‘Secret Invasion’ Review Tense Start To Marvel Series

Marvel Studios new show Secret Invasion has dropped episode 1 on Disney+. Based in the present day, we see a tired, grey bearded Nick Fury forced to return to Earth to deal with a growing threat from the Skrull refugee population.

The shows tagline is “Who do you trust?” and from the off the show opens to a dark, tense, paranoid filled scene. We see Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), sporting a beanie hat and armed in dank, dark alleyways, as he makes his way to meet with Agent Prescod (Richard Dormer).

Prescod paranoid & rambling, he believes Skrulls are orchestrating chaos as Nick Fury and Carol Danvers have broken promises. Unconvinced Ross attempts to take the information for further investigation.

The weary Nick Fury, newly returned to Earth has arrived in Moscow, he meets the equally tired Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) Regretfully Talos tells Fury Skrulls are fed up of waiting for a home and an uprising is in the air.

The Skrull resistance is headed by the ruthless Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) who wants to start a war between Russia and America via a terrorism campaign, in hope humans retaliate against each other, leaving the door open for the radiation-immune Skrulls.

Stuck in the middle of the resistance is Emilia Clarke’s G’iah, Talos’s daughter. Talos begs his daughter for information, as the pair have an emotional meeting.

The episode goes out of its way to make us see Fury as past it and tired, from his appearance to his brilliant scene with Olivia Colman’s MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth, as she comments how easy it was to get to him.

This scene is a good example of how great actors such as Olivia Colman & Samuel L Jackson can elevate the quality of a series like this where Marvel are for once not dependent on over stimulating visuals.

As Skrulls have infiltrated the highest levels of government, the series is firmly set in conspiracy and espionage as Marvel attempt to take a more serious, gritty and dark counterterrorist thriller approach.

For the first episode this style has worked well, it’s an interesting change of pace and I hope the series continues in this vein.

You can watch the first episode of Secret Invasion on Disney+ now.