Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion premieres this week on the Disney+ streaming service, and those of us who are worn out by a big string of VFX-heavy nonsense in every single comic book project might be pleased with what the show has to offer.
Partly inspired by the Marvel Comics miniseries of the same name, and picking up 30 years after the Skrulls’ storyline in the Captain Marvel film, Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury takes center stage in what is ostensibly his own project. Needless to say, he’s great, though I feel like I missed something for why he didn’t have the eye patch going on anymore. Also returning from Captain Marvel is Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull named Talos; he’s definitely one of my favorite parts here and a highlight of the series. Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones and Solo fame is G’iah, Talos’ daughter who I think will have conflicting alliances as the series goes on.
In the comics, we found out that many of the Marvel heroes – or people who appeared to be those familiar heroes – were actually shape-shifting Skrulls. This allowed characters like Mockingbird and the Jessica Drew Spider-Woman to be put back on the board. So far in the two episodes that were made available for press, there aren’t many costumed characters, if at all… but it lends to the grounded nature.
All six episodes are directed by Ali Selim, and of the two episodes screened, his vision is unique and lends to a coherence in the material. Many locations don’t look like places you would have seen in other Marvel projects, and most Skrull reveals are done in such a way that don’t require extensive visual effects. It’s a lot more effective than something like She-Hulk, which, while great in its own way, sometimes distracted with so-so CG. I’m sure there are a lot of “invisible effects” in this show, though, as there was quite an extensive list of artists in the closing credits. No offense is meant their way; if anything, if I couldn’t tell something was a visual effect, they did their jobs well.
One other thing that I think also works in Secret Invasion’s favor is that it mostly focuses on character. After all, it’s a series about the notion that the people you think you know might not be who they actually are. Surrounding Samuel L. Jackson with such high-caliber talents as Ben Mendelsohn, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, Don Chaedle, Cobie Smulders, and Kingsley Ben-Adir leads to increased investment as a viewer. Show creator Kyle Bradstreet and the creative team have assembled a great cast and narrative here, with a lot of surprises within. There are still a few Marvel veterans who I’d like and want to see here, but I’m not going to name who because that would confirm if they’re in it (or not.)
What might not work?
“Lizard people working behind the scenes” has almost become a racist trope in recent years. Of course, the Skrulls were little green men from their first appearance back in 1961, so I get it. I’m sure there are some other racial and sociological undertones that I wouldn’t feel qualified to speak on, but they’re there and a little awkward. Also, I’m a big fan of opening titles for anything, and I appreciate it when shows add them, but Secret Invasion’s titles were about a minute too long. We’re talking Star Trek: Voyager opening length here, people.
I also hope I’m not a bad fan in that I don’t remember every detail of what happened in past Marvel movies that I haven’t seen in several years. I didn’t particularly remember everything about Talos, for example. I assume someone who hasn’t seen the movies at all would be even more confused.
At six episodes, this should be a fairly easy show to digest. Of the last four live-action Disney+ Marvel series, I’d rank the first two episodes to only be surpassed by the delightful Ms. Marvel, which, of course, had a very different tone. In any event, the first episode drops Wednesday, June 21 with more episodes following in succeeding weeks on Disney+.
KSiteTV Rating: 8/10. This show is thrilling with a fantastic cast of characters, mixed in with many surprises. It’s a diversion from some of the multiversal madness we’ve seen in recent films, but at this point, that is a very good thing.
