Written by Giana Capri
Secret Invasion is the first series of Phase Five of the MCU that features a diminished Nick Fury facing yet another world-threatening disaster.
Marvel fans know Fury had a tough time over the past years. With S.H.I.E.L.D. being secretly tied to Hydra in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, too getting blipped out of existence for five years by another bad guy in the end credits of Avengers: Infinity War, Fury could never catch a break. And if you think it’s gonna get any better for him in Secret Invasion, you are sadly mistaken.
In his return to Earth, after a very long absence of being in space, Fury returns with a new look: a bigger beard that is now gray with no eyepatch on his left eye. He also returned with his “I don’t give a shit” attitude he always had and the “three moves ahead of everyone else” confidence.
The first episode sets up the show as a sequel to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and most significantly Captain Marvel. The premise is this: back in 1995, Nick Fury and Carol Danvers promised to find the Skrulls a new home, which shouldn’t have been a problem for them since there were a handful of Skrulls on Earth already. But it’s been years now and the Skrulls are done with waiting.
If you have forgotten, the Skrulls are an alien race of shapeshifters — refugees from the destroyed planet Skrullos that were first introduced in Captain Marvel. Since they have grown tired of waiting for a promise that wasn’t kept, they want to take Earth and claim it as their own, and pretend to be key human leaders so they can guide humanity to obliterate itself.
The biggest question asked by nearly every major character who meets Fury in the first episode is whether he’s too burned out to actually help stop the Skrulls from completing their mission. That’s a question raised in particular by a new character introduced, Special Agent Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman, The Favourite), an MI6 agent and a friend of Nick Fury who’s seemingly motivated to protect England’s national security interests.
By centering on an aging Nick Fury who is struggling to handle a crisis created by his own broken promise, we get a story that focuses much more on a flawed hero, rather than some kind of super-person that likes to smash things.
The good news in all of this is Fury isn’t alone. Returning characters Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and Maria Hill (Colbie Smulders, Avengers: Infinity War) are there to support him though the battle with the Skrulls.
As series premieres go, Secret Invasion doesn’t come close to past Marvel favorites like WandaVision, Loki, or Moon Knight. That is because Marvel is adapting into newer phases, and tends to alter events where they differ from the original comics. But what the actual truth is that people want to keep the old Marvel alive — they don’t want to see their favorite characters move on. With this, fans find it difficult to accept this because in a way, Marvel doesn’t feel like Marvel anymore. It is very understandable that people have these concerns, but as the MCU evolves, so will each project.
Just from episode one, Secret Invasion is shaping up to be a sort of a slow burn. Since it is the first series of phase five, it could be building up to something that can potentially deal with consequences for the MCU as a whole, or at least for the characters who still live on Earth.
