Samuel L. Jackson’s Reaction to Nine-Picture Marvel Deal: “How Long Do You Have to Stay Alive to Make Nine Movies?”

Samuel L. Jackson is still in shock at how fast Marvel got through his initial nine-picture deal.

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The actor, who has played Nick Fury in a dozen projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, looked back at some of his most iconic characters in a recent interview with GQ magazine . He first appeared as the master strategist and superspy in 2008’s Iron Man but went on to star in eight more MCU films within a decade.

“I knew I had a nine-picture deal,” Jackson said. “[Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige] said that, ‘We’re going to offer you a nine-picture deal.’ How long do you have to stay alive to make nine movies? It’s not the quickest process in the world. I didn’t know they were going to make nine movies in like two and a half years ( Laughs ). It’s just kind of crazy! Oh shit, I’m using up my contracts. It worked out.”

Though his Marvel deal ended with 2019’s Captain Marvel , he wasn’t planning on retiring his character anytime soon. He has also appeared in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home , 2023’s The Marvels and headlined his own Disney+ series Secret Invasion .

He told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019 that he would happily play Nick Fury into his ’80s. “I could be the Alec Guinness of Marvel movies,” the Oscar-nominated actor said at the time.

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Jackson also previously told the Los Angeles Times that he would rather be working on blockbuster Marvel films than searching for potentially Oscar-winning roles.

“As jaded as I wanted to be about it, you know thinking, ‘Well, I should have won an Oscar for this or should have won for that, and it didn’t happen.’ Once I got over it many years ago, it wasn’t a big deal for me,” The Hateful Eight actor told the outlet in 2022. “I always have fun going to the Oscars. I always look forward to getting a gift basket for being a presenter. I give stuff to my relatives; my daughter and my wife would take stuff out. It’s cool.… But otherwise, I was past it.”

Jackson continued, “I was never going to let the Oscars be a measure of my success or failure as an actor. My yardstick of success is my happiness: ‘Am I satisfied with what I’m doing?’ I’m not doing statue-chasing movies. You know: ‘If you do this movie, you’ll win an Oscar.’ No, thanks. I’d rather be Nick Fury. Or having fun being Mace Windu with a lightsaber in my hand.”

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