Jan 14th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
If I may take the time to agree with my friend Spencer Ackerman, it’s absolutely imperative that Samuel L. Jackson be paid whatever it takes to persuade him to appear as Nick Fury in upcoming Avengers / Iron Man / Captain America films. Marvel literally drew the character to look like Jackson when they launched their Ultimate Marvel series. They put jokes about Jackson playing Fury into one of the Ultimates stories. And then as an easter egg at the end of Iron Man they cast Jackson as Fury. They’ve come too far to back down now.
38 Responses to “Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
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January 14th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
You have to pay Sam Jackson to be in a movie? Judging from some of the epics he’s been in, I thought he just showed up on sets for the hell of it.
January 14th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
This is going to be a real problem with building a continuity-based movie franchise-network. I had just assumed they’d locked him into at least Avengers before they had him in Iron Man.
And it really ought to be him.
January 14th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Actually, the only way to get Sam Jackson in a movie is to pay him. If you meet his price, he will show up, no questions asked. It’s all about the money with Mr. Jackson, which is why he is in so many movies, and so many bad ones.
January 14th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
If you can’t get the real thing, use a Life Model Decoy.
January 14th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Can’t they have someone in the Ultimate universe make a deal with Mephisto to replace the samuel-l-jackson-looking Nick Fury with the traditional Nick Fury, then reshoot the Iron Man and Hulk scenes with a lessor-known actor for the DVD, and lock that actor into a contract for the upcoming films?
January 14th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
And then had him in a cameo at the end of “The Incredible Hulk” as well.
January 14th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Shouldn’t be too big of a problem getting him on all the movies. Unless he’s REALLY unavailable because he’s doing several movies back to back, usually they can schedule shooting around the actor’s schedule.
For movies, anyway – it’s harder on TV when the actors are on set 12-16 hours a day for weeks on end. Thomas Dekker was just saying that during the first season of Terminator (which was a short season) he managed to direct a movie and get an album out, but this season it’s been Terminator all the way, he’s had little time to do anything else.
January 14th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
My motto about comic book movies: Never Again.
January 14th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
If Jackson won’t do it, I’m fairly sure David Hasselhoff will be more than happy to take another crack at the role.
Mike
January 14th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Yes, but the Iron Man in Iron Man (the movie) isn’t from the Ultimate Universe. Different suit; it’s classic 616.
And I’m sick of Jackson in everything. He isn’t Fury; you look at him and go, oh hey, Samuel Jackson. Again. In another comic book action movie type role. Again. How… unusual. I’d much rather see some, um, white unknown – with strong acting chops – in the role.
January 14th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
There’s always Avery Brooks.
January 14th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
This is why you don’t admit that a character is literally nothing more than a famous actor rendered in comic form. When you go to shoot the film, you’ve kinda painted yourself into a corner casting wise. It’s either overpay for services or endure a fanboy revolt. I think the bottom line is far better served by the former.
I’m sure Marvel has profited from the PR generated by basing Ultimate Nick Fury on Sam Jackson. Time to pay the Motherfu**er back.
January 14th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Does anyone agree that Jackson, despite his cult status, is actually a terrible actor?
Jules in Pulp Fiction was just an effective use of his one acting style. That’s about all he has.
His acting was a joke in the Star Wars movies, and it took some really really bad acting to stand out in those stinkers.
January 14th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Once he learns that the central plot involves putting a bunch of poisonous snakes onto a plane, I’m sure he’ll be hooked.
January 14th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I definitely don’t agree that he’s a terrible actor. Like any actor that works a lot, he’s capable of coasting for a paycheck, but he’s been great in so many things, Do the Right Thing, Eve’s Bayou, and his defining role in Jungle Fever. And the Pulp Fiction performance was a tour de force, especially the diner scene.
January 14th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Ah, Njorl, you ruined my day. I so wanted to make that joke.
January 14th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Not having read new comics in ten years or so, I’m surprised they redesigned an old character like that. Please tell me he still has a cigar in his mouth all the time.
