Superheroes have their secret identities that they keep hidden from the public, but there is a price for that secrecy and no one knows it better than super-spy Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Nick Fury went from being the architect of the Avengers to watching things, and himself, fall apart in the fight against Thanos. Eight months after She-Hulk wrapped its finale, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is ready to shift focus away from the superheroes, to that of the ultra-secretive Fury, who has always remained in the background.
Until now.
Secret Invasion, based on the popular comic book storyline of the same name, puts the former head honcho of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the spotlight as he returns back to Earth post-Snap. And while his return can be cause for celebrations, Fury’s comeback only spells trouble for Earth and humankind, as he finds a hidden conspiracy in his own backyard with the shape-shifting Skrulls.
“This is my second appearance post-Snap, and he’s been kinda gone for a while. He’s a little tired, a little vulnerable, but coming back to Earth because he’s been summoned. And we’ll see what happens. Got a bad knee now. Not so happy,” joked Jackson in a press conference that Geek Culture attended.
Fury left Earth following the deaths of Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), crushed by the weight of grief, so the Fury that returns in Secret Invasion is, understandably, not the man fans are familiar with in the MCU movies. For the first time in a Marvel project, fans will get to peel the layers off this bald-headed, one-eyed man who for a long time, has been shrouded in mystery.
“Well, the more you find out about him, then the more you’re gonna like him. It’s just peeling the onion and having a good time,” explained Jackson. “We get other new information. We go to his house – We don’t know if it’s a condo. You got to watch to find out if I live in a condo or a real house. See if I have a yard, what kind of furniture does Nick Fury have? Does he have an island in his kitchen?”
All jokes aside, Fury’s mental health has been severely impacted by the events of Avengers: Endgame, including being blipped away for five years when Thanos first defeated the Avengers in Infinity War. And it’s not just Fury dealing with the loss, but those around him including friend, ally and fellow S.H.I.E.L.D agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), who was also impacted by the Blip.
“I think the relationship is quite strained because she’s been calling and he’s not been answering,” explained Smulders, who will be making her ninth MCU appearance as Agent Hill in Secret Invasion. “I think Maria Hill came back and someone else was sitting in her desk, and (she) immediately kicked them out and got to work. I think there was just a mountain of cases to get to, which is part of her resentment towards Fury, ’cause he was not around.”
Jackson added, “It definitely has a mental health effect on you and it causes a different kind of rift between you and the people that you’ve been around or people that you’re supposed to be close to. And, I mean, like I said, I haven’t been returning her calls. There’s a few other people I haven’t been calling back either.”
Secret Invasion takes place in present-day MCU and catches up with other characters who have been affected by the events of Endgame, including Iron Man’s best friend James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle) and Skrull general Talos (Ben Mendelsohn).
Rhodes has become a political figure in the new Disney+ series, and has gained new political leverage after becoming the hero War Machine and losing his best friend Tony. Secret Invasion will see him lean into that power and how this particular change reshapes his relationship with Fury. Though Cheadle can’t reveal too much, he submits that the Rhodes we see in Secret Invasion will lead into his eventual solo film Armor Wars.
“I think we’re just kind of finding out what’s happening with Rhodey as this series goes on. He’s in a different role. We see him as more of a political animal than we have in the past. He’s been more of a military man, but now he’s sort of, you know, in some ways, a right hand of the president and this special envoy, in that regard. But I think what I’m looking forward to is just seeing more, you know, getting under the hood of who he is and seeing how this relationship, not only with Nick Fury, but the other cast members evolves,” revealed Cheadle of his character.
“I’ve known Sam for a long time, and we’ve spent a lot of time talking about what it would be like to work together. I don’t think it was originally conceived that Rhodey was gonna be in this but when it came to me and Sam called me, I was really excited about leaning into it. Very happy to look into who Rhodey is and to probe that more and find out what really makes him tick.”
The same can be said about Mendelsohn’s Talos. Talos was first introduced in Captain Marvel and was last seen pretending to be Fury in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Mendelsohn is apprehensive to say too much for fear of spoiling the series, but notes, “We’re finding Talos in a difficult time. It’s a bad time and him [Fury] up there, we could’ve used him.”
The cast of Secret Invasion also adds MCU newcomers Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman and Kingsley Ben-Adir as G’iah, Sonya Falsworth and Gravik respectively. Clarke’s G’iah is the Skrull daughter of Talos, who has grown impatient with Fury and his delayed delivery of a brand new home for refugee Skrulls. She is a loyal follower of Ben-Adir’s Gravik who has risen through the ranks to become a leader of a faction of Skrulls who wishes to invade Earth and take control of its resources. Gravik is a dark villain and unlike any character Ben-Adir has played in the past, and this hatred for others is what gravitated the 37-year-old actor to the role.
