For the first time since 2016’s Doctor Strange, Marvel Studios is giving the lead role to a total MCU newcomer with the upcoming Captain Marvel, but since the franchise likes to make its transitions as smooth as possible, there’ll still be a familiar face along for the ride in the form of one Nick Fury. That being said, Samuel L. Jackson’s character is looking a little different from his usual appearance, and we’re not just talking about the digital de-aging effects.
As you’ve probably noticed already, the future Avengers assembler will be missing his trademark eye patch in Carol Danvers’ solo debut. The fans have already offered some theories on what unfortunate event may cause Nick to lose the use of his left eye – the most popular prediction perhaps being that Carol’s cat Goose will be the one to do the honors – but it seems that the film itself will answer our question soon enough.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Jackson dropped this little tease while explaining what Captain Marvel has to teach us about Fury:
“You’ll see, specifically, the origin of what happened to his eye. You’ll find out that he does have a family, that’s referenced. You don’t see them, but they are referenced in another way. There are things we talk about in his backstory that haven’t been talked about before — where he’s from, what he’s done. There are times when he actually, humanly reacts to things with fear and awe, instead of the stone face that he normally has, before he learns to control his emotions in another way.”
From the sound of things, the damage to Nick Fury’s eye may come in tandem with a little psychological trauma in an incident that causes him to become the stoic, relatively unemotional figure we know today. Either way, the sequence sounds unusually gruesome by Marvel/Disney standards, but presumably co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have found a way to film the mutilation while keeping things PG-13.
Anyway, we’ll find out how Fury earned his eye patch– and whether this has anything to do with him and Carol no longer being on speaking terms – when Captain Marvel hits theaters on March 8th, 2019.