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Back in the mid-’90s, Samuel L. Jackson got a piece of advice that aged like gold. It came from none other than Bruce Willis, during the making of Die Hard with a Vengeance. Flash forward to today, and that casual chat feels oddly prophetic. Why? Because that advice pretty much predicted Jackson’s legendary run as Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In a recent Vanity Fair interview, Jackson shared when Willis dropped that gem of wisdom. “He told me, ‘Hopefully you’ll be able to find a character that, when you make bad movies and they don’t make any money, you can always go back to this character everybody loves,’” Samuel L. Jackson recalled. He even name-dropped action legends: Arnold has Terminator, Stallone has Rocky and Rambo, and Willis himself had John McClane. Jackson? At the time, he had none. But fate had other plans.
Nick Fury Was Written For Jackson Before He Knew It
Jackson didn’t go searching for his “go-to” role, it basically landed in his lap. In 2008’s Iron Man, Nick Fury showed up for a short post-credits tease. Nobody knew it then, but that one-minute cameo launched a legacy. Thirteen MCU projects later, Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury has become one of the franchise’s most important and consistent characters.
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And here’s the kicker: Marvel Comics’ Ultimate version of Nick Fury, created years before the MCU even existed, was literally modeled after Jackson. When Marvel Studios started casting for Fury, it wasn’t about finding the right actor but about making good on what the comics had already set in motion.
Jackson himself didn’t even realize he was living by Willis’ advice until much later. “It didn’t occur to me until I got that Nick Fury role—and I had a nine-picture deal to be Nick Fury—that, Oh, I’m doing what Bruce said,” Jackson said.
Fury’s Legacy: From Cameos To Leading The Charge
Let’s not forget what Jackson’s Fury actually did in the MCU. He wasn’t just dropping one-liners in the shadows, he pulled the strings that made the Avengers happen. He recruited Tony Stark, put together the original team, and played mentor to everyone from Black Widow to Captain Marvel. Off-screen, he tangled with shape-shifting Skrulls, fought off a secret Kree invasion, and helped create the Super Skrulls.
While his most recent appearance (2023’s Secret Invasion) got mixed reviews, it still marked Fury’s biggest solo spotlight. And despite the slower pace of recent Marvel phases, Nick Fury remains a key player in the MCU chessboard. Whether or not Samuel L. Jackson continues with the role, it’s there waiting for him, just like Willis predicted all those years ago.
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