Secret Invasion

Marvel’s Secret Invasion series is set to bring back Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in a cast that could have viewers really questioning who can be trusted.

Marvel’s Secret Invasion Cast News

Nick Fury

Samuel L. Jackson

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Talos

Ben Mendelsohn

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G’iah

Emilia Clarke

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Maria Hill

Colbie Smulders

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Everett K Ross

Martin Freeman

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Gravik

Kingsley Ben-Adir

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Ritson

Dermott Mulroney

Sonya

Olivia Colman

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James Rhodes

Don Cheadle

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Secret Invasion was announced two years ago by Marvel President Kevin Feige at Disney’s Investors Day 2020 (and then on Marvel Studios Twitter account) as a future Marvel Disney+ project. Since that time, we have seen the likes of WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk on the small screen.

Meanwhile, the big screen has given us adventures such as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and the recently released Thor: Love and Thunder. All of this appears to be setting up a return to a grittier Marvel Cinematic Universe (at least for one series) as we are getting ever so close to seeing Marvel’s Secret Invasion.

THE SECRET INVASION TRAILER DELIVERS WITH A GRITTY SAMUEL L. JACKSON

By grittier, we mean Samuel L. Jackson and his return as Nick Fury. When you first see him in the trailer, you will immediately understand why “gritty” is a great description of his character. What you will also see is Ben Mendelsohn returning to his role as Talos, the shapeshifting Skrull who actually became Nick Fury in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Both Fury and Talos appeared together before Spider-Man in Captain Marvel, where they worked together with Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers. You will also get quick glimpses of Cobie Smulders’s return as Maria Hill, Don Cheadle as James Rhodes, and the addition of Olivia Colman. Oh yeah, in her very first don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-her-moment, Emilia Clarke can be seen briefly, in her still unidentified role, holding a gun.

EMILIA CLARKE MAKES HER FIRST APPEARANCE FOR MARVEL IN SECRET INVASION

Speaking of Emilia Clarke, she shared the first official trailer with fans on Instagram, gushing about her experience filming the series. As you see, she is most definitely what she describes as a “fangurl.”

THE FIRST LOOK AT THE DISNEY+ SHOW CAME BACK IN 2021 WITH THE LOGO

On Disney+ Day 2021, a first look at the show’s logo was revealed. The new look is inspired by the Skrulls from Marvel Comics. Check it out below.

And then, of course, there was the big reveal. Samuel L. Jackson has been Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a long time now, but fans always want to see what he’ll be looking like in his next project. This time around, he’s going without the eye patch.

SAMUEL L. JACKSON AND MANY OTHERS ARE SECRET INVASION

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as Talos were pretty exciting announcements, but now we know who is filling out the cast for Secret Invasion, though Marvel remains somewhat tight-lipped about the plot details.

Emilia Clarke, most well known as Khaleesi from Game of Thrones, has confirmed that she will be in the Marvel series. While she’s very excited about the role, she won’t say anything about it except that she’s on the show. She told audiences while on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show that her first meeting was with Marvel’s security team, and she knows that she needs to be keeping the MCU’s secrets locked tight.

Christopher McDonald, known for his role in the Adam Sandler movie Happy Gilmore, has also signed on. Similar to Emilia Clarke, he has said that he signed an NDA agreement with Marvel and all he will confirm is that the show is called Secret Invasion.

Kingsley Ben-Adir, most well known for his role in One Night in Miami, has been announced as part of the Secret Invasion cast. It’s been rumored that he may be playing a villain.

Olivia Colman was said to be in talks with Marvel at the same time as Emilia Clarke, and those talks appear to have been fruitful as Colman has joined the cast. Another nice new addition is Dermot Mulroney.

And finally, an old Marvel friend will return for this one as well. Deadline had it that Cobie Smulders will reprise her role of Maria Hill which she originated on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And this isn’t her first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having played the role in Avengers: Endgame as well as Spider-Man: Far From Home.

