Secret Invasion Episode 1 Review: Full of Twists With Excellent Care in Visual Effects and a Good Cast
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, Martin Freeman
Director: Ali Selim
Streaming Platform: Disney+
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
The premiere of Secret Invasion is just around the corner. This Marvel series comes at a critical time for the franchise, with a string of failures in recent years and the possible disappearance of its new villain on the horizon. Marvel needs a change since they are losing fans and viewers despite the enormous number of projects on the way. That’s why Secret Invasion faces the difficult task of convincing us that the Marvel series is worth taking an interest in again. This story centers on Samuel L. Jackson‘s character, Nick Fury, a fan favorite. Its plot revolves around the global invasion of the Skrulls, some aliens that can change shape and take on the appearance of any human. Well, if you want to find out if Secret Invasion is worth it, he continues reading: Nick Fury returns as the protagonist of the MCU and Samuel L. Jackson returns to the role of the iconic character in a big way.
The actor has always said that he accepts film and serial projects if he considers them interesting enough and able to entertain him. Secret Invasion is undoubtedly a series in which, during filming, the seventy-four-year-old actor certainly enjoyed himself enormously and involved all the rest of the cast. The actors of the new Marvel Studios series have teamed up and created a series dedicated to Jackson’s character, which also proves to be a great choir. In Secret Invasion you will discover Nick Fury in a different and completely new light. The new show, to debut on Disney+ on June 21st, will tell the past and present of the former SHIELD agent and will connect perfectly with what was narrated in previous projects, Captain Marvel first of all. Secret Invasion is a real spy thriller series that can blend the darker side of Captain America The Winter Soldier with the more sparkling one of the Marvel films, even if, at least in the first episode, the space for the typical MCU humor is really risky. Here’s our review of the first Secret Invasion episode.
Secret Invasion Episode 1 Review: The Story Plot
Nick Fury had been missing for several years since he decided to work in space to analyze any new cosmic threats, while his friend Talos impersonated him on Earth in case of need (as seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home). Now, however, the original’s help is needed, and so Talos and Maria Hill summon him due to a very serious fact: some of the younger Skrulls, fed up with not finding a new planet to live on, have put in feet a rebel faction with the intent to invade the globe, staging attacks whose purpose is to create tensions between the various governments and weaken them. And since we’re dealing with shapeshifters, it’s hard to know whom to trust. And as if that weren’t enough, some believe that Fury, after the official dismantling of SHIELD, no longer has the qualities necessary to carry out such a delicate mission. He disagrees as he underlines the line “Even when I’m out of the game, I’m still in”.
Something is happening on planet Earth: several attacks and provocations between the United States of America and Russia seem to increase a climate of dangerous tension, which could lead to the explosion of a real violent war between the nations. This would result in the use of weapons of mass destruction capable of endangering the entire human species. Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), however, learns that these attacks seem too planned, too explicit in their being provocative, and too “weird”. As if they were coded messages as if reality was hidden by a narrative that is not entirely convincing. The umpteenth attack that could trigger a world conflict is almost there and the situation is so critical that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) will be forced to return to Earth and find a solution.
Because behind these attacks, there seem to be the Skrulls, the alien race, still without a planet to live on, capable of taking the form of humans and replacing them, hiding in the shadows, acting for their purposes. Reunited with Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and his friend Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), Fury will discover that the Skrulls on Earth are divided and in conflict, with a fringe of extremists who want to conquer the Earth to become their new and permanent home. The three will do everything to prevent this alien invasion, but Fury is no longer the same after the Blip. He looks old, tired, and lackluster, he is no longer the man he once was. So much so that he can no longer predict the moves of his opponents in advance. So much so that it is not easier to understand if Skrulls are hiding near him.
Secret Invasion Episode 1 Review and Analysis
Secret Invasion immediately follows in the wake of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, both in terms of storytelling and content. On the one hand, the series has a very realistic look, on a human scale, because the point of view we adopt is that of Samuel L. Jackson‘s character, who after 15 years continues to instill a charismatic and charming character in his Nick, on the other hand, the very nature of the threat represented by the Skrulls who take the place of people, especially in roles of power, delivers that atmosphere of uncertainty and mistrust that had been the distinctive feature of that moment, in the MCU, represented precisely by The Winter Soldier, in which the foundations of the world were shaken by the earthquake caused by the revelation that the Hydra had survived and infiltrated SHIELD itself.
Lucidly and carefully, the Marvel series approaches highly topical issues through the fantasy tale of superheroes and super spies. Information is no longer truth and power but generates distrust as if one of the great evils of our world has also been absorbed by the fictional world of the MCU. In a war between spies, it was inevitable to involve Nick Fury, who in this field is perhaps the greatest authority that has ever trod the Marvel stage Well, without losing a shred of his charm, but showing his wounds and weaknesses, his tiredness, with humanity and sensitivity, the Fury of Secret Invasion is almost a twilight hero, called to carry out his last mission before retirement, and it doesn’t matter that he has a bad knee.
And always he, thanks to his friendship with Talos, is the architect of a bridge between different species that would like to occupy the same territory. Because if it is true that the Skrull world has been destroyed, it is also true that this metaphorical alien population has the right to a new home. The problem that Secret Invasion arises, at least in the version told on TV, therefore, is also that of welcome and coexistence, of acceptance of the other. A skilled spy and friend of the Skrulls, Nick Fury seems just the right man to carry out this mission and try to stem an invasion that seems inexorable and perhaps already total.
