Secret Invasion – Home Review

So, if the radiation at the Skrull compound was so intense that Gravik expected Fury to be a shaking mess even with his iodide pills, just how were all those captured humans able to survive hooked up to the machines for that long? Does pumping them full of iodide keep them alive? Or would there be some catastrophic effects of that radiation dose? Because aside from Rhodey – who, it looked like, has been in Skrull captivity since some time after Civil War – everyone looked pretty good when walking out of the Skrull base despite being exposed to a hell of a lot of radiation. It’s the little things like this that have really annoyed me with Secret Invasion – although, a lot of the big things have also annoyed me, if you’ve been reading these reviews these past six weeks.

My main complaint with the series has been how small it has felt when a story like this one should feel sweeping and complex. Take the Skrull counsel scene a few weeks back. A small group of Skrulls decide to take over the world sitting in a small room surrounded by a handful of guards. It felt so small, such a tiny set piece for such a big moment. The final battle this week had G’iah and Gravik trading Avengers powers alone in a CGI wasteland after Gravik killed a host of Skrulls who had been loyal to him (I presume he only killed those who tried to mutiny and the rest were hidden away somewhere safe – otherwise the Skrull population has decreased quite a bit in between the penultimate episode and the finale). Were there some cool moments (mostly with the Captain Marvel powers)? Sure, but it all felt pretty mundane as far as battles go. Just two actors, in front of a green screen, trading CGI-created power-enhanced blows. And it required a bit of a suspension of disbelief to believe that both characters were able to master so many powers so quickly.

But ultimately, the major takeaway from the series appears to be that while Skrulls still remain on Earth, they will have to operate in the shadows now that President Ritson has declared any alien on Earth to be subject to extermination. Which should have some impact on other MCU characters in future MCU installments. What about New Asgard? Everyone there is an alien, albeit known peaceful aliens who have their own country, their own government, and their own relationships with other nations in the world. What about the Guardians of the Galaxy, who haven’t spent very much time on planet, but who might show up in the future? What about those who are part alien, a la Peter Quill? Also, anyone want to talk about that giant Celestial in the Indian Ocean? What are the Eternals classified as, seeing as they’ve been around for literally centuries? What about those with mutations? Or who got powers from alien interference or devices? It’s a major declaration – and one that is already leading to witch hunts, as we see in the montage near the end of the episode – that will likely fully play out in the next Captain America film.

We’ve already had the Sokovia Accords, which limited the ability of heroes to act as such, but this particular declaration will be a complex one to legislate in the greater MCU. What happens when Ritson is replaced in office (Fury’s declaration that he’s going to be a one-term president seems prescient considering the announcement that Thunderbolt Ross will be the next US President in the new Captain America film)? I can’t see Ross being anything but a hardliner when it comes to national security, so I suspect the alien issue will fester and become a sticking point for our new Cap as he tries to keep his position as Cap while dealing with a mandate regarding aliens he isn’t necessarily comfortable with. If Marvel can handle this particular story with some actual nuance (which is appearing to be a harder ask than one might think it to be), we could get a really interesting look at the complexities of xenophobia and how witch hunts end up destroying everyone in the process. However, looking at how mishandled all of Secret Wars was – with a spy/espionage story that devolved into a mess of disappointing set pieces and a lack of true stakes – I’m not holding my breath for the MCU to be able to pull off much in the way of great complex stories for the foreseeable future. Fun popcorn fare? Sure. But complex storytelling appears to be above their ability now.

And that’s what bugs me the most about Secret Invasion. The series had everything going for it: a strong lead in Samuel L. Jackson, a story that linked to others in the MCU, a great supporting performance from Olivia Colman, and the chance to tell a human drama with massive stakes. But all we got was the fridging of Maria Hill, some backstory about Fury that wasn’t all that well integrated into the story that was being told (they wrapped up the potential of Fury having his own hang-ups about being married to a human-passing Skrull pretty darn fast, didn’t they?), a villain who lacked the charisma to be as popular as the show wanted us to believe him to be, and a world-encompassing tale that felt so incredibly small in the end. This should have been an event where we feared all our favorite Avengers could be Skrulls in disguise, where the paranoia was at a 12. Instead, it was a small character piece that didn’t do all that much to give us a character-based story for Fury. In the end, the villain was dispatched and Fury is back on SABER, ready to be there for The Marvels. The negotiations between the Kree and the Skrull are likely part of the The Marvels as well, seeing as the villain is Kree and has a bone to pick with Carol Danvers. So, Marvel has set up its next film but hasn’t really justified wasting a story like Secret Invasion the way it did. I had such high hopes for this series, and I’m walking away so disappointed. This could have been something great. Instead, it flamed out.