In 1963, Marvel Comics introduced an elite special fighting force that was racially and ethnically diverse. The group’s adventures were presented in a comic book entitled Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos. The leader of the group, Sergeant Fury, or Nick Fury, was - at the time - white.
But he later, somehow, became black. And today, based on his appearances in movies, he is one of the most recognizable characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
You’re listening to Remarkable Receptions—a podcast about popular and critical responses to African American novels and more.
For decades, Nick Fury was presented as a white character in Marvel comic books. But a change to the character’s racial identity took place in the 21st century.
In 2001, comic book writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch began preparing to write the comic book The Ultimates, and made the decision to redesign Fury’s character. In Marvel comics, Fury is the director of SHIELD, a counter-terrorism and intelligence agency.
Millar thought that the closest real-life example of Fury was the General, Colin Powell, who was at that time the United States Secretary of State. Millar also thought that the name Nick Fury sounded like one of those 1970s Blaxploitation protagonists.
So when Millar and artist Hitch reimagined Fury as black and cool, they decided to frame their redesign based on the coolest black cultural figure that they could think of: Samuel L. Jackson.
The new black Nick Fury based on Jackson’s ultra cool look first appeared in 2002.
As it turns out, Jackson is a devoted comic book fan, and he was surprised when he opened an issue of a comic book and saw a character clearly based on his image. Jackson contacted his representatives, who in turn contacted Marvel. To make amends for using Jackson’s likeness without his permission, Marvel agreed to cast Jackson in an upcoming movie that they might produce.
That was 2002. Six years later, in the post-credit scene to the 2008 movie Iron Man, Jackson appears on the big screen for the first time as Nick Fury. Jackson, as Fury, has now appeared in 12 films, two television episodes, a six-episode miniseries, three episodes of an animated series, two video games, and countless pieces of comic book and movie merchandise.
The decision by comic book creators to draw on the likeness of Samuel Jackson for a character led to Nick Fury’s remarkable reception.
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This episode was written by Howard Rambsy. The episode was edited by Elizabeth Cali.
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This podcast, Remarkable Receptions, is part of the Black Literature Network, a joint project from African American literary studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the History of Black Writing at the University of Kansas. The project was made possible by the generous support of the Mellon Foundation. For more information, visit blacklitnetwork.org.