The MCU Cameo That Almost Happened In Breaking Bad
In the universe of AMC's Breaking Bad, a lot of wild stuff goes down in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's a town where a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher like a certain Mr. Walter White (Bryan Cranston) can rise to become the infamous Heisenberg, the most feared meth kingpin in the entire region; where an equally mild-mannered, police-boosting owner of a chicken restaurant chain like Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) can somehow be an even more ruthless, well-connected criminal; and where mute, terrifying Juarez cartel hitmen like Leonel and Marco Salamanca (Daniel and Luis Moncada) can move about with impunity, packing giant, gleaming axes and carrying out brash daytime attempts on the lives of pesky DEA agents. In this universe, the town also happens to be ridiculously photogenic, placing it firmly into the category of places you might want to visit, but you wouldn't want to live.
You might recall that Albuquerque is also a town where some seriously weird stuff happens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — which, coincidentally enough, began in 2008, the same year as Breaking Bad. Specifically, it's where Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor, lands after the thunder god is expelled from Asgard in his eponymous 2011 feature, followed in short order by Thor himself. Later, Thor's adopted brother Loki sends an indestructible Destroyer to the town to kill Thor. There's a huge, destructive battle — you know, the kind of stuff that might happen all the time in big cities, but rarely in mid-sized New Mexico towns... right?
Well, interestingly enough, Albuquerque nearly became the focal point for an unlikely crossover between Breaking Bad (which notably contains no references to superheroes) and the MCU (which notably contains no references to meth). It almost happened with an appearance on the series by one key MCU character — and if you now have in mind the one you think is most likely to be right at home in both properties, you're probably right on the money.
Breaking Bad's Albuquerque almost got a surprise visit from Nick Fury
Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury has long made a habit of popping up where he's least expected. Whether he's emerging from the shadows in Tony Stark's living room during Iron Man's post-credits scene (the MCU's very first), or hanging out in a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facility after faking his death in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it seems like hardly anyone ever expects to see Fury when he shows up. This would have been particularly true if a pitch floated by Jackson to the producers of Breaking Bad had come to fruition.
In a 2012 interview with IndieWire, Jackson revealed that for a time, it happened to work out that Breaking Bad and a little Marvel Studios production you may have heard of titled The Avengers were shooting in close proximity to each other. "[The Breaking Bad crew] shot in the studio right across from us in Albuquerque," he explained. Jackson's pitch: to have Fury, in all his eye-patched glory, stroll into Fring's Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant for a bite. "I just wanted to order a three piece and really freak people out," Jackson said. "Then people would be going, 'Wow, was that him?'"
Unfortunately, the creative minds behind Breaking Bad apparently weren't keen to merge their world with one so fantastical as that of the MCU. We submit, though, that there may have been a different reason. You see, in a season 2 episode of AMC's other flagship series, The Walking Dead, sharp-eyed viewers caught a glimpse of a baggie containing what appeared to be Heisenberg's signature blue meth — implying that at some point after the events of Breaking Bad, the world became overrun with zombies. So, perhaps one connection to the fantastical was all that Breaking Bad's creatives were down for. It's a shame, though — allowing the MCU to join the mix would have resulted in an easy setup for a live-action Marvel Zombies, and who doesn't want that?