Summary
- Nick Fury relies on pagers for reliable communication, even in the absence of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- The MCU's use of pagers ties into Marvel Comics lore, showing Fury's consistent spy tendencies.
- Nick Fury's choice of tools, like pagers, highlights his dedication and importance in the Marvel Universe.
Warning: SPOILERS for Ms. Marvel Annual #1As the ultimate spymaster of the Marvel Universe, it’s important that Nick Fury has a direct line to some of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes at a moment’s notice. In the old days, Fury had the resources of S.H.I.E.L.D. to make this possible, but these days, Nick must be a bit more low-tech. And it turns out that Marvel Comics’ Nick Fury shares yet another habit with his MCU counterpart: he’s a big fan of pagers.
Ms. Marvel Annual #1 features the fourth chapter of “The Death Stone Saga” by Derek Landy, Sara Pichelli, Mattia Iacono, and VC’s Travis Lanham, and finds Fury investigating the desecrated grave of Phil Coulson. When Nick turns to Captain Marvel for help identifying the energy lingering around the grave, Carol can’t help but question why Fury had Coulson buried with a gun and a pager.
When prodded on the matter, Fury replies, “Pagers are reliable.” And while this may be a fun nod to the MCU, this reasoning does make a lot of sense for both variants of the character.
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Nick Fury’s MCU Pager Comes To The Comics
The S.H.I.E.L.D. Operative Only Uses Reliable Tech
Coulson’s pager is not unlike the one Fury gave to Captain Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But its implementation in Marvel Comics lore comes from a totally different context. Like his father, Nick Fury Sr., before him, Nick Fury Jr. has to stay at the top of his game if he hopes to stay one step ahead of his enemies. And with the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D. making that mission all the harder, Fury has no choice but to work with the most reliable tools available to him.
Nick Fury is arguably Marvel Comics’ most iconic spy, but he didn’t achieve that station without taking his job seriously.
In the MCU, Nick Fury’s gifted pager to Captain Marvel is essentially played as a jokey reference to the ‘90s culture of Captain Marvel (2019), but clearly, Fury’s cinematic counterpart shares the comic iteration’s view of a pager’s reliability. After all, the Nick Fury of the MCU held onto it for decades, even after Carol’s return to Earth, as the most reliable way to call in his biggest gun. And if there’s one thing that a spy needs, whether it’s in comics or movies, it’s reliable communications.
Nick Fury Is Consistent Across Comics And Movies
Marvel’s Top Spy Gets The Job Done
Nick Fury is arguably Marvel Comics’ most iconic spy, but he didn’t achieve that station without taking his job seriously. In any situation, or in any adaptation, Nick Fury is always going to use whatever tools he has at his disposal to get the job done, and it seems that the number one tool he has is just a simple pager. Fans can’t be sure how many pagers the former S.H.I.E.L.D. operative has given out over the years, but they can be sure of one thing – if Nick Fury is giving someone a pager, they must be pretty important.
Ms. Marvel Annual #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.
