Secret Invasion Series Review: A Bad Show Disguised as a Good Show
Ohhhh what coulda been
Marvel Studios’ latest Disney+ series Secret Invasion finished its limited run and oh my what a run it was.
On paper, this series had a lot going for it. It had a stacked cast that included Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Coleman, Don Cheadle, and Kingsley Ben-Adir. Plus, throw in a supposed spy thriller set in the MCU with what should have led to a fun guessing game of who’s a Skrull and who’s not, it had all the ingredients to be a very good, enjoyable watch for fans.
Well, as it turns out those ingredients must have been expired because fans got a poorly crafted, unsatisfying mixture of genres that really didn’t mean much at all for the MCU.
The first 2 episodes had viewers fooled locked in with a strong opening sequence between Everett Ross and Agent Prescod plus outstanding scenes between high caliber actors like the scene between Mendelsohn’s Talos and Jackson’s Fury in the train car or the diner scene that featured an increasingly hostile Rhodey played by Don Cheadle versus a frustrated Nick Fury, and really any Olivia Coleman scene (that interrogation scene was top notch by the way), I mean how could you not like this show right? Even on Comicast, the podcast that I co-host with the great Jong Lee each and every week that happens to be available on all your favorite podcast platforms shameless plug, we discussed how much we were enjoying the series but the show Skrulled us in the end.
Honestly, those episodes had cracks that we just didn’t want to see or think about too much at first. I know I myself overlooked some of them because I wanted to give Marvel Studios the benefit of the doubt. They’ve delivered so many times that I thought they would deliver yet again, turns out I was wrong and I should’ve known better.
One of those blatant cracks happens at the very end of the series premiere with the death of Maria Hill. Besides the fact that they killed her off in what should have been a chance to finally get to understand her character, they also don’t even have Fury react really. Instead of Fury being emotional about her death in episode two we get a scene of Talos and Fury arguing about how many Skrulls are here on Earth. The scene between the pair was top tier acting sure, but shouldn’t Fury be a little bit more broken up about Hill’s death? Questioning maybe what he could have done differently? I mean Maria Hill was his right-hand woman since 2012’s Avengers. Guess not because outside of one scene with Maria Hill’s mom (who we’ve never met before) there’s no reaction or really any emotion shown at all after her death.
What was the point of her death honestly? It didn’t even seem to fuel the motivations of Fury because he doesn’t bring it up ever after that.
The cracks just seemed to grow from there.
Gravik who seemed like he would be a captivating villain, ended up being a regular power-hungry villain who is after a MacGuffin that we only learn about in episode 5. The connections that were hinted at between Fury and Gravik are never explored outside of exposition dumps here and there. They used a flashback at one point to show the promise that Fury made to Gravik and the Skrulls, why not use flashbacks more to help showcase why Gravik is feeling the way he’s feeling? Why not show how close Fury and Gravik were? Or let viewers see when Gravik started becoming disillusioned with Fury and Earth? In the season finale Gravik reveals that his human shell is actually the first person that he killed for Fury… ummm… why not have a flashback at the beginning of an episode so viewers can see what that moment did to Gravik? Kingsley Ben-Adir deserved better because he delivered every time he was on screen, the material just failed him.
The one thing that this series had going for it was the strong performances but even those couldn’t save it. In episode 4 Talos and G’iah end up having their final scene together in a park where Talos reveals his plan to find his people a home which amounted to talk to the President and convince him Skrulls were cool. I rarely yell or say anything out loud when I watch stuff, even when watching sporting events, yet when Talos laid out his “plan” to G’iah I very loudly said “That’s a stupid plan.” In the finale Fury and G’iah’s plan ends up being give Gravik what he wants… yes you read that right give the villain what he wants which makes him into one of the most powerful beings in the MCU. Then phase two of said plan was to just ask him to leave. That is one of the dumbest things I’ve seen and that’s saying something having watched all the Fast and the Furious movies.
Final thing and I’ll shut up… the whole Rhodey thing.
Halfway through the series it’s revealed that Rhodey is in fact a Skrull. Then in the finale it seems to be hinted at (then later confirmed by director Ali Selim) that Rhodey was kidnapped around the time of Captain America: Civil War, hence why he’s wearing a hospital gown and is unable to walk out of the fracking pod. Are you kidding me!?! If that’s the case then Rhodey’s appearances since Civil War were all Skrull Rhodey. Think about that for a second.
That means that in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers, Endgame, and Falcon and the Winter Soldier all feature Skrull Rhodey. So, remember when Nebula and Rhodey talked about being part machine in Endgame, or Sam speaking with Rhodey about the pressure he’s facing in taking up Cap’s shield in F&WS, or how about when Tony DIES in Endgame, they’re saying ALL those moments feature Skrull Rhodey. Wild.
Up to this point, Marvel Studios has been strong in enhancing past projects with new reveals in newer projects. This definitely didn’t lead to that. This was a half-baked idea to make something retroactively work in the grand scheme of the MCU that not only doesn’t work but undermines the emotionality in those scenes making them feel hollow. For instance, that moment when Sam is relating to a fellow black superhero in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, well actually he isn’t at all because it’s a really a Skrull. That moment works because it’s the human being Rhodey speaking with Sam and relating to him in a way that no other Avenger can, you take that away it removes any weight to that scene. Marvel Studios used to be smart about laying foundation for future stories, this felt like a throw in to shock viewers.
Shocking viewers just for the sake of it isn’t smart storytelling, it’s dumb and shortsighted. It only conveys the desperation of “hey big things happen in these shows too so you gotta watch them.” If that’s the style of storytelling the MCU wants to do, hard pass.
If you’d like to hear a full breakdown of the good (few) and the bad (a lot) of Secret Invasion then check out my conversation on Issue 496 of Comicast with Alicia Gilstorf of Tell-Tale TV below or download it wherever you get your podcasts.
What did you think of Secret Invasion? Let me know in the comments or on social media, just search ProducerMike975. I don’t really have an outro as of yet so I’ll just say goodbye… soooo goodbye! *waves bye*