by Brett White

Don't hassle the Hoff with details about the Marvel Cinematic Universe! It turns out that David Hasselhoff still wants another shot at commanding S.H.I.E.L.D. from behind a Helicarrier control panel following his... interesting... turn as Nick Fury in the 1998 TV movie "Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." The "Baywatch" and "Knight Rider" leading man revealed his marvelous dream to Yahoo! Movies, claiming that he is the cigar-chomping rightful wearer of the eyepatch.

"I was the first Nick Fury," said Hasselhoff. "[Nick Fury co-creator] Stan Lee put me in that... Stan Lee came on the set and told me all about Nick. He said 'You're the ultimate Nick Fury'. He gave me the greatest compliment ever." Ironically, it's actually Samuel L. Jackson—the current Nick Fury—that is the literal 'ultimate' Fury. Jackson's casting was inspired by the Nick Fury from Marvel's Ultimate Universe, a character that was based on Jackson's likeness.

But looking the part isn't enough for Hasselhoff, who says that while Jackson's a fantastic actor, he's just not Nick Fury material.

"You know, it wasn't Nick Fury," said Hasselhoff. "They take these shows and they make it the way they want to make it and unfortunately, they should have had Stan Lee on the set and let him kick him into gear—whoever directed ['Marvel's the Avengers'] decided they wanted to go that way. But it's their prerogative. He's still a great actor... I was hoping to have played him in the movie. And then Samuel L. Jackson came in and he was a great Nick Fury but he wasn't really the consummate Nick Fury, the way he was written. And I think that's a shame because he's a great character and a funny character... I'm hoping to do it again sometime."

I mean, picking apart Hasselhoff's thoughts on Nick Fury and the Marvel Cinematic Universe with any level of seriousness would just be mean-spirited. Hasselhoff's comments are about as informed as mine would be, were I given the reins of fellow MTV blog Hollywood Crush. If anything, it's actually cool to read that Hasselhoff enjoyed playing the character, did research, and still thinks about him today. I'm glad the experience making "Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." was a good one for him!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Nick Hasselfury, I direct your attention towards this clip from the 1998 TV movie. The first twenty seconds illustrate just how far Marvel has come when it comes to bringing their characters to life. I mean, that "Iron Man" cartoon CG—yikes.

Now I just want to hear Samuel L. Jackson say, "I'll get that vampire's blood if I have to suck it from her neck." If anything, it looks like the TV movie's biggest crime was shaving Dum Dum Dugan's mustache. I mean, what were they thinking?!

[via Yahoo! Movies]

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