Andre Braugher Almost Played Marvel's Nick Fury 1 Year Before Samuel L. Jackson
Andre Braugher has passed away at 61. Throughout his years in the entertainment spotlight, Braugher took on a variety of memorable roles that collectively amount to an impressive Hollywood resume. The actor is best known for his work on the hit police comedy "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and the police drama "Homicide: Life on the Street," while his work in 2007's "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" tends to fly under the radar. In the film, Braugher played General Hager — a character originally intended to be Marvel Comics icon Nick Fury.
On the DVD commentary track for "Rise of the Silver Surfer," director Tim Story shared that plans were in place to feature Fury in the film. Since 20th Century Fox didn't have the film rights to the Fury character, the studio had to contact Marvel and attempt to work out a deal. Unfortunately, Marvel's price to allow for Fury's inclusion was far too high, and they likely had their own plans for the iconic spymaster, so the character of General Hager was created as a replacement. Had Fury appeared, Braugher's take would've predated Samuel L. Jackson's now-iconic one by a year. Jackson's Fury famously debuts in the post-credits scene of 2008's "Iron Man."
Even though he didn't ultimately get to bring Fury to the movies via "Rise of the Silver Surfer," Braugher still got to briefly channel the print legend for one scene.
Braugher was still able to briefly evoke Fury in the final film
General Hager is introduced in "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" as a stern, no-nonsense military leader. A mysterious anomaly has entered Earth's atmosphere, and he's determined to figure out what the object is. Thus, he reaches out to Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) for help, knowing full well that his brilliant scientific mind can figure out what's going on. Their dynamic is rather tense, but at the end of the day, they put their differences aside to figure out the truth of the Silver Surfer's (Doug Jones, Laurence Fishburne) trip to Earth.
As they work together, an interaction between Hager and Richards makes it clear just how much Nick Fury and Marvel Comics influence there was on the script. To kick off the "Ultimate Extinction" #2 comic, Richards and Fury disagree when it comes to where and how the former conducts his research. Fury makes a quip about Richards not playing football in high school, prompting Richards to deliver a speech highlighting that while he has always been a nerd, Fury needs him whether he likes it or not. In "Rise of the Silver Surfer," Richards and Hager get into a petty quarrel, with much of the exact dialogue stemming from this comic moment.
Had rights issues not gotten in the way, it stands to reason that Andre Braugher would've made for an exceptional Nick Fury in "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."