What is a Flerken from ‘The Marvels?’ The cat-like creatures, explained

As someone who is terrified of cats, the fact that in Marvel lore there is a lethal alien race called the Flerkens that has the exact appearance of a terrestrial cat makes perfect sense to me. If you’re a cat person, however, you probably think Goose from Captain Marvel is adorable, and we’re just very different people.

Either way, we’re both excited that these funny little creatures are back for The Marvels — me because I think they’re fascinating, if incredibly unsettling, and you because you really wish you could pet them. Whatever the scenario, we should probably learn everything we can about the Flerkens to avoid any and all unnecessary accidents.

Who is Goose in Captain Marvel and The Marvels?

Look at that little face. Looks harmless, right? WRONG. That is a Flerken. Her name’s Goose and she can shoot slimy, gross tentacles off her face, strangle you with them, and then eat your whole body. She is also Carol Danvers and Nick Fury’s furry companion in 2019’s Captain Marvel, who they adopt after finding her at the facility for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Joint Dark Energy Mission.

The whole time leading up to this movie, we’d been convinced Nick Fury had lost his left eye in a gruesome battle or high-stakes espionage mission. But, no. It was Goose, the little devil. Still, this golden-furred Flerken does her best to use her disturbing powers for good, and even helped the gang defeat the Kree, by swallowing them whole. You do not want to get on the bad side of this faux feline.

What are the Flerkens and what are their powers?

The Flerkens might just be the most fascinating alien race in the MCU. First, they’re the only ones that look and act like cats. Then, they have pocket dimensions in their mouths — entire universes stored inside their bodies which only their race can access and where they can store their enemies or any kind of valuable object and use for teleportation. And if that’s not insane enough, they can lay as many as 117 eggs in order to reproduce, have human-level intellects, and, as previously mentioned, unleash a large number of long tentacles, wide maws, and sharp fangs to attack their victims.

I’d rather pet Thanos. I said what I said.