Secret Invasion is a standalone limited series for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, the show succeeds many established MCU plotlines and character arcs.
Agent Ross is surprisingly the first Marvel Cinematic Universe character to make an appearance in Secret Invasion. Martin Freeman played the G-Man in Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, and its sequel Wakanda Forever. He has not previously shared the screen with the headlining Secret Invasion players, and the Ross in the introductory sequence turns out to be a Skrull imposter. Cobie Smulder’s Maria Hill has an important part in the first episode, which shockingly ends with her assassination.
A flashback to the Avengers: Infinity War post-credit scene reminds Fury of the traumatic experience of being disintegrated. After coming back, five years later, Fury left Earth to run the SABER space station. The Fury we see in Spider-Man: Far From Home is actually his Skrull partner Talos. Talos’ wife, Soren, impersonated Agent Hill; now the news of Soren’s recent death is spread in the Secret Invasion opener. Talos and Soren’s daughter, G’iah, was a kid in Captain Marvel and is now portrayed by Emilia Clarke.
The sophomore chapter takes us back to the events of 1995 (as seen in the Captain Marvel feature) that ended with Fury and Danvers promising to pursue a new home for Talos’ Skrull group. Gaps are filled in to reveal how that endeavor turned out for the Skrulls – two years later Fury struck a new deal, one where his comrades would help him on Earth as the search continued. During the interim off-screen period, Fury fell in love and married a Skrull.
Fast forward to the contemporary setting and it is regrettable to realize that a suitable planet was never found. This fuels certain factions’ distrust and contempt toward humankind. Gravik is most disgruntled of all and is behind the recent attacks. He assumes control of Skrull leadership and convinces the council that he is prepared for any of Earth’s defenses, including an assembly of Avengers.
Fury meets with Rhodey, who is still holding a high-ranking military position. He was in the president’s inner circle in Iron Man 3, where he was shortly dubbed the Iron Patriot, although he did go against Thunderbolt Ross’ orders in Avengers: Infinity War to work alongside Captain America’s renegade team of secret Avengers. Rhodey also made a quick stop in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to check in on his pal Sam Wilson.
And now Rhodey is scolding Fury for his proximity to the terrorist attack in Russia, although the superspy was attempting to prevent it. However, we learn in the final seconds of the third chapter, that not only is Fury’s wife making contact with the enemy, but that the War Machine we have seen in this series is actually a Skrull impersonator.
G’iah discovers the abducted humans, under the same mind probes that the Skrulls applied in Captain Marvel, and she also uncovers the New Skrullos Super-Skrull experiments, which combine four components to enhance the Skrulls beyond just shapeshifting. One is the Extremis serum that Killian invented in Iron Man 3, to mixed results. Getting past the explosive side effects, some have been able to stabilize the concoction and have even passed it around the black market; underground brawlers were injected with Extremis in China in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
A second piece of DNA comes from a sample of Groot after he fought alongside the Guardians and the Avengers against Thanos. Then there is a part consisting of the Frost Beast that portals to London during the Convergence in Thor: The Dark World’s climax. Even though SHIELD was tasked with cleaning up that mess, a Skrull was able to obtain a sample of the Frost Beast.
Another element was taken from Cull Obsidian; specifically from his severed hand that Wong sliced off via slick portal manipulation during their fight in New York in Avengers: Infinity War. Combining the four elements can upgrade the Skrulls into Super-Skrulls, which is an advanced Skrull villain that, in the comics, is known to steal their powers from the members of the Fantastic Four.
Gravik is amplified as the first Super-Skrull as his cut hand is quickly repaired by the Extremis serum inside of him. He also uses Groot’s stretch branch abilities when fighting against the president’s security detail. Those two powers are more visibly depicted than the strength instilled in Gravik from Cull Obsidian and the Frost Beast. Yet the scene where Gravik “hulks out” while fighting off a sneak rebellion is possibly Gravik’s Cull Obsidian power-up.
G’iah sneakily turns the Super-Skrull experiment on herself, which ultimately saves her life. And we learn of more super-samples in existence called “the Harvest”. The penultimate chapter reveals that the Harvest contains DNA from the Avengers following their battle against Thanos at Avengers HQ. Captain Marvel’s name is highlighted when Fury offers details to Sonya Falsworth.
A flashback to 1998 in the third episode shows that Varra (Fury’s future wife) covertly helped the SHIELD agent with cases early on and even passed along tips in the fight against Dreykov. Dreykov was the Red Room architect responsible for Russian Black Widow assassins. He was finally killed by Natasha Romanoff’s sister Yelena during the Black Widow film’s narrative. The following week starts with another flashback, this time to the year 2012. Fury and Varra discuss his involvement in the Battle of New York as depicted in the first Avengers epic.
Fury is on the run in the fifth episode, being framed for Maria Hill’s murder. He covertly meets with several allies, such as G’iah, Falsworth, and most surprisingly, Rick Mason. Mason has only ever been seen in Black Widow, helping Natasha operate during her fugitive situation. Mason clearly connected with Fury and Black Widow back when SHIELD was still active and now specializes in clandestine work. One of the gadgets Mason provides to Fury is a Widow’s Veil; a technologically advanced facial disguise that was famously used by Black Widow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Just like in the Captain Marvel movie, Fury is again able to determine if a Skrull is trying to trick him by how they address him. Everyone who really knows Fury will refer to him as “Fury”, so when someone calls him Nick, he immediately recognizes that person can’t be his ally.
The finale presents a double showdown; one is a stealth operation to save the president and prevent nuclear war and the other a climactic fight scene. The former features Fury and Sonya infiltrating the Skrull ranks where Fury puts a stop to imposter Rhodey. Then, the superpowered brawl between Gravik and G’iah is enhanced by their Harvest infusion.
Dozens of samples are included in this power-up, as listed when the serum is inserted into the amplifier’s computer. Almost all the heroes and villains from the Endgame battle are mixed in with others whose DNA was probably being held by the government over the years, such as Abomination, with Gravik bulking up to his physique, and Ghost, as G’iah utilizes phasing to avoid getting hit.
They also reshape parts of their bodies into pieces of Hulk, Drax, and Korg. G’iah transforms her arm into an ice blade, courtesy of a Jotunheim beast, while Gravik uses the telekinesis powers of Ebony Maw. One of the most effective maneuvers is G’iah channeling Mantis to make Gravik fall asleep in midair. And clearly, the most powerful ability is Captain Marvel’s, which both take advantage of, but ultimately G’iah succeeds in defeating the Super-Skrull. When the dust settles, G’iah hooks up with Sonya, while Fury ascends to the sky, where his mission will continue in The Marvels, this fall.
What other Marvel Cinematic Universe connections did you catch in Secret Invasion? Let us know in the comments below.