January 14th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
His acting was a joke in the Star Wars movies, and it took some really really bad acting to stand out in those stinkers.
Yeah, he was bad in the Star Wars movie. But he’s a very good actor, even if he does sometimes phone it in for a check on crappy films. IMO, his perfomances in those movies were a reflection on how bad Lucas has become in writing dialogue and working with actors, both an afterthought after CGI.
BTW, I have no problem in casting Jackson as Fury. Actually, I have more problem with their changing the SHIELD acronym (it originally stood for Supreme Headquarters International Espionage, Law Division). But since I read Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, as well as his metamophosis into Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD when originally published in the ’60s, I have to confess that Jackson will never quite look like Fury to me.
January 14th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Simone #10: “…Iron Man (the movie) isn’t from the Ultimate Universe. Different suit; it’s classic 616.”
That’s nitpicking. (Nick-picking?) The movie is the movie. Adaptation Distillation, as they call it at TVTropes.
Of course, Nick Fury could simply be an unseen boss in subsequent installments. Very busy man. Always in a meeting.
Sam Jackson has more in him than “Say ‘what’ again!” He can bring anguished tears — though I wish I could remember the last time I saw them.
January 14th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
My Iron Man Samuel Jackson story: I saw Iron Man the week it came out in NYC’s magnificent Ziegfield theater, a huge splendid 1920’s theater palace that shows big-picture movies the way they are meant to be seen, in the company of several comic book geeks. Credits rolled while we were outdoing each other in comparing the movie’s trivia to the comic book trivia and the discussion turned into what we could remember about S.H.I.E.L.D. and who would play Nick Fury in the sequel, and then, lo and behold, Samuel Jackson appeared as Nick Fury! It was such a perfect ending for the truly geeky comic book fan.
Still, they shoulda have had the guy on the dotted line for that.
January 15th, 2009 at 1:49 am
Didn’t you watch till after the end of the credits in Iron Man? Nick Fury shows up, and he’s played by Samuel L. Jackson.
January 15th, 2009 at 3:01 am
Can I just say that any comic book artist who uses recognizable photographs of celebrities as models for their work should be hounded through the streets with flails.
January 15th, 2009 at 6:58 am
i think grumpy just won this month’s no-prize for trivia. that one comes all the way from the very first s.h.i.e.l.d story.
January 15th, 2009 at 8:17 am
onymous: “Not having read new comics in ten years or so, I’m surprised they redesigned an old character like that.”
You are? You don’t recall the redesigns of Green Lantern, the Flash, Spider-Man, and Superman (multiple times)? Not to mention Puck? And Red Tornado? And Thor? Revisions and reboots are a very common comics phenomenon. Besides, I assume that 616 Nick Fury is still the white guy with the cigar. The Ultimate Universe Nick Fury is black.
Freakshow on Wheels: “It’s all about the money with Mr. Jackson, which is why he is in so many movies, and so many bad ones.”
Sam Jackson is an actor. His job is to act. Most people don’t demand that a task meet the standards of high art before they will sell a car, fill a tooth, weld a joint, or design a database.
January 15th, 2009 at 9:04 am
With big screen TVs nowadays, I never go to the movies unless they have several comic book geeks there.
January 15th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
I strongly urge anyone who has an interest in the planned Avengers movie should read Millar’s two volumes of The Ultimates. I agree Jackson would be excellent.
The Marvel MAX-imprint miniseries Fury, Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson, is very different (more in line with the traditional version), but also excellent, very violent and funny. I think that version of Fury has made appearances in Ennis’ version of The Punisher.
Ultimate version or not, Fury has become a real hardass and is difficult to trust, as evidenced by the Secret War series.
January 15th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
There’s always Avery Brooks.
Dang, Kevin, I always thought I was the only one who thought the way Hitch drew Fury looked way more like Brooks than SLJ.
January 15th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I second the suggestion of reading Ultimates 1 and 2. Best Captain America EVER.
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