- Warning: There are spoilers ahead for “Captain Marvel.”
- A younger Samuel L. Jackson appears in the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe installment with two eyes during the ’90s.
- The movie reveals how he came to lose the eye. It’s a much more Disney/Marvel-friendly answer than how Fury loses his eye in the comics.
“Captain Marvel” not only introduces us to Carol Danvers (played by Brie Larson). The latest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe also spends a lot of time with a younger Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) before his days as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
We’ve seen Fury on screen since 2008’s “Iron Man,” but he’s always had his trademark eye patch. We meet Fury when he has two eyes in the ’90s. By the film’s end, we finally get to learn how he winds up with his iconic patch.
It’s something you may have been able to predict if you’ve been watching the trailers closely.
This is your last chance to head back before spoilers.
As some fans may have guessed, Nick Fury winds up losing his eye late in "Captain Marvel" and it's all because of our new furry cat friend, Goose.
Fury becomes quite smitten with the feline early on in the film. When Fury picks him up late in the movie, Goose has seemed to have had it a little bit with Fury fawning over him. Unexpectedly, he takes his claws to Fury's face.
Instead of getting upset with the cat, Fury refuses to believe he loses his eyesight and writes it off as a simple flesh wound at first. A big joke. It's only later when Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) asks him to choose a false eye color to replace the old one that we learn Fury is telling a different tale to the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to make his injury seem much more heroic.
Coulson has the impression Fury received his wound during a showdown with the Kree.
How it happens in the comics
The Disney and Marvel movie really dumbs down how Fury loses his eye in the comics. Several different versions of the character were introduced over the years and in none of those instances did Fury lose his eye from a cat scratch.
In the comics, Fury lost his eye after complications from a Nazi grenade blast and in an explosion during the Gulf War. A third Fury, his secret son in the comics with the same name, had his eye cut out.
Polygon has a good breakdown of the many ways in which Fury lost his eye in the comics you can read here.
Did you predict that Goose would be the reason Fury loses his eye? "Captain Marvel" is now in theaters. You can read our review here.