Samuel L. Jackson wondered “how long do you have to stay alive to make nine movies” when he first signed his Marvel contract.

Samuel L. Jackson gave audiences their first hint that the Marvel Cinematic Universe was going to be more significant than they imagined. The actor first appeared as Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man, telling Tony Stark that he’d become part of a bigger universe. This was the first of Jackson’s nine-picture deal with Marvel Studios. The actor told GQ that not only was he shocked by the deal, but that he stayed alive long enough to see them all get made.

“I knew I had a nine-picture deal,” Jackson said. “[Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige] said that: ‘We’re going to offer you a nine-picture deal.’ How long do you have to stay alive to make nine movies? It’s not the quickest process in the world. I didn’t know they were going to make nine movies in like two and a half years. That’s kind of crazy! Oh shit, I’m using up my contracts. It worked out.“

Jackson reached the end of that initial nine-picture deal with Captain Marvel but has returned for more Marvel movies, including Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and The Marvels. He also took center stage in the Secret Invasion series on Disney+.

That’s a lot of Marvel movies, but Jackson told The LA Times in 2022 that he’d rather focus on doing what makes him happy rather than chasing awards. “I was never going to let the Oscars be a measure of my success or failure as an actor,” Jackson said. “My yardstick of success is my happiness: Am I satisfied with what I’m doing? I’m not doing statue-chasing movies. You know [whispers]: ‘If you do this movie, you’ll win an Oscar.’ No, thanks. I’d rather be Nick Fury. Or having fun being Mace Windu with a lightsaber in my hand.“

Jackson continued, “As jaded as I wanted to be about it, you know thinking, ‘Well, I should have won an Oscar for this or should have won for that and it didn’t happen,’ once I got over it many years ago, it wasn’t a big deal for me. I always have fun going to the Oscars. I always look forward to getting a gift basket for being a presenter. [Laughs] I give stuff to my relatives; my daughter and my wife would take stuff out. It’s cool.”