Samuel L.
Jackson had to love being in Captain
Marvel. For years, Nick Fury has
been a very visible character in the MCU without a ton to do. He’s been mysterious, he’s been badass, and
he’s tossed out cool lines, all of which sounds great but which ultimately end
up as a lot of wash-rinse-repeat moments.
Before this point, his best showing was probably Captain America: The Winter
Soldier, which offered a bit more dimension for his character, but Captain Marvel is operating on its own
playing field entirely. Seeing a younger
Fury who’s not so distrustful plays a big part in opening the character up, but
far more so than that, it’s seeing the fantastic buddy relationship that grows
between Fury and Carol.
When
S.H.I.E.L.D. gets wind of a woman wandering around in a flight suit shooting
photon blasts from her hands, they send Fury to suss out the situation. Carol, of course, is on a mission and has no
time for Earth agents getting in her way.
She blows Fury’s initial attempt to bring her in, but she’s fairly
straight with him. Right off the bat,
she banters with him a little, and she tells him her business on Earth without
trying to conceal the facts of the situation or talking down to him as someone
who obviously isn’t flush with extraterrestrial experience.
But Fury
isn’t one to be deterred, and once he tenaciously tracks her down, Carol isn’t
unimpressed by what she sees. She gives
him a more complete rundown on the Skrulls, recognizes that his local knowledge
and S.H.I.E.L.D. clearance could be valuable, and enlists him as an ally in her
work. This is all new to Fury, but he
isn’t just along for the ride – he figures out that this mission is personal
Carol, even if she doesn’t yet know why that is, and he’s willing to go off the
map with her.
From
there, it’s pretty much just straight awesomeness. They still don’t trust each other fully, and
there’s some definite circling, but over the course of the film, both earn the
other’s respect and loyalty. They play
well off of each other, taking turns making important observations and coming
up with needed solutions, and even though Carol is obviously the more powerful
of the two (by far,) Fury still comes in handy by fighting smart, getting the
upper hand on Skrulls who are stronger than he is and have nothing left to
lose. While both have some knowledge
deficits compared to the other – Fury is new to this whole alien-invasion
thing, and Carol has lost her memories of Earth – neither really treats the
other as dumb or green. Instead, they
lean on one another’s understanding, filling in each other’s gaps so they can
move forward together.
And best
of all, they’re just so much fun. I could listen to Carol and Fury rib each
other all day, I love Carol’s total lack of patience for Fury’s adoration of
cute felines, and there’s a relaxed scene between them near the end of the
movie that’s the epitome of friendship awws.
From start to finish, these two are simply wonderful together. We’d better
get to see something between them in End
Game at some point, I’m just saying.
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