As someone who thoroughly has mostly enjoyed all of the MCU products television and film, to say I was excited for a Secret Invasion television show is beyond an understatement. Setting up the Skrull’s and the next big catalyst event in the MCU is definitely something I’ve been looking forward to since day one of the MCU franchise, and exploring it on a near 6 hour basis instead of a movie definitely feels like the right choice as well. While there are some behind the scenes issues (something I will dive into later on) the show itself (at least the first two episodes) starts off on a strong start, but certainly is going to push the casual viewer a little too far in my opinion.
While the show focuses on Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) who spoiler alert has now actually returned to Earth and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) to stop a rogue group of Skrulls from overtaking the world essentially, it plays off as a political thriller more than a typical MCU product. We don’t want to get into too many spoilers either, but as the first episode has been released we at least have a new plethora of characters between G’iah played by Emilia Clarke, Gravik the Skrull insurrectionist played by Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Special Agent Sonya Falsworth played by Olivia Colman. Rounding out the already established Samuel L Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn, these characters interacting with one another and creating a new world of chaos and intrigue is certainly one that will keep the diehard marvel fans interested and the fans of general espionage and spy thrillers engaged as well.
The biggest issue with Secret Invasion is due to the large nature of the story itself and the implications that it will have on projects moving forward as it then becomes a mangled web of how much does one have to watch outside of the movies to be understanding the movies, and how much of the movies does one have to watch to understand the television shows. I do understand, and can even appreciate the want to create an extended universe, but with the idea being that everything has to be consumed on almost a weekly basis for the end of time to me even is a little daunting. Granted that is slightly hyperbolic but by the time Secret Invasion ends there’s bound to be another show, or a movie coming out provided the date shuffle didn’t alter that timeline.
Now to the elephant in the room regarding the opening title sequence Secret Invasion. It was brought to light that Disney used AI to create an Alex Ross looking opening credit sequence for the show, and has come under deep fire for this. AI should not be replacing people’s jobs, it really is that simple. Of all companies too, Disney has more than enough of a budget to pay animators to create the opening credits of anything they are involved with. While I am not going to defend it because disguising AI art as real art can be made to be a juxtaposition to the show as the Skrull’s are identifying as humans themselves, the whole idea that Disney – of all corporations – is the first giant studio to start using AI to replace actual jobs is a scary sight to be had.
Secret Invasion is a six part mini series, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday on Disney Plus. Episode one is now streaming, so get ready to get thrown into another chaotic MCU story with some stellar performances, that is sure to change the landscape, yet again.
