Nick Fury no more? Samuel L. Jackson says 'Maybe I won't be Nick Fury'

EXCLUSIVE AND UPDATED

Samuel L. Jackson, clearly bristling, said today that negotiations to put him in the role of Nick Fury have broken down because "there seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world."

Jackson told me today that despite his cameo as the hard-bitten military man at the end of "Iron Man," it now appears that "somebody else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won't be in it" when it comes to "Iron Man 2," "The First Avenger: Captain America" and "The Avengers," the announced slate of Marvel Studios projects through 2011 that might have a natural spot for the character.

Jackson, who is a fanboy favorite after roles in three "Star Wars" films, "The Incredibles" and "Unbreakable," was actually used as the model for the Ultimate Marvel version of Fury, which took the white, grizzled, aging commando with salt-and-pepper hair and re-imagined him as a younger, bald African American. There were cheers in theaters at the end of "Iron Man," when Jackson appeared as Fury, but when I asked the actor about it today he shook his head.

"I saw ['Iron Man' and 'Iron Man 2' director] Jon Favreau at the Scream Awards and we had a conversation. He said, 'I hope things are working out for you because we're writing stuff for you.' Then all of a sudden last week I talked to my agents and manager and things aren't really working that well."

Jackson might just have been taking a public position that could lead to a bigger payday (it certainly wouldn't be the first time a Hollywood star used an interview as a negotiating tactic) but he seemed especially sour on the whole the topic of working with Marvel ...

"There was a huge kind of negotiation that broke down. I don't know. Maybe I won't be Nick Fury. Maybe somebody else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won't be in it. There seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world so [they're saying to me], 'We're not making that deal.'"

I called Marvel Comics and they gave me a statement that suggested that they still want to see Jackson wearing the eyepatch. "Marvel does not comment on active negotiations," was the boilerplate response, but there was that emphasis on the word "active" in the voice of the spokesman who phoned me back. 

Marvel Studios only has two films under its belt, "Iron Man" (which finished as the second-highest grossing film of 2008) and "The Incredible Hulk" but executives with the Hollywood upstart have high hopes for creating a new model of unified, character-crossover films that would mirror the spirit of the Marvel Comics in the 1960s, when heroes and villains collided constantly in the various comics titles and firmed up the concept of "the Marvel Universe." One challenge to that will be keeping a good number of movie stars happy with the roles and their paychecks.

Terrence Howard, who by some reports was the first actor signed to "Iron Man" and the highest-paid actor in the cast, won't be back for the sequel (Don Cheadle is taking his place as the key supporting character Rhodey and his alter ego War Machine) and money seems to have been part of the issue. Marvel execs essentially have to weigh each film's budget with the calculating eye of pro-sports franchises who want marquee players but have to fit them under a team salary cap. A publicly traded company, Marvel has a stated goal of keeping shareholders happy with a rigid allegiance to the bottom line. And Marvel's stock has held up far better than shares of most of its larger rivals over the last year. Helped by the lift from "Iron Man" in spring, Marvel Entertainment shares actually rose for the year, gaining 15% to close 2008 at $30.75. That was an amazing feat, considering that more than 90% of all U.S. stocks fell last year. By contrast, Walt Disney shares slid 30% in 2008, Viacom Inc. plunged 57% and Time Warner fell 39%.  So far this year, Marvel is down 5.5%, Disney is down 6.6%, Viacom is off 8.1% and Time Warner is down 2.5%.

Think of the challenge to Marvel to put its crossover dream on the screen: For "The Avengers," that means putting Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Edward Norton as Hulk, Cheadle, whoever plays Thor and whoever plays Captain America all in the same movie. How much room (and money) would be left for a supporting character like Jackson as Fury? Still, like I told the actor, he has a big advantage on his side: Who else wants to wear that patch, especially since the character is based on Jackson?  Jackson laughed. "Maybe nobody will wear it. Maybe they'll decide Nick Fury won't be part of it."

