Marvel Studios has been adapting to a more amiable tone in recent years, diverging from the style of their early films and leaning towards the innovative approach seen in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy. This shift has brought them great success, as seen in Thor: Ragnarok, the first Ant-Man films, and even Avengers: Infinity War. However, it has also led to a dilution of the company’s distinct tone, causing some to no longer take their characters seriously.
To fix the confusion surrounding the tone of Marvel’s superheroes in recent years, where it’s no longer clear what direction the Marvel Cinematic Universe is heading, they’ve taken a decisive step with “Secret Invasion,” the latest series from the company on Disney Plus. The first episode has just premiered, and as promised by the trailers, it returns to the established tone of Marvel’s early days and offers a thrilling narrative where everything is yet to be discovered.
A new war is about to come to the Marvel Universe
From the very beginning of Secret Invasion, it becomes clear what kind of series we are in for. In the opening sequence, we see Agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), whom we last saw in Wakanda Forever, meeting with an informant who explains that there is an ongoing Skrull invasion that could jeopardize the human race. It’s a threat on par with Thanos.
As expected, Ross doesn’t take this information seriously, but soon it is revealed that he couldn’t be more wrong. His informant is shot dead by a mysterious assailant who begins to chase him. When this unknown person is unveiled, it becomes clear that it is Talos, the Skrull we met in Captain Marvel. And, of course, the supposed Agent Ross is just another infiltrated alien; he is not the person we know.
With John Wick-style action scenes, dim lighting, and a gritty setting in Moscow, Russia, the tone of the series is quickly established. It’s not just another story of heroes flying and fighting in broad daylight; it’s a tale of secrets, betrayals, and darkness lurking everywhere. We are witnessing what Falcon & The Winter Soldier could have been if they had decided to follow the tone set by the Russo Brothers in their films.
After this scene, the character we’ve all been waiting for arrives: Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). But, of course, we are not faced with the Fury who assembled the Avengers with a smile on his face – as he explains in the series, it was a self-gift to himself for his mid-life crisis – but rather a depressed and gloomy man who has just returned from a retreat in space after being overwhelmed by the situation Thanos brought upon the planet.
Now recovered and eager for action, Fury returns to Earth at the call of Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), his Skrull best friend whom he sheltered after the events of Captain Marvel. For years, Fury protected the Skrulls from the rest of humanity and kept them safe, but after his departure due to Thanos’ snap and subsequent journey into space, some of them have been left orphaned… and they seek to take Earth as their new planet.
Led by Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), the Super-Skrull from the comics, of whom we only get a couple of glimpses in this episode, and mostly focused on portraying him as menacing, a group of these aliens is carrying out a plan to create a public dispute between the United States and Russia. Their idea? To take advantage of a new world war to seize power.
In the first episode of Secret Invasion, we see how Nick Fury, Talos, and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), Fury’s loyal companion who remains relentless throughout the events of the MCU, follow Gravik’s trail through a terrorist attack they plan to launch to provoke this presumed war. But another character comes into play: G’iah (Emilia Clarke).
G’iah is Talos’ daughter, but after several events recounted in the series, she ends up on Gravik’s side and is used as another weapon in the impending Skrull war. Following G’iah’s trail, the protagonists reach the most important scene of the episode, where the Skrulls carry out the terrorist attack… and everything goes as wrong as it should in a first episode. The attack is carried out and Maria Hill dies, in a final shot of her lifeless body that makes it clear that the series means business.
Undoubtedly, this first episode has laid the foundation for what could be one of the darkest thrillers in Marvel’s history to date. Whether as a standalone product or as a foundation for the future Avengers: Secret Wars, it certainly appears to be very interesting in shaping the future of a studio that was getting lost in the Multiverse and struggling to find the right direction to take.
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