In this new series of six episodes Fury and Talos are not the only two familiar faces that we find. With them there is also Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), Fury’s right arm, with whom, however, he seems to have a pending account; there is also room for Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), whom we had left in his kitchen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and for Colonel Rhodes (Don Cheadle), who however seems to have embarked on a political career which distances him greatly from the Rhodey whom we know. The new entries are interesting, if only because they have the faces of Emilia Clarke and Olivia Colman, for different reasons, beloved by the public, which offer two very different characters, all to be discovered.
In a thriller atmosphere that recalls the tones and atmospheres of The Third Man and The Conversation, in a world on a human scale that has to face alien threats, Secret Invasion seems like a comeback in style for Marvel‘s Disney+ series, perhaps a change of pace compared to what has been seen up to now in Marvel Universe TV, certainly a product capable of arousing the curiosity and attention of a perhaps saturated public. Probably for the first time Marvel chooses to make a character without armor, without particular powers or physical abilities, the undisputed protagonist of its story, but who on balance has always been “the man in the chair” ready to save the Avengers. Nick Fury is smart, smart, has experience, and is always one step ahead of his enemy. He’s not afraid to speak out for things he believes in and he’s not afraid of danger. Nick has returned to Earth to face his war against the Skrulls. We are well aware that Secret Invasion will try to adapt the comic saga of the same name starring the Marvel heroes in a live-action sauce. This time the main point of view will not be that of the Avengers but that of Nick Fury.
Nick Fury is no longer the strong man we left at the end of Avengers Infinity War, now he is visibly more tired and mentally not fully lucid. The sense of guilt for having abandoned the Skrull people, Talos and Maria Hill afflicts him, at the same time, precisely because he considers himself solely responsible, he does not want to involve anyone else in the fiery battle that is about to take place. Not even the Avengers, or what’s left of them. In its first episode, the series provides us with a brief taste of everything we will discover about Nick Fury, already only the first two hours of viewing have allowed us to discover the character in a new light. Nick is much more fragile and tormented than he doesn’t want to show to others, he’s not as sure of himself as he appears and he has many, many secrets in his drawer. Secrets that are ready to be explored in the next episodes of the series.
Secret Invasion is an ambitious series, it knows it’s worth it and isn’t afraid to prove it. Given that the show was directed entirely by a single director, an unsuitable procedure for a TV series but in line with what the studios wanted, the series proves to be perfectly consistent in the vibes, themes, and sequences of the first episode. Marvel wanted to tell the comic story of Secret Invasion through an action show with secret agents and was able to do it thanks to the vision of Ali Selim. We immediately perceive the dark, gloomy tones and the spy movie atmospheres of the show. From the first to the second episode, the tension grows, as does the power of the themes, twists, violence, and revelations. Gloomy but not overly dark photography is perfect to represent the mood of the story.
Secret Invasion immediately develops the theme of racial discrimination and marginalization: what would have happened if the Skrulls had presented themselves to humans, despite having no violent intent, with their green skin? They would have been seen as enemies and therefore marginalized, if not exterminated. For this they have done everything, as you will also discover in the course of the episodes, to integrate in the best possible way. Some Skrulls have understood the complexity and delicacy of the situation, while others are tired of hiding and want revenge for never being able to express themselves 100%. The theme of ethnic differences also returns with the character of Nick Fury and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), mind you because it is not a random choice.
There is also an important reference to the parent-daughter relationship: Talos and his little girl have not lived peacefully in recent years. You will soon discover that Talos’ family is not on good terms and the consequences of the repressed anger have been fatal. Really interesting is the character of Emilia Clarke, G’iah. Talos’ daughter has disowned her father and joined the extremist fringe of the Skrulls, but she is not as devoted to her cause as she wishes to appear. Clarke’s character has visibly suffered, and she has chosen to take out her sadness in the worst possible way, but all is not lost. G’iah is a gray character who throughout the six episodes of Secret Invasion may be able to redeem himself and we hope to be reunited with his father. After Game of Thrones and Star Wars, Clarke enters the Marvel franchise and is not willing to go unnoticed. Let’s hope the show doesn’t deprive us of this character too soon because she certainly has a lot to say and still a lot to tell.
Olivia Colman’s crisp and witty performance deserves mention. After years of trying to become part of the MCU, the Oscar-winning actress makes her debut in the Marvel superhero universe with the role of Sonya Falsworth, the top agent of MI6. It seems that the character of Sonya has a lot of autonomy within the British secret services, and she is not afraid to show her ruthlessness. She is self-deprecating, bubbly, and particularly talkative. She becomes the protagonist of curtains that have nothing to do with comedy but become lighter thanks to her presence. The character undoubtedly hides an as-yet-untold past and a long-standing friendship with Nick Fury. We still don’t know how but the two have known each other for some time, although we hope to find out soon, they are not enemies but it would seem that for the moment they are not even allies.
Secret Invasion Episode 1 Review: The Last Words
Secret Invasion is a true spy thriller series that can blend the darker side of Captain America The Winter Soldier with the more sparkling Marvel films. In Secret Invasion you will discover Nick Fury in a different and completely new light. Secret Invasion surprises for the seriousness and maturity with which this conspiratorial thriller is staged, which cannot but captivate the viewer. Full of twists, with excellent care in visual effects and a good cast, the series on Disney+ marks a change of pace compared to the latest Marvel Studios productions, proving to have some extra gear (even if it requires a small review of the events of some previous title). It remains to be seen whether this level will be maintained until the end.
