How A Comic Book Led To Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury Casting
It would be hard to imagine a Marvel Cinematic Universe without Samuel L. Jackon's Nick Fury steering the ship. Since his post-credits debut in "Iron Man" in 2008, Jackson has more or less been the connective tissue holding the entire franchise together. But long before the MCU was even a thing, Jackson had already been cast as the S.H.I.E.L.D. director — he just didn't know it yet.
In 2002, six years before the launch of the MCU, writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch were rebooting The Avengers for Marvel Comics in "The Ultimates," a limited series that saw many of Marvel's heroes reimagined. One of the most obvious changes made by the series was in the appearance of Nick Fury. While Fury had traditionally been portrayed as a white man with graying hair in the Marvel Comics universe, "The Ultimates" version of the character was African-American, bald, and bore an undeniable resemblance to Samuel L. Jackson. At one point, Fury even muses that the actor should play him in a movie.
Millar told Business Insider in 2015, "Sam is famously the coolest man alive and both myself and artist Bryan Hitch just liberally used him without asking any kind of permission. You have to remember this was 2001 when we were putting this together. The idea that this might become a movie seemed preposterous."
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The inspiration for this redesign was blatantly obvious and readers weren't the only ones to notice the resemblance. Samuel L. Jackson himself, while browsing a comic shop, came across a copy of "The Ultimates" and was shocked to see his face on the pages. After his representatives reached out to Marvel, he learned that there were already plans in place for him to take on the role in what would eventually become the MCU.
Though his likeness may have been used without his permission, Jackson took it in stride. When Millar and Jackson met for the first time, the writer said he hoped Jackson didn't have any bad feelings over them co-opting his appearance. In signature Samuel L. Jackson style, he responded: "F***, no, man. Thanks for the 9 picture deal."
But it's been even more than nine pictures for Jackson at this point and Fury has become one of his most defining roles. Millar and Hitch may have only been using his likeness as a goof when creating "The Ultimates," but that decision seemingly resulted in Jackson becoming the anchor of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.