Captain Marvel: 20 Easter Eggs And References Explained

14. The French Connection & Men In Black

A LOT happens during Captain Marvel's chase sequence, but it isn't just Danvers who steals all the references. Nick Fury actually gets in on the act too, as he pursues both Danvers and her Skrull target behind the wheel of a black sedan.

There are actually two references in this sequence. First off, Fury's pursuit of the train mirrors the famous car chase from The French Connection, which saw Gene Hackman pursue a suspect fleeing on a subway while in a car underneath. It's one of the best car chases in all of cinema, but Hackman's car doesn't emerge unscathed; it crashes into several other vehicles by driving into oncoming traffic, just as Fury does in Captain Marvel.

However, if the reference to William Friedkin's 1971 classic isn't enough for you, then there may just be another reference in the sequence too. When Fury crashes his vehicle after the Skrull Coulson is outed as an imposter, he emerges just as law enforcement and the viewing public approach the ride. Covering up the alien corpse in his ride, he beckons the crowd closer, declaring the matter to be S.H.I.E.L.D. business by brandishing an ID from his inner coat pocket.

The way the scene is set up, though, makes it almost seem like it's a nod towards 1997's Men in Black. The way the camera pans up to Fury, along with the obvious parallel of him being an agent concealing extraterrestrial activity, just screams Barry Sonnenfeld's film, even if Nick isn't carrying a neuralyzer.