Samuel L. Jackson stood up for his Marvel co-star Brie Larson during a recent interview with Rolling Stone in which the Nick Fury actor was asked about Larson being the target of toxic Marvel fans on social media. The two actors headlined 2019’s “Captain Marvel,” which was review bombed by trolls for featuring Larson’s female superhero in a leading role. Jackson called Larson a “stronger person than people give her credit for.”
Jackson and Larson first met during the making of “Kong: Skull Island,” and then she cast him in a supporting role in her feature directorial debut “Unicorn Store.” Their bond led her to consult with him when Marvel Studios and Disney offered her the role of Captain Marvel.
“We bonded through the election while we were doing her movie when Donald Trump won,” Jackson remembered. “She was broken and I was like, ‘Don’t let ‘em break you. You have to be strong now.’ Then, when she got ‘Captain Marvel,’ she called me and was like, ‘They want me in the Marvel Universe. Should I do it?’ And I was like, ‘Hell yeah! Let’s do it!’”
Addressing Larson’s online haters, Jackson said, “She’s not going to let any of that stuff destroy her. These incel dudes who hate strong women, or the fact that she’s a feminist who has an opinion and expressed it? Everybody wants people to be who they want them to be. She is who she is, and she’s genuinely that.”
Jackson has been a stalwart of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing Nick Fury since the post-credits scene in 2008’s “Iron Man.” It’s only with the upcoming Disney+ series “Secret Invasion” that Jackson has gotten the chance to be the lead of a Marvel project. Was Jackson clamoring to lead an MCU title after so many years? Not exactly.
“My biggest concern with Marvel was trying to keep them from killing me more than anything else,” Jackson said. “I kind of liked the gig! When they called me in to tell me what’s going on, I always thought they were trying to kill me. They didn’t let me go to Wakanda, which I was kind of upset about. How could Nick Fury not know about Wakanda? They said, ‘Well, you do know but you can’t go.’ I always wanted to tell the story about who Nick was before he had these superhero friends — when he lived in the shadow world as a spy, and how he connected with these people. ‘Secret Invasion’ is not a superhero movie. It’s gritty and dark.”
Jackson and Larson will be reuniting in the Marvel Cinematic Universe later this year with the release of “The Marvels,” in theaters Nov. 10 from Disney. “Secret Invasion” premieres June 21 on Disney+.
