It’s been a tough week for Marvel fans the world over as the legend that was Stan Lee passed away on Monday, at the grand age of 95. Twitter has been awash with comic book creators, movie stars and fans paying their respects to the great man whose work touched so many of our lives. And Nick Fury himself, Samuel L. Jackson, is among them, penning a beautifully-put tribute to Lee.
“Thank you @TheRealStanLee,” Jackson wrote,” for the escape from this world & great joy inhabiting the ones you created!! You made so many believe in the good, the heroic, the villainous, the exciting, most of all, you were giving & gracious to us all. RIP.”
Of course, Jackson has the honor of playing one of Lee’s creations in the indefatigable S.H.I.E.L.D. director, though strictly speaking, the MCU’s Nick Fury is based on the Ultimate version, which was given an update by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Allred, rather than Lee and Jack Kirby’s original. However, he definitely keeps the spirit of Lee’s wartime hero alive.
Nick Fury memorably made his cinematic debut at the end of 2008’s Iron Man, following that up with several more cameos before he united Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in 2012’s The Avengers. In fact, Jackson’s Marvel cameos are probably second to only Lee’s on the excitement scale for fans. Most recently, he returned in Avengers: Infinity War and will play a bigger role in Captain Marvel and a supporting one in Spider-Man: Far From Home.Â
We’re unsure right now if Stan Lee will join him either of those movies, as they’ve both already wrapped production, but Kevin Feige seemed to hint that we have more Stan Lee cameos to look forward to. Though he refrained from revealing anything more in remembrance of Lee’s own love for surprises. Evidence suggests the Marvel icon will definitely appear in Avengers 4, though, which is great to hear.
