10 Ways The Marvel Cinematic Universe Almost Turned Out Completely Different

4. Samuel L Jackson Almost Didn't Return As Nick Fury After Iron Man

Seeing as the Ultimate Marvel version of Nick Fury was modeled after Samuel L Jackson, it only seems fair that the actor receive the opportunity to play the character on the big screen in return. Ever since appearing in Iron Man's post-credits sequence to namedrop the Avengers Initiative and lay the groundwork for the epic superhero team-up, Nick Fury has become an integral part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, following his cameo at the end of Iron Man there was a time when even Jackson himself seemed unsure of whether or not his eyepatch-wearing super-spy would return. As befitting their reputation when it comes to contract negotiations, it seems that money was the issue that drove a wedge between Marvel and Jackson. Before signing an unprecedented nine-picture deal with the studio to provide the connective tissue across the cinematic universe with his role as the assembler of the Avengers, the actor had this to say in an interview;

"There was a huge kind of negotiation that broke down. I don€™t know. Maybe I won€™t be Nick Fury. Maybe somebody else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won€™t be in it. There seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world so they're saying to me, €˜We€™re not making that deal'."

Obviously Jackson and the studio resolved their differences, presumably with a truckload of cash, and Fury has since appeared in Iron Man 2, Thor, both Captain America movies, The Avengers and even television's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. However, if these negotiations had fallen through then the part of Nick Fury would have needed to be recast, or removed entirely from continuity, which would have drastically altered the face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.