Films for Breakfast

Disclaimer: this is only a review of episodes 1 & 2 of the series

Despite the character being responsible for the formation of the Avengers and being at the center (or very closely on the sidelines) for so many pivotal events that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had to offer, Nick Fury has surprisingly never gotten his own story. This is especially shocking considering how Samuel L Jackson is one of the best screen presences of all time, and his interpretation of Nick Fury is so beloved by Marvel fans. Secret Invasion looks to break that cycle by putting Fury at the front and center of this adaptation, which follows Fury as he learns of a secret invasion on Earth by a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls, who we first met in 2019’s Captain Marvel. Fury joins with some allies to race against time to stop an imminent Skrull Invasion before it’s too late. 

Secret Invasion was never one of my favorite Marvel runs, but it undeniably had a really killer premise – what if your favorite hero was a Skrull? And not only for a short period of time.. what if they were a Skrull the entire time you thought you knew them? The Marvel Studios adaptation runs with things a bit differently, as we only get human characters such as Nick Fury, Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) – so immediately, the show defuses the idea that any one of our heroes could be Skrull, but instead that so many of the people around them could be. This is immediately an uphill battle for the show to validate its existence, and for the most part, I think it has pulled it off rather well so far! 

Something that will either be a selling point to some fans or will completely turn people off from the series is within the tone. There has been so much discourse about whether or not the MCU has relied on jokes and levity too much, and I remain a bit neutral in that regard as I think levity, like all filmmaking tools, can either be used to great effect or completely feel out-of-place. Secret Invasion, while not void of Nick Fury one-liners and the occasional joke, is mostly a very serious and dark political thriller more in-tune with Captain America: The Winter Soldier than anything else in the larger MCU. 

One of the biggest pluses to this series is the exploration of what the Skrulls have been up-to on Earth since we last saw them (minus cameos) in Captain Marvel. I found this to easily be one of the most compelling aspects of both episodes I saw, especially with the second episode fully leaning into explaining how this secret Skrull faction came to be. It’s also really nice to catch-up with Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos, both because I really enjoyed his character in Captain Marvel and genuinely find him to be one of our very best talents in the industry today; he simply elevates every project that he’s in. 

In terms of newcomers, Sonya Falsworth is wonderfully portrayed by Olivia Colman, who is easily the stand-out of both episodes. She is absolutely top-notch and plays such a delightfully sinister character that you can’t help but enjoy watching, even when she’s not always doing the most likable of things. Kingsley Ben-Adir and Emilia Clarke also turn-in some solid performances for their first appearances in the franchise, but I’m especially interested to see where both characters and performances evolve as the series continues. 

While I do think that the series does a solid job at establishing the threat and premise within the first two episodes, I will say the biggest downside to the show thus far is that of the editing and somewhat of the writing; and I’m not sure which is to blame more! I’m at a bit of a crossroads, as I find every plotline the series has set-up thus far to be genuinely intriguing and has me eager to continue all the way through to the end. The only problem is that it doesn’t feel like these plotlines are getting enough room to breathe in the midst of such an expansive story at times, and I really hope the latter episodes save more time for moments that let both the premise and characters breathe a bit. 

With that, Secret Invasion sits in a pretty interesting position for me, as I find so much of it to be as equally intriguing as I am worried that the show isn’t getting enough time to play-out organically. However, due to Samuel L. Jackson’s always-great performance as Nick Fury and a refreshing change of pace tonally, I found myself enjoying these episodes more than I found myself worried about pacing or writing. Fingers crossed the series only gets better from this point forward!

3/5