“Do you know what’s funny? I was thinking, when we spoke, it was just Sam and Ben who were sort of attached to the project, and [executive producer] Brian [Tucker] sent me a couple of taster scenes, which was the like a kind of showdown with me and Sam in it. A scene we have in – I think – episode three. There was this series called Zero, Zero, Zero, and there was a character called Manuel and I kept seeing kind of weird parallels because I knew the show was trying to be more grounded and kind of darker,” explained Ben-Adir about his inspiration when portraying Gravik.
“I guess I took a lot of inspiration from that and how to make him as unsentimental as possible in his hatred for these two. There’s something about how much he hated Nick that was like, God, this feels really enticing!” secret invasion
Out of all the new characters to join the MCU, Colman’s Sonya Falsworth is perhaps the most brow-raising. Sonya was specifically created for the espionage thriller and while not much is known about her character, her early interactions with Fury suggest that the two had a shared history that will be explored later on in the series.
“Sonya works for MI6 and she likes wearing red. And she’s quite funny. And she’s potentially a little bit not that nice sometimes,” shared Colman, nervous to not reveal too much while Marvel head Kevin Feige looks over her.
“They have a lovely friendship. Although, she does quite like to bully you (Fury) with her heavies. Doesn’t strike me as much of a friendship, but they’ve got history. They trust each other, I think. Maybe they don’t. Oh God! I’ll never be invited back to another press conference.”
The Academy Award and Primetime Emmy Award Winning actress, best known for her roles in drama and comedy is here to drive the human drama behind the six-episode series. Some of her most-known works include The Crown, The Favourite, Fleabag and Broadchurch amongst many others and now, she can add a Marvel series to her long list – a long-time dream of hers.
“After every Marvel film that’s landed in cinemas, I found my agent and said, ‘Please can I be in a Marvel?’ And finally, either she got fed up with me calling her or it happened. So it wasn’t why Secret Invasion. Secret Invasion called. Any mention of the word Marvel and I went, ‘Yes, please’. I had an absolute ball, and it lived up to everything that I was hoping for,” shared a smiling Colman.
One thing that comic fans are hoping for is an adaptation of the iconic comic book series by writer Brian Michael Bendis but as seen in the trailers, it’s not going to play out the same way. The massive comic crossover series gathered all the Marvel heroes into one story arc but in the Disney+ series, the superheroes are nowhere to be found. Instead, audiences will have to contend with Nick Fury in a thriller and espionage-style story.
“That was always the idea. We knew we weren’t going to have every character in the Marvel Universe the way it is in the comics, and it really was to focus on Sam Jackson and really to focus on this ensemble that you see here today, in that political sort of thriller aspect to it,” said Feige of how Secret Invasion came to be.
“I think if you really go back, it did kind of start on Captain Marvel, even if it wasn’t a Secret Invasion idea yet. I think it was the idea that there was more to do with this relationship and with these two characters, with Nick and with Talos. And then we started, the Disney+ door sort of opened up and we got the opportunity to play more in genres and expand the sandbox of what we can do,” added producer Jonathan Schwartz.
“And that made Secret Invasion by itself a story that had great source material behind it and was a comic event that a lot of people knew and responded to, and was a very cool genre, specifically for these two characters. I think that’s what really brought the show to life.”
Director Ali Selim and actor Jackson would argue that the show’s unique tone and focus are what sets it aside from previous MCU projects. Firstly, this is one of the few Marvel shows to not focus on a superhero character. Its gritty tone, much like the beloved Captain America: The Winter Soldier, is also a sharp departure from Marvel’s go-to comedy-centric films and series. This is an entirely new genre explored for Disney+ when compared to She-Hulk’s legal-comedy and Ms Marvel’s coming-of-age story.
“Well, I think it’s the script, which was brilliantly written. I think it’s the fact that it’s the Nick Fury story, rather than a superhero story and I think it’s the fact that it really tried to delve into very simple human emotions, like trust and suspicion and the personal life of Nick Fury and inner life of Nick Fury, so it’s very different than people flying through the air,” shared Selim.
Over the course of his 15 years in Marvel, Jackson would go so far as to claim that Secret Invasion ranks higher than his previous 14 Marvel projects.
“Well, it ranks as number one in terms of things that I’ve done in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I really loved Winter Soldier, so that tone flows into this in a very real kind of way. And it’s a story about people doing people stuff, without all those supers coming in to save you and help you and doing all that other stuff,” affirmed Jackson.
“So thank you all for what I know, I’ve seen all the episodes, you guys are marvelous. It was wonderful. Ali, thank you for the consistency of storytelling, which is what we need more than anything else.”
Secret Invasion is now out on Disney+. You can read our review, here.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
Natalie
