Secret Invasion review: Reminder of the MCU glory days

Secret Invasion isn’t the MCU’s Andor, not even close – but it grounds its end-of-the-world doom-and-gloom in surprising suspense, considering its small-screen limits.

Once upon a time, with the exception of the odd hiccup, the Marvel Cinematic Universe felt like it was churning out all bangers, all the time. Look at the 2012-2016 stretch with the likes of The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Civil War: all elite, memorable entries. Most of all, there’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a paranoia-dripping thriller that struck a tone that’s never really been matched again.

In a post-Endgame world, we’ve become alarmingly accustomed to chowing down on slop without the same heart, soul, dramatic consideration, or quality control: stories live, breathe, and die with their audience, and the MCU’s cultural grip is slipping; box office figures are front-loaded with inevitable drop-offs, and fervent anticipation has evolved into an in-too-deep obligation to keep up.

Something had to change, and after the singular catharsis of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, Secret Invasion is a step in the right direction.

This spoiler-free review of Secret Invasion is based on the first two episodes.

Secret Invasion plots a war within a war

We open in Moscow, and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) is in a damp, Russian tunnel with a gun. He meets an operative who’s trying to open his eyes to the truth of several terrorist attacks across the globe – what if they’re all connected? This is a “world where information can’t be trusted… all we can do is turn to the people we care about… but what if they were someone else entirely?”

Of course, this is in reference to the Skrulls, the shape-shifting alien race introduced in Captain Marvel. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) agreed to find them a new home if they helped him – now, the bill is coming due, and amid fears of a “violent chain reaction consuming the world” and the “architect” of this chaos rising up, he returns and teams up with Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) to figure out what’s going on and who they need to stop.

And that’s pretty much all you need to know from the outset of the show, plus a few characters: Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), an embittered Skrull who wants to seize the Earth; and G’iah (Emilia Clarke), Talos’ estranged daughter.

Secret Invasion finds excitement in moody espionage

The series comes from Mr Robot creator Kyle Bradsheet, and with the directing talents of Ali Selim, the first two episodes have a refreshing composure; scenes aren’t littered with gags, the dialogue is punchy and purposeful (though not as instantly iconic as the likes of Luthen Rael’s monologue and, well, pretty much anything in Andor), and action is kept effectively brief (fight scenes are still a bit messy, but one chase sequence is like something from the Mission: Impossible series).

The performances are pretty strong out of the gate, if not the main takeaways from the opening chapters. Samuel L. Jackson slips back into Nick Fury like he’s never been gone, and it’s great to see him centered in one of these projects – plus, his chemistry with Mendehlson’s Talos is more potent than anything we saw in Ant-Man 3. Smulders is on solid form; it’s easy to forget she’s an OG, having been around since the first Avengers, and she brings a charming reliability to the role.

Disney+

We can’t say much about Ben-Adir’s character, but we hope his performance goes beyond the relentless brooding we’ve seen so far; he’s a commanding actor, so he gets away with it, but we need more. Clarke’s trademark expressiveness is nowhere to be seen here, feeling more like a plot device than anyone else. However, there are two highlights: Olivia Colman turns in a delicious debut as Sonya, a British spy with a “scorched-Earth policy”, and Don Cheadle is terrifically likeable as Rhodey (in one funny scene, he threatens to “carpet-bomb” Slovakia) now acting as a righthand to President Ritson (Dermot Mulroney).

What’s most impressive, and surprising, about Secret Invasion is how well it sets up its story. The main suspense of the show is obvious: anyone could be a Skrull, and they’re being invaded by invaders they can’t even see. In lieu of the Avengers or anyone of the universe’s other mighty heroes, some may fear this could feel a bit empty without question marks over more significant heads. But the show smartly focuses on the real-world implications of powerful people (not superhumans, but world leaders and other shadowy, agenda-setting figures) being in cahoots with an alien force, and posits a larger existential question: is Earth really Earth without mankind? Even the opening credits, if you can excuse their Midjourney-esque visuals, emphasize the uncanny valley threat at its core.

It’s easy to crave a huge carpet-pull – what if Nick Fury has been a Skrull the whole time, etc – but the early indication from the series is that it doesn’t want to cheapen its premise with such saga-redefining beats. In fact, it actually feels more concerned with beginning to grasp life after the Blip, wading through the emotional murk of turning to dust and returning in a snap. That’s not to say it won’t have larger consequences for the MCU; let’s just hope it tells us something we don’t know.

Secret Invasion review score: 4/5

Secret Invasion is a return to smoke-and-mirrors tension à la The Winter Soldier that opts for mature storytelling over the weightless toy box thrills of the multiverse.

Secret Invasion Episode 1 premieres on Disney+ on June 21, 2023. Find out more about the series here.