Spider-Man: Far From Home Director Wanted to Use Nick Fury Because He’s a “Bad MF’er”

When Peter Parker (Tom Holland) returns for his next adventure in Spider-Man: Far From Home, he finds himself opposite shadowy former S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the "bad motherf—ker" director Jon Watts originally hoped to involve in Homecoming.

"I always wanted to put our idealistic teenage hero Peter Parker against a jaded, world-weary super spy like Nick Fury," director Jon Watts told io9.

"I always thought that would be such a great combination of conflict and relationship to explore. That was something that was in my very, very, very first pitch and my very first meeting at Marvel — I was like, 'I want to see this kid go up against this bad motherf—ker,' you know? Tony Stark is like the cool, supportive rich uncle. Nick Fury is more like the mean, new stepdad. And I just thought it would be really fun to see those two worlds collide."

Fury is back with right-hand Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), both playing catch-up after spending the last five years "dead" — the pair were among the trillions of lives erased from existence by Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Infinity War — now running their own spy operation, which counts Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Dmitri (Numan Acar) as members.

"Nick's still doing what he does — operate out of the shadows," added producer Eric Carroll. "There's even a line in the movie where he's kind of like, 'any other interesting case files come in?' So it sort of seems like he's just trying to keep the planet safe in the way he does."

The dynamic is inspired in part by 1991 action-comedy If Looks Could Kill, which starred Richard Grieco as a high school student who found himself mixed up with a secret agent during an overseas class trip.

A similar situation confronts Peter Parker, whose European vacation with best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and crush MJ (Zendaya) is interrupted by Fury with a pressing mission: thwart the elemental monsters assaulting the continent.

"You get to have this teenage James Bond character," Watts told USA Today. "Total world-weary Nick Fury and enthusiastic New York teenager Peter Parker gallivanting across Europe – what's more fun than that? You put them together and you have some good stuff."

Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Samuel L. Jackson, Spider-Man: Far From Home opens July 2.

-----

Have you subscribed to ComicBook Nation, the official Podcast of ComicBook.com yet? Check it out by clicking here or listen below.

In this latest episode, we go all in on the IT CHAPTER TWO trailer and do a deep dive into all the movies coming out this summer! After Avengers: Endgame is there any movie worth seeing? Find out the answer and make sure to subscribe now to never miss an episode!