Samuel L. Jackson makes a bold introduction in never-before-seen 'Iron Man' end-credits outtake (original) (raw)
The Marvel post-credit scene that started it all could've been a whole lot spicier.
Jon Favreau — who directed, produced, and starred as Happy Hogan in 2008's Iron Man — visited Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday and discussed a never-before-seen end credits outtake from the film that featured Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) boldly introducing himself to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in his living room.
"The way it works is Iron Man, in the end, just walks into his living room after the credits and he gets surprised by Nick Fury being there inviting him to join the Avengers Initiative," Favreau said, setting up the scene. "That kind of kicks off the whole sequencing that happens."
However, Favreau told host Jimmy Kimmel that he filmed the additional take solely "for me," adding, "I knew it wasn't gonna be in the movie." Kimmel then interrupted Favreau to announce that the show had obtained the footage for the world to see.
"Where did you find this? This was never..." a surprised Favreau said. "This is real, by the way. This isn't a joke. We really filmed this just for fun."
The scene starts off the same — with Fury approaching an off-camera Tony Stark about a new "business opportunity" — but takes a sudden sharp turn when Stark demands that he identify himself. Fury then snaps, "Nick Fury, motherf-----!"
During their conversation, Favreau told Kimmel that the end credits scene itself was a "top secret shoot" that took place "on a day off."
He added, "I'm a fan of Sam Jackson's not just from Star Wars and this was before Marvel, but from his Tarantino films, his independent film days, so it was just a blast to have him there — the eyepatch, the leather jacket — and just having him on the set."
Samuel L. Jackson in 'Iron Man'. Paramount/Marvel Studios
Favreau previously told EW that he had no idea the effect that Iron Man's end credits scene would have on Marvel movies going forward and that, at the time, it was simply a special treat for fans.
"I wanted to include Easter eggs that the fans would appreciate and we thought the idea of a post-credit scene it could be fun," he explained in 2018. "It was something that wasn't really in the script originally. But I thought the idea of Nick Fury being Sam Jackson would be really fun, because when Nick Fury was reimagined in The Ultimates [comic book] they recast him as Sam Jackson, and I thought that that would be a really good nod to the audience."
He continued, "We had the idea that we would somehow group these characters [the Avengers] together, that was part of what would happen, but a lot of things had to go right for that to happen, so we were really just laying out a basic mission statement of purpose, to show our intent, and thinking that the few people who would linger in the theater would be the ones who would appreciate it most."
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content: