‘Unbreakable’ Predicted Marvel Casting Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury

When it comes to superhero movies, Samuel L. Jackson has a pretty busy year. Not only did he recently star in M. Knight Shyamalan’s Glass, but he’ll be back on the big screen as Nick Fury in the upcoming Captain Marvel and maybe even Avengers: Endgame, too. But it’s his appearance in Unbreakable back on 2000 that has some fans buzzing with the idea that one role predicted the other.

Over on Reddit, user “raysmo” recently shared a screenshot from Unbreakable in which Jackson’s Elijah Price/Mr. Glass is sitting in a wheelchair beneath three framed comic book covers: Thor, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Daredevil. The assumption? That this moment from Unbreakable predicted that Jackson would go on to play Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The idea that one movie from a completely unconnected universe might predict casting for another is a pretty crazy idea — a “twist”, if you will. However, as some who commented on the post noted, it’s actually may or may not be a bit of a stretch. Unbreakable opened in theaters in 2000, the same year that Marvel’s Ultimate Universe debuted. Within that Ultimate Universe, Nick Fury appeared for the first time in 2001 on the pages of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #5 with a look closer to a young version of the mainstream Nick Fury — hair, younger, fewer scars around his eyepatch. It wasn’t until 2002 in The Ultimates that the character was redesigned, strongly resembling Jackson.

While the gap in time from Unbreakable‘s release and the Jackson-resembling Fury appearing in comics, one could argue that the movie was predictive, but at the same time, there are two other comic books in the scene. As one Reddit user notes, the screenshot is just as indicative that Jackson could have become Thor or Daredevil — and specifically, if Unbreakable were predicting any future it would be for Thor as Jackson’s character is directly under and in front of the Thor comic.

Realistically, the Unbreakable/Nick Fury connection is likely just a fun coincidence, but still one that’s fun to consider. It would be eight years before Jackson portrayed Fury for Marvel, appearing in the post-credits scene of Iron Man in which he met Tony Stark at his home in Malibu to discuss the Avengers Initiative. At the time, fans had no clue that Iron Man would give way to the expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe or just how significant that scene would be. It turns out that the post-credits scene also was a quick one to film as well.

“I was there maybe an hour and a half, because I think at that time, I had my own mustache and goatee,” Jackson told Vanity Fair.

Short filming time aside, it’s something that had a big impact on Jackson.

“Having been a comic-book fan my whole life and knowing who Nick Fury was and the history of it, to go into a comic-book store and see myself on a comic book was like, ‘Wait a minute. This is awesome,’” Jackson said. “And if that had been what it was, that would have been fine. But actually, it bred a real presence beyond anything I could have imagined. It’s been a real joy to be able to hang out with all of these superheroes and find out who they are, find out how Nick Fury fits in their world, without having a particular superpower—other than being very persuasive. It’s pure joy.”

Unbreakable is in theaters now. Avengers: Infinity War is now available on home video. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8th, Avengers: Endgame on April 26th and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.

What do you think about the Unbreakable/Nick Fury prediction theory? Let us know in the comments below.