Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the franchise's most recognizable figures. He made his debut in 2008's Iron Man in a post-credits scene and has featured in many MCU films over the years after that. Discussing Iron Man for its 15th anniversary, director Jon Favreau and Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige reflected on the history of Fury and how he was originally referred to as a Gandalf-like character.

"You described Nick Fury early on... you described him as Gandalf," Feige said to Favreau.

But how is Fury similar to the wise wizard from The Lord of the Rings? Feige said Fury is similar to Gandalf because he appears whenever he is needed, and usually with some instruction about what to do next.