Here’s everything revealed about the MCU Secret Invasion show — Marvel’s upcoming Nick Fury-focused Disney+ show. As part of the MCU’s Phase 5, the Disney+ production continues the storyline of Nick Fury and the Skrull Talos, who previously appeared together in both Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home. The TV series will be based on the comic book run of the same name and Secret Invasion already promises to infuse the MCU with a healthy dose of sci-fi horror. Fury and Talos find themselves unsure of whom to trust as the shapeshifting Skrulls begin infiltrating powerful positions around the world.
Marvel Comics published the Secret Invasion comic in 2008. The eight-issue crossover series centers on the Skrulls’ invasion of Earth, and how they take the identities of various superheroes. The backstory involves Captain Marvel‘s Kree and the Skrulls, a race of shapeshifting aliens who often impersonate Marvel characters, and a war between them that results in a near-catastrophe on Earth. MCU will be adapting this story in part, but with Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury leading the story, following through on teases carefully slipped into multiple MCU movies and shows. Prepare for intrigue and mystery abound — here’s everything so far that’s known about the MCU Secret Invasion show.
Secret Invasion: Latest News
News on the MCU’s Secret Invasion show has been relatively quiet since the release of the first trailer at the D23 Expo in September 2022. However, there are some intriguing teases for the show that come from some of the cast members. After returning to the MCU to appear in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross joins Secret Invasion. Freeman claims that this will be a new MCU story than what fans had seen before. Freeman wouldn’t elaborate on how the show differs but suggests the longer format of television has helped with this complex storytelling.
Don Cheadle is another familiar face from the MCU who will make an appearance in Secret Invasion. However, Cheadle teases that James ‘Rhodey’s Rhodes’ inclusion in the show is not just a simple cameo, but a way of setting up his own solo MCU story. Following the announcement that the planned Disney+ Armor Wars would be refashioned into a movie, it seems to already being set up. Cheadle confirms that Secret Invasion will connect with the Armor Wars story which will presumably follow the similar comic book storyline of villains attempting to steal Stark tech.
Secret Invasion Was Confirmed In 2020
Those who follow the MCU will already doubtless be aware, but for those who may not be — such as die-hard Samuel L. Jackson fans or general-viewing Disney+ subscribers — the Marvel Disney+ show focusing on Nick Fury was confirmed in December 2020. Cobie Smulders revealed at Comic-Con 2022 that Secret Invasion “is a darker show.” She also went on to make further comments (via Marvel.com):
“We’re going to get deeper into the characters. We’re going to see them in new ways, and it’s going to be an exciting thriller, and you’re never going to know who people are. Are they a Skrull? Are they a human? It’s going to be a bit of a guessing game.”
Whatever Marvel’s Secret Invasion show chooses to put SHIELD veterans Fury and Hill through, audiences can seemingly be sure that it will entail plenty of gritty moments and shocking twists. There’s no release date for Secret Invasion yet, but it has a Spring 2023 release window, and has been pegged as the first MCU Disney+ crossover event (although what this means remains to be seen).
Secret Invasion: Release Date
Disney hasn’t set an official release date for Marvel’s Secret Invasion show, but Kevin Feige announced at Comic-Con 2022 that Secret Invasion would debut sometime in the spring of 2023. Secret Invasion began shooting in the fall of 2021, wrapping in April the following year, giving it plenty of time to premiere in the first half of 2023 as planned. There are already several trailers for Secret Invasion in circulation, so there’s no reason to think there’d be production-related delays at this point.
Secret Invasion: Cast
Samuel L. Jackson will star in Secret Invasion as an older-looking Nick Fury, who previously commanded a Skrull craft during the events of Spiderman: Far from Home. Ben Mendelsohn also returns as Talos after going undercover as Nick Fury’s boss in Captain Marvel and impersonating Nick Fury himself in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Cobie Smulders is also confirmed to come back as Maria Hill, Nick’s closest confidant since the days of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Meanwhile, British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir has been cast in a mystery villain role, while Olivia Colman, Killian Scott, Christopher McDonald, and Carmen Ejogo are set to play – as usual for Marvel Studios – roles that have yet to be revealed to the public. Interestingly, McDonald has refused to confirm or deny rumors he’s playing the MCU’s version of Norman Osborn. Moreover, Don Cheadle has been confirmed to reprise his role as James Rhodes/War Machine in Marvel’s Secret Invasion show. Finally, Secret Invasion will be throwing a new mutant into the fray, with Emilia Clarke as the mutant SWORD agent Abigail Brand.
