Avengers: Infinity War ended with an exciting post-credits scene that generated a lot of discussion from fans. Following Thanos’ apocalyptic snap, Nick Fury’s seen contacting someone that comic book readers will know as Captain Marvel before he too turns to dust. It’s a smart tease of Brie Larson’s heroine, who’s making her MCU debut in her own self-titled movie next March. However, it does raise one big question.

Seeing as we know Captain Marvel‘s set in the 1990s, we have to wonder: if Fury has this dinky little pager to contact Carol Danvers, why has he never done so before in any previous world-threatening crisis? It’s been something that Marvel lovers have been contemplating since April, but one Reddit user has now put forward an interesting theory that could explain it.

The theory suggests that the reason Fury waited until Infinity War to contact Captain Marvel, and how he seemed to know what was happening, is because this has all been preordained and the S.H.I.E.L.D. director was warned of future events back in the 90s. This could also explain some curious behavior in previous movies.

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Here’s how the theory goes:

I’ve heard a lot of people ask “why didn’t Nick Fury call Captain Marvel for Avengers 1 or 2, or any of the other world ending situations?” I think that’s the wrong question. The question shouldn’t be “why didn’t Nick Fury call Captain Marvel at that time?” The question should be “why DID Nick Fury call Captain Marvel THIS time?” Let me lay some ground work and I’ll sum it up at the end When Maria Hill disintegrates, Fury looks, almost confident. Like he knows whats going on. I wouldn’t be surprised if somehow he did. He even has this beat that seems to say “here we go”. He IMMEDIATELY goes for the pager. Again, he seems to be prepared for just such an event. In rewatching Age of Ultron, when he speaks with Tony in Hawkeyes shed, Fury says “I’m not the director of anybody. Just an old man who cares very much about you.” I find this to be really odd. Why does he care so much for Tony? Why would he care so much for his safety or his sanity? Fury isn’t one for deep meaningful connections. Even if he were, Stark would be the last person with whom he’d share one. Later in that same conversation, Tony tells Fury of the vision Scarlet Witch gave him where he “kills the Avengers…the whole world too”. Fury looks curious. Intrigued at the idea that Tony could have seen such a thing. He tries to comfort Tony by saying it was a trick, but Tony insists he was SHOWN it. Stark says “watching my friends die…you’d think that’d be as bad as it gets… Nope. Wasn’t the worst part.” Fury interrupts, “worst part is that you didn’t”. Alright, we know that Fury has been involved in this Superhero side of the world for quite some time. I think Captain Marvel will show us that Fury has either a) seen/heard of/been told the future where a man named Iron Man will save the universe, or b) has seen a Snappening before to some degree. I think when Stark announced himself to be Iron Man, that was Furys cue to introduce Stark into this world of superheroes because he knew he would be of the UTMOST importance one day. That would explain why he immediately wanted to recruit Stark and train him to be a competent soldier. This would also explain why he has tried time (IM 2) and time (Ultron) again to save Stark from himself. This would explain why in AoU he comes and tells Tony he cares for him. It would explain why when Stark explains his vision of killing the Avengers and the world wasn’t the worst part, Fury knows that Stark was still alive. Perhaps Fury already knew this prophecy. Finally, it would explain why Fury didn’t call Captain Marvel until now. Perhaps in the past, he was shown or learned that in the future, there would be this catastrophic event, where she would be needed. That’s why when Maria disappeared, he quickly went to get the pager. I don’t think it was out of fear, but out of recognizing what the situation was.

One comment from another user on this post suggests that maybe Doctor Strange is the one who warns Fury of the future, seeing as he’s a time-traveller. Running with this idea, it’s possible that he sent a message to the past during Infinity War so that the timeline plays out exactly as he wants it, something that’s the backbone of another fan theory.

Alternatively, maybe Fury can time travel himself? A previous theory from another fan suggested that the Fury we meet in Age of Ultron is actually a future version of the character who’s visiting the past. If this sounds far-fetched, it’s worth remembering that Avengers 4 is set to really get to grips with time travel and the heroes crossing their own time streams.

All things considered, this is as plausible a theory as any at this stage. Infinity War blew the whole MCU wide open and Marvel’s keeping a tight hold on Avengers 4 at the moment, so practically anything’s possible right now.