So the actor first learned about Nick Fury’s sudden resemblance towards him while doing his routine comic book shopping.
“I still buy comic books, so I go to this store in L.A., Golden Apple, and I was in there one day and I’m passing the rack and I see this thing, The Ultimates, and I go, ‘Wow, it looks like me,'” Jackson recalled to Comic Book.
Ironically, the Nick Fury character in the comics referred to Jackson as the only actor he’d want playing him in a movie.
“So I started looking, and it’s like, Nick Fury looks just like me, and I’m reading, and he goes, ‘Well, if they make a movie about us, who do you want to play you?’ And Nick Fury goes, ‘Samuel L. Jackson.’ I go, ‘I didn’t give anybody my permission to use my image in a comic book,'” Jackson said.
Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t completely sure Nick Fury was going to stay black in the Marvel films
After Jackson discovered his likeness being used for the comics, he immediately tried to get to the bottom of the issue. He went so far as asking one of his handlers to contact Marvel.
“So I immediately call my agent and go, ‘What’s going on with this Ultimates thing?’ and she says, ‘What is that?’ ‘It’s a comic book, it’s got my image in it, and it talks about me being in a movie.’ She said, ‘Let me call somebody,'” Jackson said. “So she calls Marvel and they say, ‘Well, we are thinking about making these movies and, hopefully, if we make them, he would play Nick Fury.’ I’m like, ‘For real?'”
Jackson would also express his interest in playing Nick Fury to former Marvel producer Avi Arad. But he wasn’t entirely sure Nick Fury’s new image in the comics would carry on to the movies.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing if Nick Fury is actually gonna stay black when they get ready to make a movie,” Jackson once said in an interview with Mark Walters.
Before Nick Fury, however, Jackson previously saw himself as another Marvel superhero.
“I always wanted to be Iron Man. Because he’s kind of a rich dude, who created this stuff. He’s not really kept as a superhero, he just creates stuff to make himself a superhero. But Nick Fury would be great. I’ve been reading Nick Fury since The Howling Commandos,” he said.
Samuel L. Jackson once joked about what David Hasselhoff taught him about Nick Fury
Before Jackson, Knight Rider star David Hasselhoff eventually wore the eyepatch as the character. Hasselhoff originally portrayed Nick Fury in the 1998 TV movie Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Although Hasselhoff considered being the character a career highlight, he seemed eager to see Jackson’s take on the Marvel hero.
“I love Samuel Jackson. He’s a friend, and he was actually a neighbor of mine. He’s a terrific choice for Nick Fury and he’ll be so frickin’ cool because he’s got an attitude,” Hasselhoff once told MTV News.
However, not everyone enjoyed the 1998 interpretation of Nick Fury, including Jackson. But Jackson quipped that Hasselhoff’s Nick Fury inspired him in a way after seeing the television movie.
“I watched David Hasselhoff…and decided I wasn’t going to do any of that,” Jackson once said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly (via Comic Book).
