TV Review: Secret Invasion (2023)

Secret Invasion (2023) created for television by Kyle Bradstreet

Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) has returned to Earth after a long sojourn on a defense satellite. What has brought him down? He's returned to active surface duty to deal with the Skrulls. The Skrulls are a race of alien shape-shifters who have fled to the Earth after their planet was conquered by the Kree (another alien race). They've been hiding on the Earth for thirty-some-odd years, providing Fury with an army of spies to conduct S.H.I.E.L.D.'s business (or his own covert operations). The Skrull leader Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) has an upstart lieutenant called Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir). Gravik wants to start a war between the USA and Russia with the goal of wiping out most of humanity, leaving the Earth to the Skrulls. Fury and Captain Marvel (who does not appear in the show) had promised to find a new home world for the Skrulls, but that was thirty-some-odd years ago. Gravik is impatient. In one terror incident, Gravik impersonates Fury and kills a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, forcing Fury to flee the American government, including Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Don Cheadle), formerly the Iron-Man sidekick War Machine (aka Iron Patriot). The show throws in a British high-level agent with a mysterious agenda (Olivia Colman) and Talos's daughter G'iah (Emilia Clarke), who does not support her dad's agenda, for extra drama and intrigue.

While the premise sounds promising, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The plot has dozens of small holes that keep showing up, some in reference to the large MCU continuity and some within the show itself. It's not the compelling conspiracy thriller that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is. Jackson's performance (the central one) is outshined by Cheadle, which is a bit surprising. The other actors are okay with only Colman's mysterious agent really enjoying her role and injecting some fun into an otherwise far too serious series. The show ends with the MCU in an odd position, with the storyline seeming to have little if any continuity with other storylines (Guardians of the Galaxy, Loki, Doctor Strange, etc.).

Mildly recommended.