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Nick Fury famously once said, "Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye." It's a line that was included in Captain America: The Winter Soldier to show how the spymaster and former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. likes to keep even his closest allies at arm's length (and then lost a lot of its coolness factor when we found out an alien cat clawed out his eye in Captain Marvel). It was likely meant to showcase that Fury has some pretty significant trust issues, but those survival instincts may prove extremely useful in the upcoming series, Secret Invasion.

One of the most mysterious Disney+ projects to take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far, Secret Invasion will see Fury, once again played by Samuel L. Jackson, return to Earth to uncover a plot being enacted by a group of rogue Skrulls, the shape-shifting aliens that Fury and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) assisted years ago in Captain Marvel. Here is everything we know about Marvel's Secret Invasion.

Editor’s Note: This piece was last updated on June 18, 2023.

Secret Invasion TV Poster
Secret Invasion
TV-14
Superhero

Fury and Talos try to stop the Skrulls who have infiltrated the highest spheres of the Marvel Universe.

Release Date
June 21, 2023
Cast
Samuel L. Jackson , Ben Mendelsohn , Olivia Colman , Emilia Clarke , Christopher McDonald
Main Genre
Superhero
Seasons
1
Studio
Disney+
Franchise
Marvel

Does Secret Invasion Have a Release Date?

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in Secret Invasion
Image via Disney+

Secret Invasion will premiere on June 21, 2023, exclusively on Disney+. The series will have a six-episode season and follow Nick Fury after the events of Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Watch on Disney+

Related:New 'Secret Invasion' Character Posters Remind You No One Can Be Trusted

Is There a Trailer for Secret Invasion?

After first being screened behind the closed doors of Comic-Con's Hall H, the Secret Invasion trailer was finally released during Disney's D23 Expo 2022. The teaser opens with Nick Fury finally returning to Earth, this time with a full grey beard and without that iconic eye patch of his. What follows is Fury interacting with a wide variety of faces, some of which we've seen before. Not only do we get to see Talos in human form (which looks like regular Ben Mendelsohn), but we also get surprise glimpses at Don Cheadle returning as James Rhodes, AKA War Machine as well as Martin Freeman returning as Agent Everett K. Ross. We also get a first look at Olivia Colman and Emilia Clarke, both of which make their MCU debut in this series. You can watch the video in the player above, and here's the link to our full trailer breakdown.

The second trailer for Secret Invasion dives a little bit deeper into the show's story but, surprisingly, doesn't show much of the villainous Skrulls expected to populate the series. One thing is for certain, this is going to be a dark espionage spy thriller, supposedly reining in Marvel's signature brand of humor to potentially do for Marvel what Andor (2022-) did for Star Wars. We see that in his long vacation off-world, Nick Fury isn't exactly welcome on Earth, with James Rhodes telling Fury that he's the most wanted man on the planet. Luckily for Fury, he still has some allies in Talos, Maria Hill, Olivia Colman's character who is now confirmed to be Agent Sonya Falsworth. That is, they appear to be allies, as who knows which ones may actually be undercover Skrulls waiting for their time to strike.

While not an official trailer, this featurette offers us a new look at the making of Secret Invasion. We hear from the stars of the show about their approach to the world of spies and espionage. The featurette also showcases Jackson's approach to Fury when he can't rely on the Avengers. This was followed by the latest Secret Invasion trailer, released on May 21, 2023. Titled "Fight", the one-minute clip shows just how alone Fury is in this fight, as even allies seem to be turning against him. It also teases that one way or another, all the events that led up to this invasion were caused by Fury's own actions. Check it out below:

Nick Fury is the most wanted man on the planet, but we aren't surprised. The world's greatest spy has enough information to cripple entire nations. In the clip below, we get to see the ramifications of Fury's knowledge and how it plays into Secret Invasion as a whole.

A clip was released by Marvel Studios on June 12, 2023, featuring Nick Fury and Maria Hill playing chess with each other, with Hill telling Fury that he hasn't been the same since the Blip.

Who's In the Secret Invasion Cast?

A woman pointing a gun at someone in Secret Invasion.
Image via Marvel

Though he has appeared in around a dozen MCU projects since the very first end credits scene in the original Iron Man, this is the very first time that Nick Fury will be the leading man of his own story, played again by none other than Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson will be rejoined by Ben Mendelsohn as the good-natured Skrull Talos, returning from his red herring antagonist role in Captain Marvel and his brief end credits cameo in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Other MCU alumni joining the fray include Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Don Cheadle as James "Rohdey" Rhodes, and Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross.

