Despite doing a good job at focusing on the title character and his struggles throughout the movie, there was certainly no shortage of characters in ‘Captain America: Civil War’. The Star-Spangled Avenger was joined by the likes of Iron Man, Black Widow, Falcon, The Vision, Spider-Man, and more as they took sides in the debate regarding the Sokovia Accords. However, one integral figure in the history of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes was left out of the action and now we know why.
In a recent interview with Los Angeles Times, ‘Civil War’ screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely discussed the absence of Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury. While they didn’t give an answer to where in the Marvel Cinematic Universe he was during the events of the film, Markus explained their reasoning for leaving the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. out of the movie:
“Primarily it felt like one too many possible opinions. We didn’t want him to take one side or the other, because that’s not his place in the universe. And then we didn’t want another, ‘Is he still with the government? Is he opposed to the government but supporting the government?’ It got to be the potential for a lot more polemic discussion that the movie did not have room for.
He’s the guy who put it together. He’s been the sort of parent figure to the Avengers. Let the parent go away, and see if the kids can handle this. See if the kids can be who they’re supposed to be without that governing voice. Um… and they didn’t do that good of a job.”
It’s hard to argue with that logic because it’s certainly sound, but I think most of us are still wondering where in the MCU Fury is hiding right now. Is he still trying to take down HYDRA cells? Are there some Sokovia-related loose ends that still need to be tied up? Or could he be exploring some Inhuman activity that Director Phil Coulson and his team are too tied up to pay attention to? For all we know, Fury could finally be relaxing on a beach somewhere as he gets updates on the status of the Avengers on his super-advanced spy phone. No matter what the case is, Markus and McFeely tease that Fury could be involved in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ since “it’s probably all hands on deck” for those films.
What do you think about Nick Fury staying out of ‘Captain America: Civil War’? Do you accept the writers’ explanation for keeping him sidelined? And what do you think the in-universe answer for his absence is? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences and puns far too much. Also, he likes to think that Nick Fury was just out shopping for cool leather trenchcoats and lost track of what was happening because cool spy gear doesn’t buy itself. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
