Samuel L. Jackson thought it was "kinda crazy" when he was given a "nine-picture contract" with Marvel.
The 75-year-old actor has played Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, in 11 Marvel Cinematic Universe films, starting with 2008's 'Iron Man', and has admitted he didn't think it would be possible to make nine movies, let alone the two extra movies and a handful of TV shows and video games for the money-spinning franchise.
He told GQ: "I knew I had a nine-picture deal.
"When Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios president] said that, 'We're gonna offer you a nine-picture deal.
"How long I gotta stay alive to make nine movies?
"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***, I'm using up my contracts! But it worked out."
Samuel - who last played the character in 2023's 'The Marvels' - previously admitted that because he has been playing the role for so many years, he knows how the character should be portrayed, despite writers sometimes telling him to play it like some of his previous "smart a**" characters."
He told Collider: " I’ve been doing Nick Fury for so long, I know what he sounds like and I know how he thinks and how he feels. I know writers sit at home and write. If the writer is a fan of that kind of thing – the superhero genre – they know how to do it. I’ve had directors who have written comic books, so when they say, 'Say it the way I wrote it,” you can go, 'Okay, so we’re doing comic book speak.' Then, I’ll have directors who’ll say, 'Say it like Nick Fury would say it!' or Say it like you as Nick Fury would say it' which means, 'Say it like Jules [from 'Pulp Fiction']or Ordell ([from 'Jackie Brown'], or any of those smart-a** characters that you’ve played before.."
