Sylvester Stallone Had Nothing to Do With Samuel L. Jackson Joining the ‘Tulsa King’ Universe (Exclusive)

Sylvester Stallone had nothing to do with bringing Samuel L. Jackson into the Tulsa King universe.

“He was the aggressor. He wanted to do it so badly,” Stallone, 79, told Us Weekly exclusively ahead of the Tulsa King season 3 premiere in September. “He went to the producer. The producer came to me.”

Stallone noted that Jackson, 76, “walks onto the set with complete confidence” — and Tulsa King was no different.

“He knows he’s got it. He knows he’s the man. He’s has a certain swagger,” Stallone continued. “I feel like, here it comes, high noon. It’s gonna be a gunfight between us two. He brings out the best.”

The legendary star added, “Actors love to be challenged. At first, there may be a little intimidation, but once you get cooking. After the first punch is thrown, now you’re in it.”

Jackson made his Tulsa King debut as Russell Lee Washington Jr. in the third season’s penultimate episode, titled “Dead Weight,” which premiered on Sunday, November 16. (The episode appears to act as the backdoor pilot for Jackson’s upcoming series, Nola King.)

The episode opened with viewers discovering that Jackson’s character is a hired hitman — one of the best, as it’s later revealed. Quiet Ray (James Russo) recruits Jackson’s Russell for a trip to Tulsa to take out Dwight Manfredi (Stallone), but things don’t go as planned.

“Why are you in Tulsa?” Dwight asked, to which Russell responded, “I’m thinking about going back to Nola.”

Dwight was quick to clock Russell’s “f***ed up roadmap” since there were no “direct routes” from New York to New Orleans that go through Tulsa. Dwight and Russell are old friends, so there was a “professional courtesy” between them, meaning Russell was giving Dwight a head’s up about the hit out on his life.

Elsewhere in the episode, Dwight and Russell teamed up to take out two apparent hit men in Tulsa. However, it’s later revealed that Vince (Vincent Piazza) has actually made the trip from New York for Dwight, which takes Us right into the season finale.

It was announced in June that Jackson would be leading the upcoming Tulsa King spinoff series, which doesn’t have a release date just yet. Nola King will seemingly take place just after Russell leaves Tulsa.

“Inspired by what Dwight created in Tulsa and impressed with the possibilities of second chances, Washington returns to New Orleans, the home he abandoned 42 years ago, to rekindle his relationship with his family, friends, and to take control of the city he left behind,” the official Nola King logline reads. “In so doing, he incurs the wrath of his former employers in New York and makes himself vulnerable to old NOLA foes, both criminal and cop.”

Jackson told Collider in June that he’s “really happy” to be joining show creator Taylor Sheridan’s television universe.

“At least 15 of those shows are on my watchlist all the time,” Jackson said. “I watched Tulsa King, and I liked it even before that idea came up. I know very little about what’s going to happen.”

The Tulsa King season 3 finale will be available to stream via Paramount+ on Sunday, November 23.