Discussion post: Fury's eye

[sholio]

Here's something I don't think we've had a discussion post about yet - we finally got the backstory behind Fury's eyepatch in Captain Marvel, and it's not what anyone thought it was going to be! What did you think about that reveal? Did you like it? Or would you have preferred something else, and if so, what kind of thing?

Comments

[sixbeforelunch]

I thought it was perfect. I love that they went with something so unexpected. I love that the betrayal hinted at in Winter Soldier ended up being perpetrated by a cat (well, not a cat, but still) rather than some trusted associate or something equally dramatic. IMO, it was a great choice.

[lynnenne]

Agree 100 percent!

[sholio]

Hahaha, yeah - WS created a certain set of expectations that it's going to be something completely dramatic and angsty ... and then it's getting scratched by a cat. XD Also, in retrospect Fury characterizing that as one of the great betrayals of his life in that context is essentially Fury being a giant troll, which is also 100% in character.

[kore]

Fury is totally a giant troll. I also actually loved the reveal MORE in the context of TWS because it shows he's still manipulating Steve, just like he did with not telling him the real reason for the mission and all the way back to those bloody cards. (I will maintain forever that TWS is actually the story of Natasha and Fury having to choose between Pierce and Steve, but anyway.)

[senmut]

Personally I loved it. They found a way to tie it to trust, but also taught Nick a lesson in assumptions in the doing. And ... he still loves the cat. Which is a lesson in itself, about forgiveness, and understanding.

[sholio]

I think the fact that he still loves the cat is a really important bit of Nick characterization, honestly!

[chelseagirl]

I thought it was a bit disproportionate for a cat scratch (or even a Flerken scratch) to cause him to lose an eye, but like everything else about Goose, it was still somehow charming?

[sholio]

Yeah, realistically speaking I .... do not actually believe in it. I mean, theoretically it could happen, but that seems to be largely down to Nick wandering around not seeking medical treatment for the CAT SCRATCH IN HIS EYE -- but it does work in a slightly larger than life, jokey context! As you said, implausible but charming. XD

[perspi]

While I REALLY liked that it was the Flerken, I also felt a lot like it was telegraphed too much. It's been a while since I've seen Captain Marvel, but I remember that Fury was kind of in Goose's face, right? Like, he was coo-ing in such a way that even a regular Earth cat might give him a scratch if they were feeling cranky, and I was like, OK, here it comes, and I felt like it took forever to actually happen.

I think I would have liked it more if it was more out-of-the-blue, you know? Like, Fury isn't even really paying much attention, just treating Goose like a regular cat that he's carrying, and he kind of absentmindedly pets it once or something, just trusting it to be chill on his lap, and it goes ATTAK.

[sholio]

I am just going to say that this seems like 100% realistic cat behavior. XD Flerken cat in particular. He's probably lucky it just scratched him and didn't eat his head.

[perspi]

Oh, yeah, I did totally buy it as realistic cat behavior! I just remember feeling like it took too long to get to.

And he's definitely lucky it didn't eat his head. Shows how much Goose likes him, really.

[luthienberen]

I thought it was lovely, hilarious and perfect. The way it happened was very realistic to me - Fury loves cats (like me!), but fell into the trap of not listening to the cats/flerken's body language, telling him Goose was not happy, yet he ignored all those signals due to the adrenaline of the battle-escape and...paid the price.

I do have the advantage that Captain Marvel was the first Marvel film I properly watched since Thor and Doctor Strange, so I hadn't developed any background to Fury's eye (handwaving it as an injury from his service), so Captain Marvel's explanation did not upset any prior beloved theories for me.

So, love the backstory!

[sholio]

LOL. And a very important lesson about proper treatment of cats was learned. XD

[luthienberen]

Indeed!🤣

[ayebydan]

I think it was brilliant. MCU works on still being humorous in its wall of angst. Then it is SO Fury like for him to make out for the next 40 years that it was WAY MORE SERIOUS GUYS.

[kore]

I loved it as subversion throughout the whole movie. Fury can't eat toast cut diagonally and helps with the dishes and is a cat man and did an entire riff with Carol about his badass name! and he was still a badass and a really important character.

[kore]

I was mostly amused at all the wailing fanboys who thought it was SO TERRIBLE that the awesome dark and angsty secret of Fury's Eye was treated so disrespectfully and frivolously in Captain Marvel. How could the MCU! blah blah. This is FURY, the man lies like he breathes and is completely willing to double down on any emotional weak spot. Did everyone forget about those bloody Captain America cards in Avengers? And since two huge themes in the movie were not pre-judging things men think aren't that powerful (apparent cats, small blonde women) and Things Are Never What They Appear To Be (apparent cats, small blonde women, alien allies, alien foes) it fit right in. I was kind of delighted that ultra super serious Ultimates Fury with the badass attitude and eyepatch and long swirly cloak had such a non-badass injury. And it was totally also delightful that he clearly still loved and cared for the cat.

The one thing I thought was a bit off about it was yeah, for someone who apparently loves cats, he really wasn't paying attention to the cat's body language right before it scratched him. Or he could have been just disregarding it, like "oh kitty wouldn't scratch me." (Not that I have ever ever done this, as a cat owner, LOL.)