Monday, June 19, 2023

Secret Invasion - Episode 1 & Episode 2

Inspired by the Marvel comic storyline of the same name, Secret Invasion provides a mini-series where Skrulls have infiltrated the globe and are actively working to take control of the planet for themselves. Given their introduction as refugees rather than terrorists in the film which also introduced Carol Danvers, the show has to work four times as hard to try and position the Skrulls as bad guys. Two episodes in, by giving us Skrulls who largely stay in the shape of a single human, rather than quickly jump as they please or remain in their natural state, each limiting their abilities (and the show's budget), the results are mixed

Providing minimal information while jumping forward and back in time (which, from what we seem here, seems more likely to obscure the fact the storyline isn't strong enough to stand on its own in a linear progression rather than simply an artistic choice), the first couple of episodes are considerably more hit-and-miss than I would like. Our timeline here is also quite problematic given the events of the MCU which the writers need to fit important events into without contradicting the established canon (such as ignoring the fact that Skrulls left with Danvers at the end of her movie, and if they returned, and she did not, what exactly was she doing out in space for decades?).

The other extremely important observation here is there are no heroes. The comic series was notable for the Skrulls infiltrating everywhere including the Avengers. With no Avengers, the storyline becomes more of a street-level fight against an uber-powerful enemy of disgruntled aliens with a weary (and apparently broken?) Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) leading a charge even many of his old friends and allies can't get behind despite the serious threat to the entire planet. We do get a couple more familiar faces in small roles, but the series feels more MCU adjacent than at the heart of current ongoing storylines.

  • Title: Secret Invasion - Episode 1 & Episode 2
  • IMDb: link

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