Samuel L. Jackson shares how Bruce Willis inspired his Marvel role

According to Samuel L. Jackson, it was Bruce Willis who motivated him to accept the part of Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Since 2008, when he first appeared in a cameo for Iron Man, Jackson has taken on the role of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s director across 12 movies within the franchise. His latest portrayal was in The Marvels, which was released in 2023.

After almost two decades in the part, Jackson might reappear in the series as Phase Six begins, and he shared with Variety that Willis, his co-star from 1995’s “Die Hard with a Vengeance,” offered him some encouraging words of advice.

Jackson recounted, ‘He suggested, “It’s nice to have a beloved character to return to when your films fail and don’t earn profits.”‘ This means that the person spoke about having a character that is well-liked by many as a backup plan, to fall back on when their movies don’t succeed financially.

He stated, “Arnold [Schwarzenegger] has ‘The Terminator’, Sylvester [Stallone] has ‘Rocky’ and ‘Rambo’. I have John McClane.’ At that moment, I thought, ‘Oh, okay.’ It wasn’t until I landed the Nick Fury role and secured a nine-picture deal that I realized, ‘Ah, I’m following in Bruce’s footsteps. I’ve got this character now.’

Even though the franchise became a multi-billion dollar success, Jackson admitted that he wasn’t confident it would be this successful initially. Reflecting on the offer now, he realizes that his initial thoughts seemed naive in retrospect.

He recalled pondering, “How many years do you need to live to produce nine films?” It’s not a speedy endeavor. I wasn’t aware that they would create nine movies within roughly two and a half years. That’s quite astonishing.

Although Jackson continues to cherish his experience in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the series is about to venture into a daring new path. Joe Russo hints that the upcoming Avengers films – Doomsday and Secret Wars – will “test the limits” of viewers.

All four Avengers movies are streaming on Disney+.

Read more Marvel news on our dedicated homepage

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2025-03-21 03:49