'Avengers' Star Samuel L. Jackson Reveals How He Got Involved in Marvel Movies

Samuel L. Jackson debuted as Nick Fury in an iconic post-credits sequence in 2008's Iron Man, with the actor appearing in seven subsequent films, in addition to upcoming appearances in Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. The actor revealed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon that he signed on for the role of Fury when he realized the character was modeled after him in The Ultimates.

"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. "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.'"

The Ultimates debuted in 2002 and served as a new iteration of the Avengers, giving them a modern overhaul. One of the most effective ways of conveying who Fury was as a leader was to depict him as being a Samuel L. Jackson type, with the actor's many roles earning him a gruff yet admirably charming attitude.

"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,'" the actor shared. "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?'"

Both Jackson's performance and Fury's presence in comics have established an all-new interpretation of a classic character, with Jackson reminding viewers that Fury already earned a movie in 1998's Nick Fury: Agent of Shield TV movie.

"[Writer] Mark Millar and this other guy in England [Bryan Hitch] created that whole changeover from, who was it, David Hasselhoff. Hasselhoff was Nick Fury for a minute. There have been a couple," Jackson revealed.

Jackson will next be seen as Fury in Captain Marvel on March 8th.

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