Sam Jackson To Play Nick Fury in 'Iron Man,' AICN Claims
Filed under: Action, Casting, RumorMonger, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Although Zak Penn has said that he won't start writing an Avengers script anytime soon, that might be changing. According to AICN, Marvel is taking the first step toward integrating the superhero universe on the big screen by potentially laying down the foundation for an Avengers movie during next summer's Iron Man. That's right, apparently Nick Fury will be introduced as a character in the film, and he'll be played by none other than Samuel L. Jackson. Are you drooling yet? While it's still in the rumor stages, all signs point to this being a reality -- in fact, on Fury's Wikipedia page, it already mentions the fact that Sam Jackson is playing the character in the upcoming Iron Man film. So there's two sources, both with the same information -- and AICN claims Jackson is shooting his scenes this week.
Also on the Wikipedia page (and this is something I did not know), it says that the Ultimate Nick Fury was modeled after Samuel L. Jackson, with the actor's permission. So it would totally make sense for Jackson to be interested in the role. Additionally, Iron Man is one of the Marvel-related films that is being developed from scratch by Marvel Enterprises (and not some random studio), which means it's more likely that they'll not only take chances, but also give the die hard fans want they want. We're not sure if Fury's involvement here means there won't be an entire Nick Fury movie at some point, or if the character will only appear once before showing up in an Avengers movie. Jackson is cool and all, but the dude is not getting any younger -- so I imagine an Avengers flick would have to happen within the next five years.
Seeing as it looks like they're going with the Ultimate version of Fury, they'll most likely use the storyline of him being a Gulf War veteran and spy. I'm not sure how they'll work in a meeting between Fury and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), but at some point Fury becomes the General of S.H.I.E.L.D. and leader of The Ultimates, or Avengers. Will all that be set up in Iron Man? Will they officially announce Jackson's participation at the upcoming San Diego ComicCon? Guess we'll have to wait to find out. In the meantime, what do you think about all this?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-21-2007 @ 10:39AM
kel said...
If true, this is incredible news, as it really could pave the way for an Avengers/Ultimates movie. But using Wikipedia as a source? How credible is that?
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6-21-2007 @ 10:45AM
Yaktastic said...
Boy i hope they have some sort of Sm jackson as Fury vs. the Hoff as Fury showdown
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6-21-2007 @ 11:13AM
Akbar Fazil said...
I like the casting. Will be interesting to see if this comes true.
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6-21-2007 @ 12:31PM
Scott K said...
You know I was kind of hoping they would avoid sort of mixing Ultimate Marvel characters and regular Marvel characters together. Since Ultimate Nick Fury was based on Jackson I was afraid this might happen. I'd prefer they stick to the original Fury since this isn't an Ultimate Iron Man movie.
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6-21-2007 @ 12:43PM
NitroFrost said...
#4 I couldn't agree more Why would you mix the series. This is really stupid.
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6-21-2007 @ 5:03PM
Cath said...
I'm of two minds on this: while it's nice to see the Ultimate universe Nick Fury, I also like the regular universe Nick Fury but can't imagine who could play him.
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6-21-2007 @ 6:28PM
ThePete said...
Wow--Sam as Nick? I thought The Hoff did a great job--although, I bet he had to turn down the role thanks to his little "family" problems. :)
Still, I don't remember Iron Man coming across SHIELD too often (or at all), so I'm not sure what they've got in mind. Though I've never read the Ultimates, so I can't comment about that. I just prefer the original concept of Fury being a WWII veteran. I wouldn't mind if they updated it to Korea or Vietnam though. The Gulf War wasn't much of a war. I mean, did they even see that much combat? Fury would have to be one unlucky SOB to get his eye shot out in the Gulf War. I mean, what a puss!
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6-22-2007 @ 3:55PM
Chris said...
I don't mind them using the Ultimate Nick as long as it leans towards being that version of the Shield as well. If its the normal 616 Shield with Sam Jackson, I don't see much point. I liked the slightly more realistic take on Shield and the creation and funding of the Ultimates vs the Avengers, and I think that would play out better in the long run for the movies.
Think of it as the more real world grounded approach they took in the last Batman movie. Yes its still about a crazy man in tights, but the world itself felt a little more possible.
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6-25-2007 @ 10:54AM
moin syyed said...
hmmmmmm, i'm not sure about this,,i'm not racist but i think that they should've established the orginal 'white' nick fury . Althought he's not as mainstream as other marvel character fans will pick up on this and find it a bit strange if nick fury come across a bit 'urban' and almost as strange as the kingpin in 'Daredevil' (which coincidentally jon favreua was in). None of the above poster may want to say this but i think that it would be intresting to see the already established Nick translated onto screen, and i find it a cop out to use this film as a marketting ploy to introduce the new nick fury so that he would be more acceptalbe in the ultimate comic line. Jackson may prove me wrong however if he knows the character well. Would'nt it have been better to get Jackson to play Agent Gabrielle (SHIELD agent who appeared in the Incredible Hulk cartoon series, and which also had iron man as a guest appearance)
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