Samuel L. Jackson said his contract with superhero entertainment company Marvel initially threw him for a loop, as it locked him in to star in nine films — which made him question how long he’d have to be alive in order to complete the business agreement.
“I knew I had a nine-picture,” the Oscar-winning actor said during an interview with GQ magazine in which he broke down his most iconic roles. “When Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios president] said that, ‘We’re gonna offer you a nine-picture deal,’” Jackson said he thought to himself, “‘How long I gotta stay alive to make nine movies?’”
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The actor continued, saying that the entire process of making nine films went by faster than he thought it would.
“It’s not the quickest process in the world, people don’t do it. I didn’t know they were going to make nine movies in like two-and-a-half years. It’s kinda crazy, like, Oh s–t, I’m using up my contracts! But it worked out.”
For Marvel fans, it may come as no surprise that Jackson flew through his contract, as he’s played Avengers founder Nick Fury in numerous Marvel films and TV shows. The last movie that wrapped up his contract was “Spider-Man: Far From Home” in 2019, though he went on to star in Disney+ limited series “Secret Invasion.”
He went on to dish about his favorite Nick Fury moment.
“When he’s in that car. I mean that’s like quintessential Nick Fury,” Jackson said of his scene from the 2014 “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” “It’s like, OK, no panic, just cool. Figure it out. Let’s make the next movie, make the next move, make the next move. You know, badass, badass s–t.”
As far as a Nick Fury appearance in Marvel’s fictional African country, Wakanda, Jackson says he and other Black Marvel actors have wondered the same thing.
“All of us were doing that. All the Black people in the Marvel universe trying to figure out, ‘Why can’t we go to Wakanda?’ It was me, Don [Cheadle], Anthony [Mackie]. But they made it. They got to go fight. I still didn’t get there.”
The actor’s latest project is with NBC’s streamer Peacock, titled “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist.” It landed on the platform on Sept. 5 and is available to watch now.