-- Geoff Boucher

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Photo of Samuel L. Jackson by Francois Durand/Getty Images, Nick Fury image courtesy of Marvel.

Comments

[Outcast]

This was posted on January 14th: "Pay the man! He's worth EVERY Penny."

I work 2 full time jobs and make approx $60k/year. It makes me sick to see all of these people between actors and athletes making millions upon millions of dollars. Some baseball players make $45,000 per at bat. Do you know how many people in the world make less that that in a year, some make that in 3 minutes standing at the plate. There is something drastically wrong here.

Greedy people holding out for an extra million or however much. I understand if you have a talent you want to get paid and try to get as much as you can while your hot etc.... In this day and age and economy the way it is, it just makes me sick.

[Avenger1]

SAMUEL L JACKSON SUCKS!

With the awful past 3 movie efforts he put out, the best his annoying knock-off Nick Fury version will accomplish is turn off many true original faithful Avengers fans, and make lose hundreds of millions of dollars at the box-office for Marvel Studio.

[Paul]

Well, this would suck if it's true. Anyone else will look weird in that role. When I watch great actors like Jackson, I always wonder about the different places they studied. A good acting school is worth it’s weight in gold. The key is to find one that caters to your individual needs. Not only do you need the basic tools for auditioning, scene study and the like, but you need a curriculum that works with whatever your schedule may be. Whether you work all day, go to high school or care for your kids, not everyone can study in the traditional way. Another acting program that works this way is Film Connection. http://www.film-connection.com/Acting.html The Film Connection’s acting program is affiliated with Joe Anthony studios and fetures valuable one-on-one mentoring. They are also available to anyone living in the United States and have financial aid assistance.

[Chris]

People, people, people! Let's get brains here.

First: if ANYTHING in Hollywood action movies was realistic, they'd have no market. Like someone said earlier, Elizabeth Taylor played Cleopatra, Heston played Moses- COMPLETELY INACCURATE. So Sam Jackson as Nick Fury? I think it would actually lend some credibility to what I think would be an awful movie in the first place.

Other than the recent Hulk movie, all of the Marvel influenced movies have been CRAP. Fantastic Four??? Xmen 1 & 3? Let's not even bring up the seriously forgettable Ghostrider, which featured a very talented actor in Nicolas Cage...

Simply, Marvel would do better by having better written scripts than trying to attract big name actors to push drivel. Just like "The Spirit" (which was a flop not due to Jackson, the concept alone was terrible...), Hollywood tries to force feed us crap for our entertainment dollar. If you look at movies like The Matrix, Kill Bill, or even Pulp Fiction (which starred Jackson), there's an extremely clever plot that propels the movie no matter who's in it. If Marvel wants better return on their efforts, hire good writers, write good scripts, and lay off the CGI budget a litte.

[Daniel]

This is an easy fix. Just cast some mid 50's hard as nails looking dude with salt and pepper hair to play Fury in Iron Man 2, Avengers, etc. and then explain that his appearance at the end of Iron Man was simply a disguise. I'd prefer to have the classic Marvel U Nick Fury anyway.

PS Just in case you call shenanigans on my idea, Nick Fury uses his holograph disguise thing all the time in the comics...one time even disguising himself as someone who bore a striking resemblance to the Ultimate Fury.

[these2boots]

overexposed. jackson is in every comic/fantasy related movie there is. sick of him. some he did good, some he did not. that out of the way...

i'm not into this ultimate marvel crap being the movie version. ultimate marvel was an alternate take, and 99% of the real nick fury fans (been into him since i was a very very young boy via my father) don't give a rats a@# about it. a neat read. as for the film universe, i wanna see a fit alec baldwin kickin' a@# and takin' dog tags of the dead and conquered.

[la la lolly]

I have been around SLJ on set and he is an ass!! He is more of a Diva than any woman. He makes a ton of $$ and has for years. If he hates everyone on the set so much, he should retire. Of course, he could try to be appreciative of those that work so hard to make him look good. Just sayin.....