Secret Invasion: Story Details
While there aren’t many specifics known yet, the rough premise for the MCU Secret Invasion show has been revealed. Secret Invasion will focus on the invasion of Earth by a rogue group of Skrulls and is set during The Blip, the five-year time span after Thanos’s snap when half of all life was erased. The storyline was set up in Captain Marvel, which tweaks the comics storyline by presenting Talos and the Skrull as heroes fleeing from the Kree Empire. In Spider-Man: Far From Home, a mid-credits scene reveals that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) are actually Talos and his wife Soren (Sharon Blynn), who are fulfilling orders until Fury returns from an intergalactic mission. With Secret Invasion, there is the suggestion that some of the Skrulls fulfill their more villainous role from the comics and seek to take over Earth.
Secret Invasion Trailer
The D23 Expo in 2022 shed more light on the MCU’s Secret Invasion show including unveiling the first official trailer. The footage shows Nick Fury meeting with Maria Hill (although whether it’s really them or their Skrull impersonators is unclear), to discuss a mysterious new threat so important that Fury was willing to return from space. Nobody can be trusted, including James Rhodes/War Machine’s security detail. Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) looks to be in conflict with his own race, suggesting the Skrulls aren’t even safe from each other.
All of these reveals from the trailer confirm story narrative details that were previously known, but there are some new twists as well. Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross is back, and fans got their first look at the Secret Invasion Emilia Clarke character Abigail Brand in action, as well as Olivia Colman’s Sonyal Falsworth. The trailer also teases that the alien race has a secret goal that nobody (except maybe Nick Fury himself) actually knows about. Nick Fury’s left eye is also exposed, and the lack of his trademark eye patch is bound to be important.
Secret Invasion’s MCU Connections
As the first Phase 5 MCU show, Secret Invasion could be setting the stage for many projects to come. Don Cheadle has said that Secret Invasion will help set up Armor Wars, suggesting that the show will see some drastic development with Rhodey or that the events of the series will leave Tony Stark’s tech vulnerable in some way. With Nick Fury dealing with space and aliens in the movie, it also seems likely that this will play into his appearance in The Marvels. The Marvels looks to be set largely in space and Captain Marvel’s connection to the Skrulls hints that Secret Invasion makes some connection to her next MCU adventure.
Emilia Clarke Is Playing A New MCU Mutant
The MCU Secret Invasion show is the latest project to introduce mutants into the cinematic universe. Clarke will be making her MCU debut as Abigail Brand in Secret Invasion, a mutant who can generate unnaturally hot flames around her hands. In the comics, Abigail Brand was not only directly involved in the Secret Invasion story arc, but also had previous experience dealing with aliens and fighting extraterrestrial threats alongside the X-Men — she was even romantically linked to Beast/Hank McCoy.
The daughter of an alien and a human mutant, Abigail served SWORD for years, climbing its ranks to become the organization’s director. Though it’s unclear how much the MCU’s Secret Invasion will be borrowing from Abigail Brand’s comic book story arc, the series is undoubtedly the best way for the MCU to debut the character. In any case, the Secret Invasion set footage showing Clarke in a fight scene suggests her fiery powers will be put to good use — something the Game of Thrones actor may already be familiar with.
How Will The Secret Invasion Show Adapt The Comics
The Illuminati play a key role in the Secret Invasion Marvel comic. In Marvel Comics, the Illuminati consists of Tony Stark, Black Bolt, Namor, Mister Fantastic, Charles Xavier, and Doctor Strange. Within the MCU, the organization doesn’t officially exist on Earth-616 yet (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness introduced a version from a different universe), so the narrative will have to be tweaked for the Secret Invasion adaptation. The rogue Skrulls invade Earth because of knowledge they previously gained from kidnapping Illuminati members, which likely won’t be the case in the Disney+ Secret Invasion. It’s been touted as a crossover event by Disney and Kevin Feige though, so it will connect to the rest of the MCU in multiple ways.