It’s been a little while since the Marvel Cinematic Universe treated Disney+ subscription holders to a TV series. Fans are surely pumped now, though, given that a new show is set to land this month. The highly anticipated Secret Invasion, which we know a few things about, is just around the corner. It serves as a starring vehicle for Samuel L. Jackson, who reprises his role as gruff former S.H.I.E.L.D. director and Avengers wrangler Nick Fury. Franchise devotees seem to have high expectations for this latest small-screen offering, and they now have an inkling of what to expect, thanks to the newly dropped reviews. So what are critics saying after having seen the first two episodes? Well, we’re going to lay things out.
The trailer for Secret Invasion teased an intense and action-packed story that seems to be focusing on the ground-level heroes within the MCU. With that, a number of people have already been comparing it to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That’s certainly a lot of pressure, considering the 2014 film is considered to be one of the best entries in this franchise. Yet according to Remus Noronha of Collider, the new show mostly succeeds in providing a solid adventure that should entertain those who love espionage-centric fare. Even though there’s still plenty of the story that has yet to be revealed:
Based on what I’ve seen of Secret Invasion at the time of writing this review, it’s a stylish thriller perfect for fans of Marvel’s spy stories. It also feels like a series for people who like shows like The Terminal List and Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. It takes things back to the street level and delivers something that feels like what the MCU used to be — and in the process, it also has some cutting insights to share about the state of the world, the treatment of refugees, and how broken promises break the world. It’s still got some distance to go before one can call it a great series, but it shows potential.
That’s certainly a glowing review but, of course, the program – which was created by Kyle Bradstreet – isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. THR’s Daniel Fienberg found some bright spots within the dreary and grounded settings. However, he asserts that the body-swapping extraterrestrial-centric premise wears thin quickly:
The somber plot is both familiar and predictable. Once the Skrulls can be anybody and you’ve played the 'Is that the character I recognize or is it a Skrull in disguise?' game four or five times, it’s impossible to build tension around what ought to be provocative ideas of identity. It’s like how I chuckled at half an episode of Netflix’s Is It Cake? and then stopped finding it entertaining. It either is or isn’t cake and they either are or aren’t Skrulls, and that’s just not enough premise upon which to hang burgeoning paranoia, much less an ongoing series.
Secret Invasion sees the MCU’s greatest spy being summoned to assist his allies Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) face off with a renegade sector of Skrulls. Since Fury apparently reneged on his promise to find them a new home, the aliens have infiltrated different levels of society and are plotting to make Earth their new base of operations. The premise certainly sounds thrilling, but IndieWire critic Ben Travers isn’t all that thrilled so far. While he can see flashes of enjoyment, to him, the show’s concept feels somewhat bland and doesn’t service its cast as well as it could:
To say the first two episodes are suspense-free wouldn’t be entirely fair. The premiere’s climax works well enough, and the hourlong entries move along without the obvious bloat of past MCU TV shows. Still, 'Secret Invasion' proves as tepid as it is inert. The cast, featuring multiple Oscar winners and future recipient Ben Mendelsohn, is barely given room to do anything — even Jackson, who has the most screen time, barely fits in a raised eyebrow or trademark shout.
Empire Magazine scribe Richard Newby was more positive in his assessment of the six-episode series. While he noted that it possesses some of the sensibilities that present within Marvel’s other spy-centric stories, this one stands apart from the pack. For Newby, that’s due to the gritty atmosphere and grim subject matter present within the project:
We’ve seen Nick Fury as the cool mastermind, always one step ahead. Now, all of that is stripped away, and we have a man who’s suffering a crisis of faith, caught in a war of his own making. Secret Invasion doesn’t simply play at spy games in the sense of fun with superpowers and gadgetry as Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. did. This is a dirty business. Familiar faces are killed, acts of terrorism leave thousands of casualties in their wake, and individuals are tortured — quite mercilessly — for information. After the MCU’s customary comfort watches of the past year, Secret Invasion is quite a sharp turn.
There may be room for improvement, though, based on what Charles Pulliam-Moore had to say while reviewing the show for The Verge. Like some of his peers, he questions some of the creative choices that were made, especially when it comes to the Skrulls. And as a result, he’s unsure of what this might mean for the rest of the series’ run:
Two episodes in, it’s hard to tell just how much heat Secret Invasion’s really cooking with because it does seem to be angling itself to be something of a slow burn with more surprising twists built in on the back end. It would be more than lovely to see those twists come at the end of a narrative that actually shows us — rather than tells us — just what all is at stake and how these characters are evolving in real time. But Secret Invasion also feels like exactly the sort of Marvel project that could end up falling into the trap of being too focused on previewing what’s coming next when what it really needs is to just work as a self-contained story.
So it would seem that pundits have mixed thoughts on the currently eye-patchless Nick Fury’s latest adventure. Again though, it’s worth mentioning that only two episodes have been screened, so it’s possible that thoughts (on both sides of the discussion) could change. We’ll have to wait and see about that, but the most important thing to remember, though, is what really matters is what you think.
Secret Invasion hits Disney+ on June 21 as part of the 2023 TV schedule, and be sure that you’re also keeping up on other upcoming Marvel TV shows.
