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It’s always funny to think that Samuel L. Jackson’s appearance in the end credits of Jon Favreau’s 2008 film “Iron Man” — in which he played the eyepatch-wearing superhero Nick Fury — wasn’t intended to create the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Favreau has previously indicated that “Iron Man” was not designed with sequels in mind, stating that the credits in which Fury informs Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) about the Avengers Initiative were meant to be a small nod to Marvel Comics fans. Wouldn’t it be cool if the Avengers teamed up? At that time, it was still only academic. It wasn’t until Disney purchased Marvel in 2009 that plans for the MCU were seriously implemented. In this regard, Favreau’s 2010 sequel, “Iron Man 2,” was the first true MCU film.
Jackson’s version of Nick Fury, of course, quickly cemented itself in the popular consciousness, and the character has since appeared in several additional MCU feature films, as well as the streaming series “Secret Invasion.” It was Fury who decided to unite the MCU’s many heroes, organizing them into an independent military force. He was key to the ownership and Jackson played his role well. Notably, the iteration of the character in the MCU was also modeled after the Nick Fury featured in Marvel Comic’s Ultimates Universe, a unique line of comics that rebooted the company’s most famous characters in a new timeline.
However, prior to Jackson’s casting for the role of Fury, it appears that George Clooney was in talks to play the role. According to a 2015 report from Business InsiderClooney turned down the offer after discovering (and being put off by) an ultra-gory Nick Fury comic book written by Garth Ennis and partially illustrated by Darick Robertson, the creators of the ultra-gory “The Boys” comics.
George Clooney turned down the role of Nick Fury after discovering ultra-gory Marvel comics
Clooney, it seems, began researching Nick Fury while he was in talks to play the character. Fury is an individual with a long and storied comic book history, dating back to his introduction in 1963. Although initially an American soldier fighting in the trenches in the Marvel comics, he was reimagined as a CIA super-spy within months of his debut. But it was another Nick Fury story, much more recent at the time, that apparently turned Clooney’s stomach a bit.
In the comic book series simply titled “Fury”, published in six issues between 2001 and 2002, there was a moment when Nick Fury strangled one of his enemies to death with his own entrails. As mentioned, the comedy miniseries “Fury” originated from Ennis and Robertson, who would go on to create the controversial superhero comic “The Boys” a few years later. “Fury” was released under Marvel’s “Max” imprint, you see, which allowed for bolder, more violent stories that certainly weren’t appropriate for little kids. Obviously, in addition to eviscerating and choking a soldier with his own guts, the title sets off a series of f-bombs throughout Ennis and Robertson’s story.
This turn of events involving Clooney was also covered in Sean Howe’s 2013 book. “Marvel Comics: The Untold Story: The Behind-the-Scenes Company History of Martin Goodman, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and a Dominant American Force.” Notably, it is unclear whether Clooney was the affected party or whether his publicist simply pointed out that it was unwise to play a comic book character with these violent actions from his past. Regardless, Clooney was out.
What Garth Ennis thought of Clooney’s screw-up
Fortunately, “The Ultimates” debuted in 2002, launching the Marvel parallel universe in which Nick Fury looked and acted much more like Samuel L. Jackson. And when Jackson agreed to play Fury in “Iron Man,” everything fell into place.
In a 2024 episode of “Herald of Comics” video podcast series, Ennis was briefed on the Clooney affair and how his ultra-violent approach to Nick Fury scared one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. It was actually Ennis who speculated that it was Clooney’s publicist and not the actor himself who raised his concerns, stating:
“I heard that, and I’d be fascinated to know if it was true. I don’t know much about George Clooney. He seems to have a great sense of humor, at least. If it’s true that he decided not to play Nick Fury based on that ‘Fury’ book I wrote (which is still one of my favorites, by the way) […] I would find that very amusing. But I also wonder if maybe it’s more because someone told him – an advisor or another – ‘You don’t want to go near that.'”
Ennis also knew that if Nick Fury were to be included in a mainstream studio picture in 2008, Marvel Studios would not have made the character behave 100% the way Ennis had written. So, he reasoned, it’s crass to think that Clooney would turn down the role on the basis of an ultra-violent comedic story. At any rate, “The Boys” was eventually adapted into a hit television serieswhile Jackson played Fury in several of the highest-grossing Marvel films (and films in general) of all time. In the end, everything went well.
