As is our custom, today’s fact will be presented with a shorter accompanying article so that our author can get his groove on and tidy up some of our older articles. As per usual, today’s fact is more succinct to accommodate his laziness, discussing how Samuel L. Jackson had no idea that Marvel were (illegally) using his likeness for the Ultimate Universe version of Nick Fury. According to Jackson himself, he only became aware of the fact Marvel had designed a character to look exactly like him when he walked into a comic store and saw his own face staring back at him.
After picking up a comic bearing his own handsome visage, the annoyed Jackson then called Marvel to ask them what the fuck was going on because he distinctly remembered not giving them permission to use his likeness, regardless of how badass or unfuckwithable they made him look.
When Jackson got through to a Marvel representative they explained that they were planning on making some live action movies based on their comics and that they’d love it if he’d be a part of them. Jackson readily accepted this offer and seeing as he was pretty much holding all of the cards because he’d not stolen anything, he then negotiated to have himself be a part of almost every film they planned to release, because fuck them for trying to get one over on Samuel L. Jackson, we guess.
While it’s not clear why did Marvel decided to make one of their characters look exactly like one of the most famous and recognisable men on the planet without telling him isn’t clear. It’s rumored that they were planning to ask Jackson to be Nick Fury all along and made the character look like him to test the waters with fans, which would explain why there’s a scene in one comic where Nick Fury openly says that only Samuel L. Fucking Jackson could play him in a movie.
Either way, it seemed to work out for both Marvel and Jackson who’ve gone on to make approximately all of the money. However, we’re still a little miffed because according to one of the artists, they were originally going to base Ultimate Nick Fury’s appearance on Morgan Freeman. How cool would that have been?
If you’re still in the mood for some Samuel L. Jackson facts, why not read about how he has a stipulation in most of his contracts stating that he gets to pick what hairstyle his characters have, or about how he only signed on to appear in Snakes on a Plane because of the title.
