When reviews of Iron Man started hitting the internet, fans anxious to see some awesome cameos were dealt a major bummer. Hilary Swank? Missing. Ghostface Killah? On the cutting room floor. But the worst news of all was that the highly anticipated appearance of Samuel L. Jackson as eye-patch-sporting Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., was nowhere to be found. In the past week, fans have had to console themselves with director Jon Favreau's dodgy hints that Nick Fury just might appear in the DVD version of the film.

That was, until Comic Book Resources posted a column on the Iron Man premiere in London with a tantalizing note about a different cut of the film for theatrical release that does contain the Jackson cameo:

One thing missing from the film was the much-touted end of movie scene with Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury. I understand from British Film classification sources that the scene is in the print that they've approved for general release, but not in premiere or preview screenings, so as not to spoil the um.. surprise... bugger. Anyway, he's recruiting for a group called The Avengers.

CBR's allusion prompted a slew of new speculation about whether or not fans will be treated to a different version of the film than critics have seen. And now, Moviehole is declaring that early audiences in Australia are, indeed, getting a dose of Fury: apparently the final print of the film includes a post-credits Easter egg featuring Samuel L. Jackson showing up in Tony Stark's living room. If true, this is an impressive bit of film manipulation by Jon Favreau and Paramount — we don't think we've ever heard of audiences getting a different cut of a film than critics did. Clever! -Tammy Oler

Confirmed : Nick Fury IS in Iron Man! [Moviehole]