Samuel Jackson Modern Marvel

Word has gotten out that Samuel Jackson, the actor you can’t quite pin down, is in negotiations for a nine picture deal with Marvel Entertainment, the company responsible for bringing long time superheroes Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and The X-Men to the big screen with multi-million dollar payoffs.

Samuel Jackson is no stranger to the multi millions at the box office either with hits including The Star Wars prequels, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Jurassic Park , to name just a few. Jackson has already made a brief appearance for Marvel in the first Iron Man movie, as Col. Nick Fury, and is scheduled to appear with star Robert Downey Jr., in the sequel to be released in 2010.

If this deal goes through, Samuel will be reprising the role of Col. Fury in nine more Marvel pictures including Thor, Captain America , The Avengers, and perhaps even a Col. Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. stand alone.

For comic book geeks like myself, who have lived with a majority of all-white heroes for the last 30 years, this is great news. The Nick Fury character has always been Marvel’s eye-patch-wearing answer to James Bond, and dates back forty plus years, first appearing in “Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos,” during World War II.

In 2000, Marvel created a separate line of books under the imprint, “The Ultimate Universe.” Set in a separate reality from the 50-plus year old standard Marvel universe, it re-imagined popular characters with more contemporary themes and origins. They also took the opportunity to create a more diverse universe of heroes to reflect a more realistic modern age. One of those changes was in making Nick Fury black. As the character gained in popularity, Samuel Jackson was approached by Marvel, asking if his likeness could be used for the character, and he consented.

A true example of life imitating art…imitating life!