Making her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut is Academy Award-winning star of The Favourite Olivia Colman, as MI6, an antagonistic character. Samuel J. Jackson described her as a "cold-blooded and just relishes being that person." Joining Coleman is Game of Thrones alum Emilia Clarke. Clark will be playing G'iah, a Skrull freedom fighter and the daughter of Talos. G'iah is fighting for her people, and the war (seen in Captain Marvel) has radicalized her. Clarke spoke about the role saying:

She's a refugee kid who's had Talos for a dad, you know what I mean? Maybe the fact that we didn't know he had a kid up until this point tells you everything you need to know about their relationship... So understandably, a certain amount of resentment has been built. There's a lot of emotions that live within her, and there's a lot of confrontational aspects to her character that have come from circumstance.

Finally, the supporting cast is rounded out by Christopher McDonald (Happy Gilmore), Carmen Ejogo (Selma), Kingsley Ben-Adir (The OA), and Killian Scott (Cavalry).

What Is Secret Invasion About?

Olivia Colman as Sonya Falsworth in Secret Invasion
Image via Disney+

As seen in the trailers, the show's tone is incredibly dark, far darker than anyone could have expected. This series is being pitched as a gritty spy espionage drama with science fiction-based psychological horror elements. Cobie Smulders confirmed the show's tone at D23 last year: "This is a darker show. We're going to get deeper into the characters. We're going to see them in new ways, and it's going to be an exciting thriller, and you're never going to know who people are. Are they a Skrull? Are they human? It's going to be a bit of a guessing game."

This promised style is a huge departure from what we've seen before in the MCU and a major tonal shift from how we saw Fury and the Skrulls in Captain Marvel. Samuel L. Jackson talked about the series and the new approach to Nick Fury.

Even Nick Fury can be shaken, you know? He's up there trying to process what the fuck happened, you know? And what his place in the world is. The death of Iron Man, the death of Black Widow, with that stuff going on he just kind of checked out. Now, he just doesn't wear the patch. The patch is part of who the strong Nick Fury was. It's part of his vulnerability now. You can look at it and see he's not this perfectly indestructible person. He doesn't feel like that guy.

Smulders echoed Jackson's statement and talked about where the series finds Maria Hill, saying: "I think Maria Hill has really run out of patience. She's always had this really close relationship with Nick Fury, but he's been gone for so long, and she's just been running around putting out fires." This welcome change will hopefully lead to the iconic aliens showing the cunning and villainy they're known for in the comics that we've yet to see in live-action.

Related:Ben Mendelsohn on 'To Catch a Killer' and Returning as Talos for 'Secret Invasion'

What are the Comic Book Origins of Secret Invasion?

SECRET-INVASION2

So what exactly is Secret Invasion? Well, in the comics, the Secret Invasion storyline is, as Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) from Spider-Man: Far From Home would say, "an Avengers level threat". Taking place not too long after the Civil War in the storyline of the Marvel comics, Secret Invasion picks up in a world where Tony Stark is the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and some heroes are considered outlaws thanks to the Super Hero Registration act that began the Civil War. This controversy is put off to the wayside and the heroes (and villains) from both sides of the issue are forced to band together when a hidden plot from the Skrulls is revealed and an attempt to conquer Earth is made known.

Led by their sinister Queen, the Skrulls have been abducting many of Earth's citizens, both civilians and super beings, and replacing them with Skrulls, creating sleeper agents who have been patiently waiting for their chance to strike. It's a plan that was in the works for several years, with heroes like Elektra and Hank Pym being among the people replaced by Skrulls. It's a major Marvel Comics event that has huge consequences for the rest of the Marvel Comics Universe, including the sacrifice and death of Janet Van Dyne's Wasp, a supposedly reformed Norman Osborn taking over S.H.I.E.L.D., and the reveal of an evil equivalent of the Illuminati known as the Cabal.

Now because Disney+'s Secret Invasion is working with a far smaller number of characters, the show will understandably be much smaller in scale than its epic comics counterpart. However, if Loki has taught us anything, it's that the Disney+ shows are still essential viewing for Marvel fans and can still have a massive effect on the wider MCU.

Related:'Secret Invasion' Will Hopefully Make Nick Fury More Human as It Fills in the Blanks

Who Is Making Secret Invasion?

samuel-l-jackson
Image via Marvel Studios

As per usual, Kevin Feige is executive producing and is the head honcho when it comes to Secret Invasion, like all the other MCU projects. The showrunner and creator of the show is Kyle Bradstreet, who previously was both a writer and producer on the highly successful Mr. Robot. Other members of the crew include Elizabeth cinematographer Remi Adefarasin, Lost in Space production designer Frank Walsh, and Black Mirror costume designer Claire Anderson. The series will reportedly be directed by Thomas Bezucha (Let Him Go) and Ali Selim (The Looming Tower).

Jonathan Schwartz serves as the executive producer and talked about their approach to the series. When it comes to inspiration, Schwartz said, “We were really inspired by shows like Homeland and The Americans. What you find is there are people that you trust or you think you can trust—or you can only trust to a certain point." The idea of espionage makes perfect sense when you look at how Captain America: The Winter Soldier tackled S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury's storyline.