It's almost time to watch Secret Invasion, as Marvel's latest show is almost here! The Disney Plus show, which stars Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, is coming out next week, and the Secret Invasion trailer teases "one last fight" for the former S.H.I.E.L.D. boss.
Secret Invasion is the next of the many upcoming Marvel shows. The political/spy thriller sees Fury returning to Earth after learning that a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls is planning to take over the planet. He joins forces with allies including the Skrull Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle).
Also in the mix are MCU newcomers Olivia Colman as an MI6 agent, Emilia Clarke as a radicalized Skrull and Kingsley Ben-Adir as Skrull resistance leader Gravik.
Here's everything we know so far about Secret Invasion.
Marvel's Secret Invasion reviews are not great
The first Secret Invasion reviews are decidedly mixed, with the negative voices being a bit more disgruntled than the positive ones. Some compare it to the Andor series (and that's a good thing), while others say it's a little too late for this series to feel novel.
And that's a shame. We look forward to watching Secret Invasion to decide for ourselves.
Secret Invasion trailers
A new Secret Invasion trailer previews Nick Fury's return to Earth, where a group of Skrull extremists is looking to covertly take positions of power. If you recall, Fury left on a ship in Spider-Man: Far From Home, seemingly to fulfill a promise he made to the Skrulls in Captain Marvel — that he'd find them a new home planet. Guess the Skrulls are tired of waiting.
A first trailer for Secret Invasion ran at D23 in fall 202 which showed a Maria Hill who was annoyed that Fury took so long to come back.
Marvel's Secret Invasion release date
Disney Plus has set the Secret Invasion release date for Wednesday, June 21.
That's the first official day of summer, so the show is just barely missing the Spring 2023 window that Disney Plus announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.
Marvel's Secret Invasion cast
The cast of Secret Invasion is led by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. who was responsible for assembling the Avengers.
He is joined by several familiar faces from the MCU, including:
- Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, a Skrull who is allied with Fury
- Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent
- Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes, an officer in the Air Force who is the Avenger known as War Machine
- Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, a former CIA agent
Some new faces are introduced to the MCU in Secret Invasion:
- Kingsley Ben-Adir as Gravik, the leader of a faction of Skrulls that breaks away from Talos
- Emilia Clarke as G'iah, Talos' daughter who becomes radicalized
- Olivia Colman as Sonya Falsworth, an MI6 agent who is an old ally of Fury
- Dermot Mulroney as President Ritson
Christopher McDonald, Carmen Ejogo, Katie Finneran, Killian Scott, Samuel Adewunmi and Charlayne Woodard are also part of the Secret Invasion cast in undisclosed roles.
Secret Invasion plot and story
The plot of Secret Invasion follows Nick Fury as he returns to Earth following years in deep space aboard a Skrull ship. He has learned that a faction of Skrulls is covertly planning to use their shapeshifting abilities to take power across the world.
“We don’t know who’s a friend, who’s the enemy,” Jackson explained to Vanity Fair. “There’s a political aspect that kind of fits into where we are right now: Who’s okay? Who’s not? What happens when people get afraid and don’t understand other people? You can’t tell who’s innocent and who’s guilty in this particular instance.”
The Skrull extremists are led by Gravik and count Talos' daughter, G'iah, among their number.
“These people promised a lot of stuff a long time ago, and not a lot has happened. So understandably, a certain amount of resentment has been built,” Clarke said.
The tone of Secret Invasion was influenced by Cold War espionage thrillers of John le Carré, according to showrunner Jonathan Schwartz. Other inspirations were series like Homeland and The Americans.
Like those examples, Secret Invasion is painted in shades of gray.
"We often see Nick Fury doing the right thing. We don’t always see him doing it in a perfectly morally correct way," Jackson noted. "All of those things have ramifications. Without getting too specific, the things that Nick Fury’s had to do to protect the Earth have costs.”
