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One of the biggest Marvel heroes is the latest A-list name to appear in The Boys, lending his voice to a hammerhead shark in the show’s final season. Fans watching Episode 7 of Season 5 might have recognized that unmistakable voice coming from an unexpected source.

Eric Kripke reveals how Samuel L. Jackson’s cameo in The Boys came to be

Samuel L. Jackson lends his voice to the character Xander, a shark that The Deep rode earlier in the season while chasing A-Train. This time, Xander is not feeling helpful. Following an oil pipeline explosion that killed enormous numbers of fish, he confronts the aquatic supe with a threat to stay out of the water.

Showrunner Eric Kripke told Polygon that Jackson was always the first choice. “We wanted a really distinct voice, and who has a more distinct voice in Hollywood than Sam Jackson? So we just went to his agent,” Kripke said. “He was our first choice, and we were like, Does he want to do this? It was really just taking a flyer. But then it came back, Oh yeah, he likes the show and totally, he’ll do it.”

Samuel L. Jackson recorded his lines for The Boys during a free morning in New York City while Kripke directed remotely from Los Angeles. “That’s a bucket-list thing, man, watching Sam Jackson read your dialogue. And I think it makes the scene just so funny because The Deep is getting told off and Sam Jackson’s very, very good at that,” Kripke told Entertainment Weekly.

All in all, Season 5 has been packed with guest appearances. MSNBC host Chris Hayes played himself in the premiere. Episode 5 turned into a Supernatural reunion, bringing Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins together with Jensen Ackles. Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, Will Forte, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse all showed up playing themselves at a poker game. Kripke credits Rogen for many of these moments.