Written by the award-winning Brian Michael Bendis between 2008 and 2009, Secret Invasion was a comic miniseries that shook the Marvel Universe for some time: it was logical that sooner or later the Marvel Studios they would have been inspired by that story to bring it to the cinema or, in this specific case, to TV. Secret Invasion will keep us company on Disney+ for six episodes; it is therefore a self-contained miniseries that opens an important parenthesis in Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, distancing itself from the problems of the Multiverse to tell us a real spy story whose protagonist is Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury.
In our Secret Invasion 1x01 review we'll tell you if what we saw convinced us, but to express a definitive opinion - and put a vote, for those who love numbers - we will have to wait for the end of the series.
The invasion begins?
Despite its nature, Secret Invasion assumes that you have a good understanding of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that you have seen some films: Captain Marvel, in which the shape-shifting alien species of the Skrulls makes its appearance, is certainly the most important as it lays the foundations of the television miniseries; then the scene after the credits of Spider-Man: Far from Home, with Talos and Soren, and the ending of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in which we find Everett K. Ross, who had been arrested by his ex-wife Valentina de Fontaine.
And it is precisely with Agent Ross - the always good Martin Freeman - that Secret Invasion begins, going straight to the point: a faction Skrulls, unhappy that Carol Danvers and Fury have not yet been able to find him a "home" as promised in Captain Marvel, is slowly infiltrating human society and aiming for an egregious terrorist action.
Compared to the comic crossover of fifteen years ago, the TV miniseries flies much lower and - perhaps - its strength, at least initially, lies precisely in this. It's a real one spy story, without superheroes or fantasy elements, if we exclude the shape-shifting powers of the Skrulls, which fuel the thriller atmosphere in which no one can trust anyone else, because everyone could be Skrull infiltrators. Leading the dance we find a Nick Fury who has aged badly, as everyone rightly points out to him, in an interpretation of the always very good Samuel L. Jackson which seemed a little awkward to us, but perhaps deliberately so: the miniseries immediately insists on the shock that Fury had when Thanos erased him from existence - along with many others - for a good five years.
Now Fury finds himself together with his old friend Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) and his longtime partner, Maria Hill played by Cobie Smulders, working behind the scenes to stop the Skrull invasion. It is at this point, however, that Secret Invasion leaves us perplexed. Ours, now detached from the PROTECT and unable to trust others, should they fight a real terrorist cell completely alone? The ending of the episode, a clumsy action that ends in tragedy, immediately makes it clear how fragile and "human" the protagonists are and how the stakes are very high.
No big shot from the Marvel Cinematic Universe is expected to appear in this miniseries, with the exception of War Machine: we saw Don Cheadle for a few moments together with the president of the United States (Dermot Mulaney), but without his Stark-branded armor.
On the other hand, Secret Invasion can count on a star cast, which includes the extraordinary Olivia Colman (the middle-aged Queen Elizabeth in The Crown, so to speak) as Sonya Falsworth, an old friend of Fury who works for MI6, and Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones , because it would seem unfair to remember her for the terrible Terminator Genisys) who plays G'iah, the rebellious daughter of Talos. We will only be able to express ourselves about these characters at a later time: they are totally new, without correspondents in the comics, and the pilot episode limits itself to only outlining them.
From the little we saw him in action, we must say that he convinced us what the antagonist should be, the glacial Skrull named Gravik: he practically has two lines to his name, but Kingsley Ben-Adir has charisma and the director Ali Selim he promised that the series will explore the backstory that led him to his heinous deeds.
The first episode of Secret Invasion has very little action and lots of exposure, perhaps even too didactic. As we were saying, it relies on a good knowledge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its minor characters, but perhaps this is precisely why it may be of little interest to casual viewers, at least until it has put together an engaging narrative. For now it relies on acting and staging: in this sense, net of one computer graphics fluctuating, it must be said that Selim seems to have done a good job. At times claustrophobic, and at other times quite the opposite, Secret Invasion has the habit of excessively low brightness in indoor scenes, but which is probably intended precisely to fuel a sense of oppression.
He doesn't always succeed, of course. This first week essentially serves to remind us who certain characters are, to explain their relationships, to arrange the pieces that will move on the chessboard in the next episodes. Selim, who directed the six episodes, will have to be able to raise the tension and involve us in a story in which it really matters who lives and who dies: with all these new characters, the only way will be to work on their characterization.
Conclusions
We know that this should be Samuel L. Jackson's last participation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so we can already start making a bet on the fate of Nick Fury at the end of the series. The fact is that cinematic heroes cannot live forever like their paper counterparts, so Secret Invasion could truly be the swan song for the most "ordinary" part of the great Marvel cinematic fresco. The beginning is promising, net of some elements that convinced us less in terms of writing and staging, and from the very first minutes we perceive the sensation of being in front of a Marvel production different from previous TV series: in a few weeks we will draw the conclusions sums, let's hope positively.
PRO
- The idea of adapting Secret Invasion into a spy story is good
- It would appear to be the "darkest" Marvel Studios series on Disney+
AGAINST
- You have to know the MCU well to understand some references
- The new characters need more characterization