THE STORY IS BASED ON A POPULAR COMIC BOOK ARC

Back in 2008, Brian Michael Bendis gave Marvel comic book fans Secret Invasion, which he set up when he revitalized Earth’s Mightiest Heroes with The New Avengers in 2005. As the team crumbled, a new team would arise that not only included original Avengers Captain America and Iron Man but would bring in other heroes such as Spider-Man and Wolverine.

This also led to the formation of the Illuminati, a secret group that included Iron Man, the Inhuman King Black Bolt, Black Panther, Professor Charles Xavier, Doctor Strange, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards.

The New Avengers also included Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman. Unbeknownst to these New Avengers, Jessica Drew was actually Princess Veranke, the Skrull leader who was ultimately behind the Skrull invasion of Earth. The Skrulls can impersonate any Earth being, even those who have died, which is why Talos impersonated Fury in Spider-Man: Far from Home.

This invasion tore apart the Avengers from the inside out, with Veranke doing major damage. The Skrulls disabled S.H.I.E.L.D’s Helicarrier as well as their orbiting base, Peak. They were able to create a massive supervillain breakout, which ended in an all-out war between Nick Fury’s heroes against the Skrull villains. The heroes would eventually win, but with the Skrull’s ability to shapeshift, could you trust it?

The comic book version of the Secret Invasion and how Disney+ will handle the story will likely be very different. Disney has yet to introduce any of the X-Men or the Fantastic Four in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Spider-Woman has yet to appear as well.

In the comics, the Skrulls are considered villains, yet in the films, we’ve already seen some who are also good, with Talos taking on Fury’s persona as a prime example.

As Kevin Feige told ComicBook in 2019 after hero Skrulls were introduced in Captain Marvel, “Just like not all humans are bad, and not all humans are good, I think Skrulls probably have a variety of moralities amongst them. When they can do what they can do, it probably gets very tempting. So, it’s fun to have introduced this concept and see where it goes.”

SECRET INVASION JOINS SHE-HULK AS THE NEWEST MARVEL SERIES

Marvel continues to have big plans with Disney+. With the aforementioned Disney+ shows already premiering and She-Hulk currently showing, the future looks busy. There is currently no firm release date for Secret Invasion, but we know we won’t be seeing it until early in 2023.

The goal for Marvel has been uniting both films and television programs together to create a world where characters can move seamlessly between mediums. “These episodes will intersect with the movies in a very big way,” Feige told Variety. “It’s a totally new form of storytelling that we get to play with and explore.”

With the addition of Secret Invasion to the Marvel Cinematic Universe schedule, the question becomes, which characters can be trusted? A hero that audiences have invested in could actually be a Skrull in disguise. This opens up so many thrilling, and maddening, possibilities. It’ll be fun to see just how Kevin Feige plans to use the Skrulls, and it will also be fun to see Samuel L. Jackson back and kicking some ass (sans eyepatch) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

*Secret Invasion spoilers ahead*

After years of hype, Secret Invasion was finally released, giving Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury his own MCU series for the first time. Adapting one of the biggest events in Marvel Comics history, fan expectations were high; who would turn out to be a Skrull?

Would Daisy Johnson, aka Quake, from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. played by Chloe Bennet, finally become part of the MCU? And most importantly, what could be in store for Secret Invasion Season 2?

The most obvious character (Don Cheadle’s James Rhodes) turned out to be a Skrull, and in such a way that it undercut the emotion of Avengers Endgame.

Chloe Bennet never had so much as a cameo, and Marvel fans actively ignored the show, resulting in the second lowest premie on Disney+.

Will There Be A Season 2?

With the lackluster reception to Secret Invasion Season 1 and how the story was mostly wrapped up so that it will feed into other Marvel projects, it’s likely we will never get a Season 2.

Of course, there could be a surprise, and it could get announced since the ending did introduce a new status quo that threatens to have long-lasting implications.

