Secret Invasion Review: Samuel L. Jackson Leads the MCU’s Nuanced Spin on John le Carré
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The post Secret Invasion Review: Samuel L. Jackson Leads the MCU’s Nuanced Spin on John le Carré appeared first on Consequence.
The Pitch: The last time we saw Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was bopping around the universe on a space vacation while his Skrull pal Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) impersonated him back home. But Fury’s just come back to Earth, because Talos’s fellow Skrulls have become unsatisfied with Fury’s unfulfilled promise from decades ago — finding them a new home, since their original planet is a no-go. Galvanized by a new young leader named Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), the Skrulls are mounting an invasion where they have the easy advantage, because they can look like anyone… including even Fury himself.
Previously On…: These days, every new MCU project typically has an obvious precursor to watch in advance of the new project’s premiere. Sometimes they’re obvious, like how for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, your required viewing was The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Sometimes the connections are less clear — 2021’s Hawkeye might have been a bit confusing, if you hadn’t seen Black Widow or the Netflix-originated Daredevil series.
For Secret Invasion, the homework is Captain Marvel, which first introduced the plight of the Skrull people, refugees from an alien war searching for a new home — set in 1995, it also established the Skrull capability to shapeshift and impersonate humans, without detection.
However, the real inspiration point isn’t the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There’s something just a touch dicey about how much of the first episode is set in Russia, but it’s arguably quite apt, because the show is very deliberately aiming to invoke a genre the MCU has dabbled in before, very effectively: The political conspiracy thriller, with Secret Invasion taking its cues very directly not from typical superhero fare but from John le Carré and other iconic tales from the Cold War.
Who Watches the Watchers? Central to those narratives, as it is here, are two questions packed with dramatic power — is that person who they say they are? Can they be trusted? It’s a dramatic conflict that has been explored so well over the years, in both non-genre and genre arenas; there’s an entire library’s worth of fiction and non-fiction exploring this topic, while some of the best episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine involved how the ostensibly peaceful Federation handled the incursion of Changelings who sought to bring down their society from within. (Even peaceful utopian societies need their own secret agents, it turns out.)
The MCU already has its own secret agents — that’s what S.H.I.E.L.D. is, after all — and so the incorporation of these tropes is pretty effortless. Also in keeping with the project’s roots as a thriller: The first two episodes have a body count, good and bad guys alike, in a way that feels stickier than other franchise entries — like the deaths in this context actually count. The most important aspect of this is showing how Fury, like a lot of spies, knows all too well what failure feels like — it’s the name of the game too much of the time, and while this franchise’s heroes have faced plenty of setbacks, the stakes feel different when the action is spycraft, not superpowers.
Secret Invasion (Disney+)
The Name’s Fury. Nick Fury: Cast-wise, this is a hell of an ensemble for any level of project, and it’s genuinely wonderful to see Jackson step up in a leading man capacity like this; 74 years old, and the man’s swagger remains more than intact. More importantly, the first two episodes demonstrate a real interest in this opportunity to explore Fury as a person more deeply than ever before; after 15 years of playing the character, Jackson finally has a real chance to show us who he is.
The chemistry between Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn remains as electric as it was when first introduced in Captain Marvel — Talos’s easy-going vibe a perfect contrast to Fury’s intensity — while Kingsley Ben-Adir delivers exactly the kind of charisma and focus you’d expect from a young revolutionary, in ways that make his side of the conflict feel relatable.
It’s not Don Cheadle’s first time appearing in an MCU/Disney+ show, but it’s the first time where he’s really felt like he had something to do. And Olivia Colman in particular knows exactly what the assignment is here. Of course, she’d better, as an alumnus of standout le Carré adaptation The Night Manager, but the relish with which she embraces each of her scenes, whether they involve a tête-à-tête with Fury or a cheeky bit of torture, ensures that whatever Marvel is paying her, it’s not enough.
The Verdict: Ali Selim’s direction of the first two episodes is steady and unflashy — the action is competently done, though no particular sequence has real pop. Even under the weight of increasing Marvel fatigue, the surprises included in this, as well as the grounded storytelling, create a solid start to what could be a truly smart and relevant MCU installment, one that doesn’t seem afraid to shake up the status quo.
Secret Invasion makes the bold choice to throw the viewer right into the thick of the action, saving the (helpful!) “Previously in the Marvel Cinematic Universe…” sizzle for the beginning of the second episode. It’s a actually pretty effective approach, in the long run (assuming that the viewer does have at least a rudimentary understanding of who the Skrulls are and what they’re doing on Earth), because the opening sequence instead sets up clear expectations for what to expect — whether they’re human or Skrull, alliances and loyalties and identities are things you have to choose to trust.
In the first two episodes, there’s a lot of script attention paid to answering questions the viewer might be asking themselves at this very moment. “Is there a reason besides budget for most of the Skrulls to walk around primarily in human form?” “What happens to the humans being impersonated by Skrulls?” “Why don’t the Avengers just swoop in to fix this?” That last one, of course, is the great existential question which haunts so many of these spinoff projects, so points to Secret Invasion for not just offering an explanation, but showing that this particular story doesn’t need any superheroes to keep us intrigued.
Where to Watch: Secret Invasion premieres Wednesday, June 21st on Disney+. New episodes debut weekly on Wednesdays.
Trailer:
Secret Invasion Review: Samuel L. Jackson Leads the MCU’s Nuanced Spin on John le Carré
Liz Shannon Miller
Popular Posts
