Avengers Fan Theory Explains When Nick Fury Was Really Replaced by Talos

2019 has been a huge year for Marvel Cinematic Universe films, marking the first year in the franchise’s history to see the release of three movies. This year saw the opening of Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. One thing that all of these films had in common was the appearance of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury… or was he? In the post-credits scene for Far From Home, it’s revealed that Fury was actually Talos, the Skrull played by Ben Mendelsohn in Captain Marvel. Many fans have been speculating just how long Talos had taken over for Fury, using clues from the previous films. People have long pointed out that Fury eats a diagonally cut sandwich in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which is suspect since he says in Captain Marvel that he cannot eat toast if it’s cut diagonally. A recent theory shared to r/FanTheories argues that Talos has been Fury ever since Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

“FFH says Fury was swapped out for Talos. When though? Fury was swapped out with Talos when he almost died in Winter Soldier. Perfect opportunity. He didn’t do all that stuff with the special chemical to reduce his heart rate. He basically died. The Skrull have the technology to heal him, and they owed him one. So he was taken to space to heal. Talos has been serving ever since. In Captain Marvel, Fury says if his toast is cut diagonally, he can’t eat it. In Age of Ultron, he is clearly seen eating diagonally cut toast. This isn’t Fury, it’s Talos. I guess you can say Fury just adjusted to diagonal toast within 20 years, but that seems strange. Law of conservation of detail; they wouldn’t give such a weird detail if it was never going to matter. So, it had to be sometime before Age of Ultron,” u/Jacob_wallace wrote.

Many people commented on the post:

“Plus Maria Hill always calls him ‘Nick,’” u/Kaizen_2582 pointed out. (In Captain Marvel, Fury also makes a point to say that he only ever goes by “Fury.”)

“If Talos had been impersonating Fury since Winter Soldier and during the events of Age of Ultron, he would know all he needs to assemble the Avengers rather than calling a high school kid to deal with world-ending threats – something he clearly hasn’t dealt with as Fury before in the scene in FFH,” u/JohnnyHotshot argued.

“The swap had to have happened post-snap,” u/lumberzach316 replied.

Do you think Fury has been a Skrull since The Winter Soldier? Tell us in the comments!

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022. Marvel Studios Disney+ series without release dates include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.