Speaking with Geoff Boucher of the LA Times Samuel L. Jackson revealed that “somebody else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won’t be in it”, adding, “there seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world.”. This comes despite Jackson’s post-credits final scene appearance in Iron Man, donned in trench coat and eye patch, and the Ultimate Marvel Universe character ‘Ultimate Nick Fury‘ being a re-imagined version of Nick Fury (formerly a white colonel) based on Samuel L. Jackson, with his permission.

“I saw ['Iron Man' and 'Iron Man 2' director] Jon Favreau at the Scream Awards and we had a conversation. He said, ‘I hope things are working out for you because we’re writing stuff for you.’ Then all of a sudden last week I talked to my agents and manager and things aren’t really working that well.”

“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.’”

It’s possible this public statement from Jackson could be a part of a ploy to get a better contract from Marvel Studios, although Jon Favreau and Terrence Howard, (Rhodey has now been recast with Don Cheadle taking on the role), have both outwardly shown similar contractual and funding issues.