Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury is ready to face off against a deadly group of shape-shifting Skrulls who want to conquer different positions of power in the MCU’s Earth-616 and wreak havoc. Taking inspiration from the last two Captain America-based movies, The Winter Soldier (2014) and Civil War (2016), the upcoming Secret Invasion Disney+ series will have a grounded and gritty tone. Despite having these green-coloured aliens, the forthcoming show will function as a real-world thriller.
In a recent interview with Empire, the series’ helmer, Ali Selim, talked about his MCU project: “We talked a lot about classic espionage noir, like The Third Man. As Nick moves through it, he walks out of a noir and into a Western. He becomes the lone gunslinger walking down Main Street looking for bad guys to vanquish. We go from The Third Man to John Wayne in The Searchers, and Sam walks effortlessly from one into the next.”
The Winter Soldier dealt with political deceits and the extent of surveillance on common people. On the other hand, Civil War questioned the accountability of governmental bodies and personal responsibilities. It seems like Secret Invasion will serve as a blend of all the mentioned themes, with a few surprises of its own. Ultimately, it all comes down to the bad guy. But here’s where things get interesting. Who is the bad guy in the show?
Speaking about Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Gravik, the leader of the infiltrating Rebels, Selim said, “Gravik is not just a bad guy with a bomb. His story and how he came to this grievance is clearly explored here. That doesn’t just refer back to movie history and noir; it refers to our times today.”
The secret behind the Skrulls’ invasion of Earth-616 will get revealed soon. The show’s events will tell us what caused Gravik to lead a rebel Skrull team to infiltrate Earth-616, MCU’s primary continuity. Is Nick Fury responsible for this scenario? Or someone else?
Secret Invasion will arrive on Disney+ Hotstar on June 21. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, Don Cheadle, and Martin Freeman. Stay tuned for more updates.