Despite the introduction of the MCU’s most potent hero to date in Episode 6, the future still doesn’t seem bright.
Secret Invasion’s first five episodes have established a compelling espionage plot revolving around Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his interactions with the Skrulls, a shapeshifting extraterrestrial race. Former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) was slain in the first salvo of the Skrulls’ uprising, headed by Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir). The events of Captain Marvel set in motion Fury’s pledge to relocate the Skrulls. In Episode 4, Fury’s closest buddy Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), a Skrull, was killed, bringing home the full cost of that failed promise. The ultimate details of Gravik’s plot, including Fury’s part in it, were revealed in Episode 5.
Episode 6, titled “Home,” was written by Kyle Bradstreet and Brian Tucker and directed by Ali Selim. It begins up just after the events of Episode 5, in which Gravik issued an ultimatum to Fury. In order to kill as many humans and Skrulls as possible, President Ritson (Dermot Mulroney) has been persuaded by Raava (Nisha Aaliya), Gravik’s spy who has impersonated James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle), to unleash a nuclear assault on the Skrull base in Russia. On the other side, Gravik has promised to call off the war provided Fury hands him the DNA samples he has acquired during the Battle of Earth (Avengers: Endgame). It seems like a hopeless scenario, but Fury has a way out.
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What is the story behind the Secret Invasion?
In Secret Invasion, published in 2008, the Skrulls plan to invade Earth. But as the title implies, humankind doesn’t learn of the invasion until it’s already too late. The shape-shifting Skrulls had spent years capturing and replacing important heroes and politicians in order to prepare the way for a worldwide conquest, as readers discovered in the lengthy buildup to Secret Invasion. Since Galactus destroyed their home planet, the Skrulls consider Earth to be their new planet of residence.
When that takeover does occur, the heroes of Earth will be unprepared to stop it. Instantaneously, Shield is destroyed, leaving the Avengers to scramble to determine who among them is human and who is a Skrull imposter.
The Avengers are successful in stopping the Skrull invasion in the end, but it costs them dearly. Like Civil War before it, the aftermath of the Secret Invasion had far-reaching consequences for the Marvel Universe.
What does the ending of Secret Invasion mean?
After preventing World War III, Fury plans to return to S.A.B.E.R. and devote his whole attention to negotiating a peace pact between the Kree and the Skrulls. To protect the Skrulls from the Terran troops, Fury has decided to make good on his word and provide them a new home. Fury and his wife Varra (Charlayne Woodard) make up, and she travels to S.A.B.E.R. with him to represent the Skrulls at the Kree peace conference.
Who are the enemies in Secret Invasion?
As of Secret Invasion, Phase 5 of the MCU, Gravik has made his appearance. Secret Invasion, a six-part Disney+ series announced by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige at Disney’s 2020 Investor Day, premiered on June 21, 2023, and featured the return of both Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury of the MCU and Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull Talos from Captain Marvel. Secret Invasion puts Fury and his friends against a renegade sect of shape-shifting Skrulls who have been invading humans for decades. The series debuted in 2008 and was based on the same name in Marvel Comics.
Secret Invasion’s first episode, “Resurrection,” took place in the modern MCU and featured a large number of new and returning cast members as a rogue party of Skrulls began to implement their plot to seize Earth as their new home and eliminate mankind. Cobie Smulders returned as Maria Hill, while Michael B. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Don Cheadle, and Martin Freeman also reprised their roles from prior MCU films. Secret Invasion marked the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debuts of Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, Dermot Mulroney, and Kingsley Ben-Adir, with the latter playing a scary new villain named Gravik, the formidable commander of the Skrull resistance on Earth.
