Andrew W. Marlowe (writer of AIR FORCE ONE, creator of CASTLE) based his Nick Fury script on Jim Sterankos version of Fury. Marlowe wrote his script before Samuel L. Jackson was attached to the role, but he says it would be very easy to tweak it for Jackson.
I hope Marvel dont adjust it too much for him. Marlowes Fury had a very Lee Marvin attitude, and thats exactly what I want to see. Some dialogue fixes with Jackson in mind are fine and likely necessary - but I actually want the opportunity to see Jackson act again, instead of just playing Samuel L. Jackson. I found him tedious in IRON MAN 2 for that very reason. Jackson was once one of my favourite actors before he descended into self-parody. Take this opportunity for Nicolas J. Fury to really become Nick Fury.
With that in mind I was thinking about some scenes and dialogue Id love to see in the Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D. movie to bring the character closer to his Jack Kirby and Stan Lee roots. It may seem surprising then that I want to draw some of the following from a series that Lee apparently didnt like very much, but these scenes from the Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson 2002 mini-series are very much quintessential Fury moments for me.
Nick Fury on the state of the country: When did the *******s start running things? How did they get away with the pissant little rules they make us live by? Why do they use ten words to hint at what just one would say? I feel like I blinked and someone turned the place into the United States of *****es.
Theres an amazing scene where five highly trained assassins attempt to ambush Fury inside his penthouse only to find out why this is a very bad idea. Its two pages of build-up, three pages of brutal carnage, and a final page showing Fury in the aftermath. This scene would translate perfectly to film.
A fight-scene similar to the climactic fight between Fury and Rudi Gargarin could make for an excellent conclusion to the movie. Once again, this allows Jackson to get more down and dirty than he ever has before. I dont actually expect to see Fury strangle anyone with their own intestines, but a similarly ferocious battle would be great.
Cigars! I want to see Nick Fury light up, again bringing the character back closer to the Kirby and Lee original. A scene like the The next ******* tells me I cant smoke one of these, Im going to put it out in their mother****ing eye one from Ennis series would be fun too.
Theres a scene from Jonathan Hickmans SECRET WARRIORS where a waiter in a coffee shop runs through a series of options of whats available before Fury replies with Coffee. Hot. In a cup.
A variant of the scene from DARK REIGN: THE LIST SECRET WARRIORS where Furys adversary has an inventory of things he promised to do for himself, and Nick responds with his own list:
- Save the Word
- Punch ______ in the face
- Have a beer
Another great scene from SECRET WARRIORS happens when Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine meets Nick Fury in a packed restaurant. They talk for a few minutes before she reveals that many of the diners there are actually working for her and they all pull their guns on Fury. Fury then counters that as all the other diners draw their weapons on her and her men.
Even if these specific dialogue exchanges or moments dont come up, moments with a similar cool-factor or dialogue expressing similar sentiment would be great.
As for who I think could be a viable choice to direct the Nick Fury or S.H.I.E.L.D. movie, there are a number of candidates that I think could do a decent job and might be interested in it:
- Paul Greengrass (BOURNE SUPREMACY, BOURNE ULTIMATUM, GREEN ZONE)
- Robert Schwentke (FLIGHTPLAN, RED)
- Florent Emilio Siri (HOSTAGE)
- Matthew Vaughn (LAYER CAKE, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS)
- Joe Wright (ATONEMENT, HANNA)
and further down that list:
- Antoine Fuqua (TEARS OF THE SUN, SHOOTER)
- F. Gary Gray (LAW ABIDING CITIZEN, worked with Jackson on THE NEGOCIATOR)
- Doug Liman (BOURNE IDENTITY, MR. & MRS. SMITH, worked with Jackson on JUMPER)
- Pierre Morel (TAKEN, FROM PARIS WITH LOVE)
- Phillip Noyce (PATRIOT GAMES, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, SALT) - would need a strong script already in place, wouldn't want him to get too involved in that side of the film-making process