Samuel L. Jackson recounts his initial reaction to his first MCU Nick Fury contract, which saw him sign a nine-picture deal with the studio. Jackson's Nick Fury role originated back in 2008's Iron Man with the MCU's first end-credits scene cameo, and he has gone on to star in a number of subsequent projects the S.H.I.E.L.D. director became more involved. Audiences most recently saw the character in 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home, when it was revealed that Talos the Skrull had been standing in for him on earth, while the actual Nick Fury was off-planet for reasons that are yet to be explained.
After his brief MCU hiatus, Jackson is set to return in the upcoming Disney+ series Secret Invasion, which is expected to arrive later this year. The series will also see the return of the MCU's Maria Hill, played by Colbie Smulders, while welcoming Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke in a currently undisclosed role. Just what the Secret Invasion show story has in store for Jackson as a long-established MCU veteran remains to be seen, but the star is also set to appear in both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels in 2023. Having appeared in no less than 11 MCU films thus far, Jackson's brief absence has certainly been felt, and now the actor is opening up about his early days in joining the MCU.
During a recent roundtable for THR, Jackson talks about joining the MCU, revealing that he was initially unsure about how long it would take him to fulfill his nine-movie contract. The actor jokes that it didn't take long for him to realize that Marvel has a fairly jam-packed release schedule, meaning the length of his contract was not as daunting as he initially thought. Check out Jackson's full quote below:
When I signed that nine picture deal to be Nick Fury, it was like, ‘How long I gotta stay alive to do nine pictures?’ Not knowing they were going to make nine pictures in, like, a year and a half.
Marvel Studios is known for dominating the cinematic landscape, with their number of yearly releases only increasing as MCU viewership has grown across its almost decade-and-a-half reign. After previously averaging around three films per year since 2017, 2021 saw four features released in theaters, as well as three live-action television series, following a backlog that came as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With Marvel having now increased their scope as they expand into TV series, their overall number of releases per year is only likely to continue growing.
With Jackson having joined the MCU in its infancy, it's understandable that a nine-picture deal would have been an incredibly daunting prospect. Under typical studio standards, Jackson could still be in the process of fulfilling a contract of that length now. While Nick Fury's MCU future remains unclear at this time, given his confirmed upcoming appearances, it's fair to assume that audiences have some time to go until he hangs up his eye patch for good.
Source: THR
