Why Goose Is Way More Important Than You Realize

Despite appearing to be nothing more than a cute little kitty, this merciless creature is one of the most powerful entities in Captain Marvel, and potentially the entire MCU. Don't believe us? Ask Nick Fury. Here's everything you need to know about the "cat" in Captain Marvel. Spoilers ahead!

In the comics, the idea of Carol having a loyal pet kitty predates the occasion of her officially taking the mantle of Captain Marvel, with the cat making its first appearance in 2006's Giant-Size Ms. Marvel #1. But much like in the movie, in which it takes up until the third act for the other, alien shoe to drop, the cat spent years in the comics being seen as just a cat. It only reached its full, fearsome potential as an alien "flerken" during the space-set 2014 run of Captain Marvel.

In the comics, Carol first meets her cat in an imagined alternate dimension conjured up by Scarlet Witch during the "House of M" storyline, but is fortunate enough to see the creature cross back over into her reality with her when that illusion comes to an end. In the movies, though, the cat is introduced as a companion of Annette Bening's Mar-Vell, another alien in disguise hiding out on Earth.

Though Captain Marvel's cat has only appeared in one movie so far, it's already responsible for one of the most consequential actions in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe scratching out Nick Fury's eye.

Ever since he was introduced in the surprise post-credits coda to 2008's Iron Man, Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury has worn a patch over his left eye, implying a fairly badass backstory. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Fury hinted at what happened …

Now, more than 10 years after being introduced in the movies, we finally know the origins of Nick Fury's signature injury the flerken did it! While "I lost my eye to an alien" is a pretty cool story to tell over drinks, it loses a little bit of that cool factor when the alien in question looks like a typical housecat. So Fury has been letting rumors take hold and embracing the mythmaking around his lost eye ever since.

Watch the video for more on why Goose is way more important than you realize.

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Intergalactic notoriety | 0:16
Cat scratch fever | 1:02
A fearsome reputation | 1:52
Protector of the tesseract | 2:33
Character references | 3:21