When the dust settled after Avengers: Infinity War, many fans had one question on their mind: why did Nick Fury call Captain Marvel during the fateful, shocking events of the post-credits scene? A brand new fan theory floating around claims to have the answer and we’re diving deep into it on today’s episode of Nerdist News Edition.
Editor’s note: This video contains spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Now that Avengers: Infinity War is available on Blu-ray and digital HD, there’s a Hulk-sized amount of new fan theories popping up. The latest, courtesy of redditor SJVKRGR1, seeks to answer the question of why Nick Fury immediately scrambled to find his trusty pager in order to contact Captain Marvel in his final moments on this Earth. Player by Brie Larson, Captain Marvel is a seriously heavy hitter and could be the key to helping the surviving members of the Avengers defeat Thanos and undo that huge “oh snap” moment in Infinity War.
The answer as to why Nick Fury didn’t call Captain Marvel sooner, it seems, is that she is the nuclear option and he was waiting for a moment exactly like this to send the message. When Nick Fury begins turning to dust, he doesn’t look scared; rather, he is annoyed and confident in what his next action must be. Without missing a beat, he finds the pager and sends a message to Captain Marvel, wherever she may be.
Back in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Nick Fury has a seemingly innocent conversation with Tony in the barn at Hawkeye’s house that has much larger implications for the Marvel Cinematic Universe when re-examined.
“I’m not the director of anybody,” Nick Fury tells Stark. “I’m just an old man who cares very much about you.”
“And I’m the man who kills the Avengers. I saw it,” Tony replies, referencing his nightmarish vision induced by Scarlet Witch. “I didn’t tell the team. How could I? I saw it. I felt it. The whole world too.”
Fury seems intrigued by Tony’s assertion but tries to assuage his friend’s fears. Tony insists that he was shown these events, saying that it was “the end of the path [he] started us on.” The scene concludes with Tony lamenting that watching his friends die wasn’t the worst part of his vision, which Nick Fury counters by adding, “the worst part is that you didn’t [die].”
In the original context of the scene, one might assume they’re talking about the impending Ultron situation and that likelihood that the crazed Robert California murderbot will slaughter all of Tony’s friends, but it’s actually a vision of what Thanos will ultimately do in Infinity War to some degree. According to the theory, this isn’t the first that Nick Fury has heard of of an event like this coming to pass. Either Nick Fury somehow knows that Iron Man/Tony Stark is the linchpin to saving the universe or he has seen a Snappening-type event before. This could explain why Fury has gone out of his way time and time again to protect Stark.
So where exactly has Captain Marvel been hiding all of this time? The answer is seemingly not on Earth, but perhaps she is outside of the time stream as we know it. Another redditor, Usagii_Yo, added that what Fury uses isn’t just a regular pager; it’s a way of contacting someone who is outside of time. Perhaps Captain Marvel is trapped in the past (given that her film is set in the ’90s) or she is hiding somewhere outside the bounds of our time stream in order to bide her time until Thanos’ rise to power. With the revelation of time vortexes in the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man and the Wasp, this could explain not only some of the Avengers 4 set photos flying around but also how The Avengers will link up with Carol Danvers to defeat that giant Crossfit California Raisin.
This could also play into the notion that Doctor Strange used the Time Stone during his encounter with Thanos on Titan in order to go back in time and warn Nick Fury and/or Captain Marvel about what was to come and why Tony is of critical importance. It would also help explain why Stephen Strange was on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s list of notable individuals back in The Winter Soldier. For more on that particular theory, though, use your own Time Stone and check out our Nerdist News Edition all about it.
But what do you think? Do you think Nick Fury knew the Snapture was going to happen? Where do you think Captain Marvel actually is? Let me know in the comments below.
Images: Marvel
