Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Episode 1 of Secret Invasion.Invasion! The Skrulls are finally executing their plot for world domination in theMarvel Cinematic Universe. The shape-shifting alien race is back to face off with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his allies in the long-awaited Disney+ seriesSecret Invasion. “Resurrection”, the first of six episodes, has a heroic return, treason, espionage, and is tragically bookended by murder. The show started with a bang, making it clear that serious consequences will span from the six-episode run, resonating through the remainder of Phase Five of the MCU.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumaniacapped off its titular heroes’ trilogy and introducedThe Multiverse Saga’s big bad, but the film that kicked off Phase Fiveended up being a not-so-stellar outing. Because of this andPhase Four’s mixed reception, Marvel Studios iscurrently slowing its movie and show output to focus on quality.Secret Invasion, being the series that kicks off Phase Five’s slate of shows, has the pressure of raising the stakes and, if things continue as in Episode 1, it appears it will.
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In ‘Secret Invasion’, Nick Fury Takes the Spotlight One More Time
Nick Fury, tough being present inAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgame, wasn’t a key player in those films’ events. His appearance inSpider-Man: Far From Homewas only physical, as he was being impersonated by the Skrull Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) while he was running S.A.B.E.R. in space. The last time he was an asset in battle was at the Battle of Sokovia inAvengers: Age of Ultron, and he knows this. In a deeper conversation with Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), it’s clearly stated he hasn’t recovered fully from The Blip. Getting to know the impact a being like Thanos (Josh Brolin) could have over humankind and render his efforts futile, affected his view of the world.
In a brief scene between James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and President Ritson (Dermot Mulroney), it’s revealed Fury abandoned the S.A.B.E.R. facilities without notice. If the threat faced inSecret Invasionis one for which Fury is willing to go rogue, then its implications deem to be serious. The introduction ofOlivia Colman’s MI6 Agent Sonya Falsworth as a former ally of Fury also promises to have an impact on the series. It remains to be seen if she will also have a lasting presence in future installments likeJulia Louis-Dreyfus’s Valentina Allegra de Fontaine orWilliam Hurt’s andHarrison Ford’s General Thunderbolt Ross.
No One Is Safe in ‘Secret Invasion’
The episode starts with Talos killingMartin Freeman’s Agent Ross, subsequently revealing his real identity as a Skrull. It’s not that surprising, since the dark tone of the initial sequence is set and amped up by former Agent Prescod’s (Richard Dormer) sense of persecution as he tries to explain the Skrull conspiracy to fake-Ross. But it does raise some questions that could impact the future of Phase Five: is the real Agent Ross still alive? Since when has he been impersonated by a Skrull? Was he already replaced in any of his big-screen appearances? And, more importantly, what has the Skrull done under his guise?
Secret Invasiondoesn’t hold back its punches. In an unexpected twist, the episode ends with Maria Hill’s death at the hands of Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), the Skrull mastermind behind the rebel faction. Early in the episode, it’s established Gravik knows Fury from before. The killing of Hill, Fury’s most trusted agent andone of the most underrated charactersmeans Gravik knew how to make him vulnerable and was willing to do it without remorse.To what lengths will he go next, and how will this impact the future of Phase Five?
Gravik’s motivations are yet to be explored. All theprevious appearances by the shape-shifter alien racein the MCU showed them as allies, so why target Earth now and seek to wipe out the human race? The first episode does establish Fury and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) didn’t fulfill their now-30-year-old promise to find a new planet for the Skrulls to settle, as seen inCaptain Marvel. It should be interesting to know how the rebel faction got to this point and if Carol will face any of the repercussions in the upcoming film,The Marvels.
‘Secret Invasion’ Adds a New MCU Location To Be Explored
Phase Four introduced several new and exciting locations of the MCU Earth. InThor: Love and Thunder,New Asgard is shown as a city-state based in part of Norway that has its own government and promotes tourism.Falcon and the Winter Soldierintroduces the South Asian island of Madripoor, home to some of the worst criminals.Eternalsends with a gigantic stone island sitting in the Indian Ocean after the titular group interrupts the gigantic Tiamut emerging from within Earth’s core (and destroying it in the process).
InSecret Invasion, G´hia (Emilia Clarke) is living in Gravik’s refuge for their race: New Skrullos. Located at an abandoned nuclear base somewhere in Russia, New Skrullos is also home to the Skrull Council. Their immunity to radiation makes it a safe space for them and further explains why they want to release a nuclear catastrophe upon humans –to take over the planet and make it their home. The outcome of this war will reveal if New Skrullos remains a part of Russia, or if it eats up the whole world.
The end result ofSecret Invasionwill impact not only Fury but the whole roster of heroes for the rest of Phase Five (and probably Phase Six!). Story-wise, the effect should mean a renewed role for Fury, more fallen heroes, or modifications to the ever-changing geographical landscape of the MCU. Production-wise, it should mean an elevated quality of future projects (and hopefully avoidingthe use of AI for future shows’ opening credits). If Fury survives this — which he should, forhe is set to appear inThe Marvels— he will come out as a changed man. There’s not much left for him to lose, and maybe that will become his biggest strength moving forward.
