Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Marvels.
It’s no news thatSecret Invasionis probablyMarvel at its worst. Originally teased as a “crossover event series” byKevin Feigehimself, the show tried to adapt the comic-book storyline of the same name with little to no success. While the studio tried to tone down expectations byestablishing no superpowered beings would be in the show, it still ended up falling flat. Regardless, the series did change the landscape of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by killing off beloved characters, giving aninsurmountable amount of powers to one of its key players, and adding an interesting bit of information on Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) past. With the show being the most recent release of themultiple pieces of media that tie intoThe Marvels, you’d think there would be an acknowledgment of the events that transpired in it. For better or worse, there isn’t, and it apparently makesSecret Invasioncompletely irrelevant to the timeline of the MCU.
The Marvels
Carol Danvers gets her powers entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe.
‘The Marvels’ Makes Nick Fury’s Journey in ‘Secret Invasion’ Irrelevant
Having the weight of the world on his shoulders, Fury goes through hell and back inSecret Invasion. The series – which focuses on a rebel faction of Skrulls trying to cause a nuclear holocaust to make Earth inhabitable for them – faces Fury withGravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), the ruthless Skrull who leads the sinister plot. While some demons from Fury’s past arise in the show, his heaviest burden is having to deal with Gravik killing two of his closest and oldest allies: Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders). The trust crisis Fury goes through and the trauma left by it are nowhere to be seen inThe Marvels. Besides, there’s a connective tissue that Marvel pushes in a specific character’s saga – Captain America always has a Peggy Carter (HayleyAtwell) appearance or reference, Iron Man always counts with Happy (Jon Favreau) and Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) – which is completely ignored inThe Marvelswhen there’s no mention of Talos, nor his sacrifice to save both his compatriots and the human race. Given he was a key player in the first film,at least a nod to his tragic but heroic fate in the seriesthat ties directly into the sequel was due.
Ms. Marvel’s (Iman Vellani) whole family has an extended role in the film, which is a great addition for comic relief and an effective reminder of who Kamala is. What’s strange is that there’s no mention or small appearance from Varra (Charlayne Woodard), Fury’s wife herself. For those who didn’t watchSecret Invasion, yes, Nick Fury is married, and he has been for practically the entire time we’ve known him. Varra is introduced in the show as a Skrull who has been posing as Priscilla Davis, adoctor who specializes in genetics. The end of the series sees them reconcile after years of separation. Varra boards the S.A.B.E.R. space station, joining him to negotiate a peace treaty with the Kree, which is in fact an active storyline inThe Marvels.Still, she’s nowhere to be seen in Tarnax when negotiations with Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) fall apart, and not even to be ingested by a Flerken while escaping the dying S.A.B.E.R. space station.
Secret Invasionalso shows a Fury who refuses to summon his superpowered friends for an Earth-threatening menace — while, inThe Marvels, he just happens to give Carol (Brie Larson) a casual intergalactic call to investigate a lesser jump point anomaly. If anything, this is the right move, but it reveals another of the series' main defects: the Skrull plot was more of a political and territorial scheme that wasn’t treated as such. While the series includes an important political figure inDermot Mulroney’s President Ritson, it doesn’t do much with him. The same happens with the Skrull posing as UK Prime Minister Pamela Lawton (Anna Madeley), whose scheming falls flat. Having these powerful key players in the show was a step in the right direction of fully fleshing out the political intrigue of the show. But the execution fell short, as the leaders of two of the world’s most powerful countries were used more as chess pieces in Gravik’s plot to take over Earth than being actual characters themselves.
Carol calling inTessa Thompson’s Valkyrie– King of New Asgard – to help the Skrull refugees also shows more ofSecret Invasion’s irrelevance.Asgardians who escaped Ragnarok were given a land of their own in Norway and were last shown thriving thanks to tourism inThor: Love and Thunder. The comparative on whether the Skrulls – who were here long before the Ragnarok refugees – would be extended the same kindness should’ve been the focus of the show. The nuance of negotiations, the meddling of the United States through its superhuman and alien oversight agencies, plus the tension of distrust in a shapeshifting race is what the series should’ve been about – not a show with a disjointed finale that shoehorned in an unearned superpowered fight and in the placewhere it should’ve begun.
Secret Invasion, a series that was supposed to be a political thriller with high stakes, ended up being a showcase of Fury’s flaws (andEmilia Clarke’s and Olivia Colman’s masterful acting). The show is ignored and therefore rendered totally useless inThe Marvels. Perhaps it’s for the best, given it didn’t fully exploit the Skrulls' potential for intrigue, and it showedFury has learned nothing after all these years.But it’s still jarring to witness how Marvel Studios promised interconnection between their Disney+ shows and has ignored them completely in films.While this is not the case forHawkeyeorWandaVision, it certainly is forSecret Invasion. It’s not that we’re craving the show to be wholly acknowledged, butgive it a small place in the canon, at least until a retcon indicates it didn’t happen at all.
Secret Invasionis currently available to stream on Disney+, whileThe Marvelsis currently playing in theaters worldwide.
Watch on Disney+
