When the Marvel Cinematic Universe turns the clock back to the mid-1990s next spring for Captain Marvel, audiences will see a younger Nick Fury who, although an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., isn't quite the same man we've followed along with since he stopped by Tony Stark's mansion in Iron Man. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige previously explained that at the start of Captain Marvel, Fury believes the best days of his career are behind him due to the Cold War, but when he crosses paths with Carol Danvers, his life will be forever changed. In fact, as Samuel L. Jackson explained, once Fury is thrust into the world of superheroes and aliens, he'll struggle with trying to adapt to these new forces that most of humanity doesn't know about. As Jackson put it:
This is a mind-changing, attitude-changing moment for him that leads him to become the person that we know. He [now] understands that there are these other things out there. He understands that they're not all enemies, and we do need to find allies who have specific kinds of skills that humans don't have. And trying to convince people above him is a difficult task because they haven't seen it or experienced it.
When we meet the younger Nick Fury in Captain Marvel, he is just a "lowly desk jockey" who still has two working eyes, but hasn't had any experience yet with aliens threats. We'll have to wait and see how exactly Fury meets Carol Danvers, but his encounter with her will lead to him realize that there are other people like her with special powers/abilities, and that they can be an asset. We know this will pave the way for him setting up the Avengers Initiative, but at this point, humanity as a whole is still close to two decades away from learning that aliens exist. Granted, previous MCU movies and TV shows that there have been instances of alien and extraterrestrial objects making their way to Earth, but as Samuel L. Jackson informed EW, Fury will face an uphill battle in Captain Marvel convincing his superiors that they need to be preparing for these extraordinary forces, both from beyond our world and those that surface close to home.
Although much of Captain Marvel will follow Carol Danvers in outer space as she serves on the Kree military team known as Starforce, eventually she'll be drawn back to Earth when the conflict between the Kree and the Skrulls puts her home in the crossfire. It was revealed earlier this week that Skrull leader Talos, played by Ben Mendelsohn, has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. in the movie, so along with meeting a superhero for the first time, Fury will also have to deal with an alien shapeshifter causing problems within his spy organization and possibly lose his eye in the process. It's also worth a reminder that Fury won't be the only familiar face from S.H.I.E.L.D. appearing in Captain Marvel, as we'll also see Phil Coulson back when he was the "new guy."
Captain Marvel flies into theaters on March 8, 2019, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates.
