Who the hell IS Samuel L. Jackson playing?

Elise wins the No Prize for suggesting my suggestion. Congratulations, Ellie. Don't spend it all in one place.

Well, this summer's unexpected blockbuster, Iron Man, had a hidden cameo and for those of you who didn't stay after the credits, I'll let Robot Chicken spoil it for you.


Now, this is a big development for superhero movies and I will tell you why, but first let's start with who the hell is Nick Fury?

Nick Fury

In 1963, a comic book was published entitled Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos. It featured a ragtag outfit of racially and ethnically diverse soldiers operating in World War II. This outfit was led by a cigar-chomping one-eyed hard-ass by the name of Nick Fury. The team consisted of Corporal "Dum Dum" Dugan (who, along with Private "Rebel" Ralston, seems to defy both army policy and self-preservation by wearing his own hat), Gabriel Jones (token black), Dino Manelli, Izzy Cohen, Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton (Brit), and Eric Koenig (German defector).

You may notice that Nick Fury, as shown here, is as white as can be. More on this later.

In August 1965, long before Howling Commandos was cancelled, Nick Fury was transported into the modern day as an older, more experienced Colonel Fury chosen to head a new state of the art military intelligence division called S.H.I.E.L.D. which, we are assured, stands for Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division (although in 1991 this would be changed to Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage Logistics Directorate and in the recent Iron Man and Hulk movies, it is called Strategic Homeland Intervention, Espionage, Logistics Division).

What separates SHIELD from the FBI, CIA, and the rest are two things: Nick Fury and Tony Stark. Tony designs the tools and Nick Fury uses them. Amongst SHIELDs toys are the SHIELD Helicarrier, which is basically an aircraft carrier that flies; LMDs (Life Model Decoys), expendable robots that can be designed to double as specific people; and flying cars (because hey, why not?).

SHIELD was designed with the sole purpose of combating HYDRA. Marvel insists that HYDRA is not an acronym, but they just really like caps lock. If this sounds like James Bond, it's because 007 was still fairly new at that point with new books still going to print and movies starring Sean Connery.

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Marvel's answer to Bond... except a lot less suave, a lot more military, and a lot more American. He never supported his own title for very long, but instead played supporting character to Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Black Widow, and countless others. When I started reading comics in the 90s, it seemed to me that Nick Fury was a good man in a bad job stuck making the hard choices and dealing with political pressures while everyone else got to put on a funny costume and run around hitting people. I always found something particularly noble and tragic about that.

Ultimate Nick Fury

In 2000, Marvel Comics launched their "Ultimate" universe with the intent of creating new versions of classic characters in order to reach new readers who might find 40 plus years of convaluted continuity to be an obstacle in reading comics. While it's success at generating new customers is debatable, the titles sold extremely well due in no small part to writers Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man) and Mark Millar (Ultimate X-Men, The Ultimates).

Mark Millar is the writer of the comic that the movie Wanted is loosely based on, and from my perspective, Millar is trying to present himself as the next Frank Miller via his movie deals. In the original comic of Wanted, the lead character is modeled after Eminem while the love interest, Fox, was based on Halle Berry. Millar even released a rumor that Eminem was interested in the role (no doubt trying to use the actor's prestige would help green light the project), but Eminem quashed this rumor and it was later made with other actors.

Millar is notorious for "casting" his comic books with an eye toward Hollywood... which isn't to say he is a bad writer. Far from it. He just also is a clever marketer and it has served his career well. He even created a hoax on his opinion column claiming to have evidence of a proposed Orson Welles pitch for a Batman movie that got quashed by the studios. It was completely fabricated, but a wonderful idea.

Millar's second project for Marvel's Ultimate line was The Ultimates based on The Avengers. This used the classic Avengers lineup of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Giant Man, Wasp, and the Hulk, but depicted the characters in far more realistic tones than ever before. Captain America is a hokey, out of touch, conservative who complains about language and clothing like someone's granddad. Thor is a possible mental case who is developing a liberal, hippy cult around his god-like powers. Meanwhile, Bruce Banner is popping anti-depressants to keep him mellow as he watches his scientific career go down the drain.

Millar also did a little... racial reorganization to keep the team from looking like a bunch of WASPs. So naturally, the Wasp is not one, but instead, an Asian girl... still waspish, though. Also added to the team was military attaché, Nick Fury, now sporting a very recognizable face.

Millar no doubt realized that Samuel L. Jackson was not only a comic book fan, but specifically an Avengers fan and this was his way of enticing Jackson to the role.

The Avengers

Jackson's appearance in Iron Man was a teaser for the upcoming Avengers movie. By playing the role of Nick Fury, it subtly but undeniably indicated that the movie would be based on The Ultimates... which I think is fantastic. The Ultimates is one of the best comics I've ever read. Writing and art is both top notch and the characters had never been better represented... and I'm not exaggerating in the slightest.

But more importantly, the announcement of an Avengers movie indicates that we will shortly see something that is an essential part of comic books. Namely, that they aren't about one person having special powers in a world full of norms, but it is about a bunch of people with special powers trying to co-exist with a world full of norms. Consequently, the pleasure is not just in seeing how Superman solves a problem, but contrasting how Superman and Batman solve problems... or seeing how their different ideologies are incompatible and having fanboygasms at watching them fight.

This is why my Astounding Adventures story is so complex. I didn't want to write about a superhero, but rather about a world full of them. Since I can't yet play in the Marvel or DC sandboxes, I'm creating my own.

For the first time, superhero movies are crossing over... and I can't wait to see how this turns out. The Avengers is a great example because you have a soldier from the past (Captain America), an antiquated god on Earth (Thor), a playboy in his own sci-fi suit (Iron Man), and a self-made monster (Hulk) all interacting with one another. I always thought that licensing issues would make such a thing impossible, but I guess not.

Next I want to see Hulk vs. Wolverine or Superman/Batman.

Steranko and the Hoff

Anyway, no discussion of Nick Fury would be complete without mentioning Jim Steranko, the artist whose work defined Nick Fury in the sixties and seventies. Steranko brought a degree of raciness and psychedelia that set him apart from the rest. Little known fact, he also designed Indiana Jones' iconic look for Lucas and Spielberg. Lesser known fact, he was an accomplished escape artist and inspiration for Joe Kavalier in the Pulitzer prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

Nick Fury was also the subject of a 1998 Fox TV movie starring none other than Knight Rider/Baywatch star David Hasselhoff... and it's about as good as you'd expect a TV movie about a second string comic book character starring David Hasselhoff would be. Interestingly enough, however, the script was by none other than Dark Knight screenwriter and prolific comic writer David S. Goyer.

Ask the geek!

Anyway, thank you for asking the geek. Please ask more. I would rather be educating people about things they want to know than what I am currently annoyed about. Questions about comic books, philosophy, or writing are especially welcome, but any subject is open.