Ali Selim, the director of Secret Invasion, explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that there was never a plan to have a post-credits scene teasing a second season. Instead, it was always going to end with Fury going back to space in order to set up The Marvels.

Even if Secret Invasion appears to tell a complete story, it’s the Marvel universe, and nothing is ever a truly standalone project.

The Ending Of Season 1 Sets Up A Secret Invasion Season 2

The public now knows aliens are walking among them, and the result is more disastrous than the Chitauri invasion of New York City in The Avengers. Skrulls can be anyone, sending the entire planet into a new level of paranoia, as now any character, at any time, could be a green-skinned alien.

If this sounds familiar, it could be that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did something similar with Inhumans infecting fish oil that was then transforming people, and that was also ignored by the larger MCU.

More immediately, Emilia Clarke’s character, G’iah, is now one of the heaviest hitters in the MCU. As a Super Skrull, she could go toe-to-toe with Thor or Captain Marvel, and now that she’s working with Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman) to create a Skrull refuge, G’iah might be a player on the MCU political stage.

This could amount to nothing more than having her appear in scenes with Namor, Shuri, and Countess Valentina, or she might be a part of Secret Wars.

Secret Invasion Season 2 Could Bring Back Much Of The Cast

Suppose Secret Invasion Season 2 does come to pass. In that case, it’s clear who won’t be appearing in it, and that’s War Machine, Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), or Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), mostly because Don Cheadle is taking James Rhodes’s story to Armor Wars and the other two are (allegedly) dead.

Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his wife, Varra (Charlayne Woodard), have gone off the planet, which leaves Season 2 to focus on the best characters of the first season.

Again, this is Emilia Clarke’s G’iah and Olvia Colman’s Sonya Falsworth, but though they’d be some of the few returning characters, the door is wide open these days to the most obscure characters from the Marvel comics to make an appearance.

If Skrulls are now such a concern, the Skrull Kill Krew could debut, but with a less bizarre origin than that of humans digesting Skrulls killed while stuck in the form of cows. Now, with the door open for Skrulls and Kree, the Young Avenger and eventually King of Space, Hulkling, could finally debut.

Secret Invasion Season 2 Release Plans

Marvel has a packed calendar for the next few years leading up to Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, which means the earliest Secret Invasion Season 2 could arrive would be 2026. Upcoming Disney+ series include Loki Season 2, Echo, Ironheart, and Agatha: Coven of Chaos, all of which are expected to debut between Fall 2023 and Winter 2025.

The dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes threw production into turmoil and caused multiple shows to be significantly delayed.

Even 2026 might be an optimistic turnaround.

What’s Next For Nick Fury

Secret Invasion was marked as a Nick Fury solo series, finally giving Samuel L. Jackson the spotlight after 15 years of sharing the screen with the Avengers.

At the end of the first season, Nick Fury went back into space with S.A.B.E.R., alongside his Skrull wife, to help negotiate peace between the Kree and Skrulls. This means that, again, Fury’s largest on-screen role in the movies will be alongside Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel.

The Marvels arrived later in 2023 and pitted Captain Marvel against the Kree Empire, this time as Dar-Benn (played by Zawe Ashton) is out for revenge against the Cosmic Avenger.

Will The James Rhodes Bombshell Pay Off?

The biggest revelation of Secret Invasion was the reveal that James Rhodes has been a Skrull ever since the events of Captain America: Civil War. This means that the Rhodes crying at Tony Stark’s funeral in Endgame was an alien imposter. The fallout from the revelation won’t take place in Season 2. Instead, it’ll be the basis for Armor Wars, the War Machine solo film.

Originally a Disney+ series, Armor Wars was updated to become a feature film, but everything about the project is shrouded in secrecy. It’s unknown if Armor Wars will even happen, with no release date, director, or even hints on which characters are involved. At the moment, it’s only slightly more likely to air than Secret Invasion Season 2.