Samuel L Jackson finally clears up the biggest mystery from Avengers: Infinity War
Why DID Nick Fury wait so long to call in Captain Marvel?
At the end of smash-hit superhero crossover Avengers: Infinity War viewers were left with all sorts of burning questions, from the obvious (“where’s Hawkeye?”) to the desperate (how on Earth are they going to undo the damage caused by Thanos?)
But perhaps the most perplexing moment of the entire movie came in Infinity War’s post-credits scene, when Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury activated an ancient pager to summon Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) for help – an action he apparently NEVER considered all the other times the Earth was in danger.
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The Chitauri invasion in the first Avengers movie? Nah, we’ll keep this one in the family. The complete infiltration and destruction of SHIELD? The guy with the big discus has it covered. Army of murderous AI robots in Age of Ultron? Pfft, we’ll do that in-house.
And when catching up with Jackson to talk about his role in Captain Marvel (which does explain the pager’s backstory a bit more), we couldn’t resist asking – Why did Nick Fury put off calling in the cavalry for so long?
As it turns out, there may be a very simple answer.
“I was in trouble this time,” Jackson told RadioTimes.com. “Personally. I was flaking off.
The post-credits scene in Avengers: Infinity War
“Fury was like, ‘Wait a minute. The only person I know who can handle this is this person, let me call her now.’”
And if that’s not QUITE a good enough explanation for fans, well, Jackson has some more advice – wait until the release of Infinity War sequel Avengers: Endgame, and we might just discover why Fury held back his star player for all these years.
“He has kept an ace up his sleeve for a very long time when he could have used it a long time ago,” Jackson teased.
“He used it at just the right moment so, I'm sure there's a reason for that.”
For now, Jackson claims not to know much about Endgame – he says he “hasn’t asked” Larson or any of the other stars for hints – but hopefully the film does take the time to lay out exactly what takes Captain Marvel so long to get back to Earth.
And if she does manage to stop Thanos when she does, Jackson says he hopes he’ll get to team up with Larson again, especially if it means reuniting with her as the older, slightly more cynical present-day version of Nick Fury.
“Captain Marvel is kind of a buddy-cop movie, and Brie and I have this really great relationship,” Jackson explained.
“And we can kind of look at each other and make each other laugh, and we can be serious together and still laugh later.
Samuel L Jackson as the younger Nick Fury in Captain Marvel (Disney)
“So I think the energy we have for each other and how we work together comes out very well in terms of what the result is that people see on screen.
“I’d definitely do another one,” he concluded.
“I think it'd be interesting to see what their dynamic is with the not-so kinder, gentler Fury, and her. I actually think their relationship is very special.”
Frankly, though, we’re not so sure. He says they’re close, but just one message in nearly 25 years and through countless world-ending threats? Clearly, Nick Fury is the master of Marvel movie ghosting.
Captain Marvel is released in UK cinemas on the 8th March
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
