Marvel’s Secret Invasion: release date, trailer, confirmed cast and more
Secret Invasion lands on Disney Plus this week – here’s everything you need to know
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- Launches on Disney Plus on June 21- Plot based on Marvel’sSecret Invasioncomic series- First crossover event in MCU history- Official trailer released in early April- First five minutes released online- Samuel L Jackson returns as Nick Fury- Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, and Kingsley Ben-Adir among supporting cast- Inspired by multiple spy/espionage movies- Story will impact other Phase 5 projects
It’s finallySecret Invasion’s time to shine. The firstMarvelTV series in 10 months makes itsDisney Plusdebut on June 21, meaning it’s almost time for us to be reunited with Nick Fury, Talos, Maria Hill, and company.
TheMarvel Phase 5TV series looks like it could be a big hit, especially with its positioning as a politically-charged spy thriller, but does it have enough to become one of thebest Disney Plus showsof all-time? You’ll need to read ourSecret Invasionreviewto see if its first two episodes suggest it can or not.
Once you’re done reading that, you’ll want to swat up on everything worth knowing aboutMarvel’s latest project. Below, we’ve rounded up everything worth knowing aboutSecret Invasion, including its ensemble cast, trailer details, plot specifics, and more.
Full spoilers followfor multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films and TV shows.Potential spoilers followforSecret Invasion, too.
Secret Invasion release date
Nick Fury and Talos return in Marvel Studios’ #SecretInvasion, streaming June 21 on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/BLTfIpRiYaMay 21, 2023
Secret Invasionlaunches exclusively on Disney Plus onWednesday, June 21.Marvel confirmed this would be the case in early April, with an official announcement coming four days afterMarvel inadvertently leaked the show’s release date.
LikeMoon KnightandWerewolf by Night,Secret Invasioncarries a 16+ age rating in the UK (that’s TV-14 in the US). That means scenes of a violent nature and bad language will be pretty extensive throughout.
If you can’t wait another 48 hours to catch the series, the first five minutes are available online now. Well, providing you cansolve this complex MCU puzzle that’ll unlockSecret Invasion’s thrilling first clip.
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Secret Invasion trailer
Secret Invasion’s official trailer was released on April 3 – and, in our view,it could be the reassuring win Marvel needsafter a turbulent 12 months for the Disney subsidiary.
LikeCaptain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel’s first TV show of 2023 will be an espionage thriller, and the footage that makes up the two-minute long teaser showcases why. We see Nick Fury looking extremely concerned at various points, plenty of Skrull on Skrull action, and a twisty-turny plot that’ll have Fury and company (and viewers!) questioning everything.
Missed the series' first teaser, which arrived in September 2022? Watch it below:
Secret Invasion confirmed cast
Here’sSecret Invasion’s confirmed cast thus far:
Jackson reprises his role as ex-SHIELD director Nick Fury, a character he’s played since 2008’sIron Man. His last MCU appearance was in 2019’sSpider-Man: Far From Home, where Fury was enjoying a vacation onboard a Skrull spaceship.
Fury is joined by Ben Mendolsohn’s Talos and Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill. Talos was also seen inFar From Home, disguising himself as Fury to helpSpider-Manstop Mysterio. Meanwhile, Hill hasn’t been seen sinceAvengers: Endgame. Well, technically she hasn’t – Smulders reprised her role inFar From Home, too. But, like Talos who was masquerading as Fury, she was being impersonated by Soren, Talos’ wife.
Don Cheadle and Martin Freeman feature as James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes and Everett K. Ross, the pair last seen inThe Falcon and the Winter SoldierandBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverrespectively. PerEntertainment Weekly(EW), Rhodey serves as the US President’s main advisor at the start of the series.
Check out the new poster for Marvel Studios’ #SecretInvasion, streaming June 21 on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/CrxL0GhFB9June 7, 2023
Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) has been confirmed to be playing G’iah (perVanity Fair). In the comics, Gi’ah impersonated Pepper Potts for a while. However, her story has been altered forSecret Invasion, with G’iah – who also goes by her human pseudonym Nell – being Talos' daughter, who we last saw in 2019’sCaptain Marvel. G’iah will reportedly start out as an adversary of Fury and company, but eventually joins them to tackle Gravik’s Skrulls.
Speaking of Gravik, Kingsley Ben-Adir is portraying the Skrull commander, who is an original character created for the series and is the primary villain. According to MCU leakerThe Cosmic Circus, Gravik’s rogue sect have set up camp in Russia. He’s also a super Skrull, who possess superhuman abilities in the comics. Industry leakerMyTimeToShineHellosays some of Gravik’s underlings will also have powers.
Award-winning actress Olivia Colman (The Favorite,Peep Show) is playing MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth, a secondary antagonist motivated to protect the UK’s own interests amid the Skrull invasion. The Falsworth name is one comic fans will immediately recognize, with members of this family taking on the superhero pseudonym Union Jack. It’s unclear if Colman’s Falsworth will do so here, though.
PerMarvel.com, Killian Scott (Ripper Street) is playing a Skrull named Pagon, while Charlayne Woodard (Pose) is portraying a character named Priscilla.
Possible spoilers follow for the identities of Secret Invasion’s other characters.
Dermot Mulroney (Hanna,The Purge) is believed to be portraying President Ritson, according to an image snapped by Instagram userthe_insta_phils(thanks toComicBook.comfor the catch). The first trailer shows Mulroney’s Ritson in the convoy that’s hit by an explosion. We’d be surprised if he survives that attack, too, with Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross already confirmed to be the next US President inCaptain America: New World Order.
Christopher McDonald (Hacks,Happy Gilmore) is apparently playing a Fox News-style anchor in the mould of Tucker Carlson (perSecret Invasion News), while Carmen Ejogo (Fantastic Beasts) has been cast in an undisclosed role. Elsewhere, Irina Kara (Psycho) was also spotted on set (viaReddit) but nobody knows what her role entails.
One character who surprisingly might be involved is Daisy Johnson/Quake. She was portrayed by Chloe Bennet in ABC’sAgents of SHIELD– a TV series without ties to the MCU. Given Quake’s prominent role in theSecret Invasioncomic book series, however, some fans have wondered if she’ll appear.
Bennet previously denied her involvement on Instagram, but Marvel leakersCineStealthandTom Smithsuggest Bennetwillfeature.DanielRPKclaims she’ll get a new origin story, even though Marvel will include parts of herAgents of SHIELDcharacter arc. Another leaker –The Watcher– has suggested Quake’s MCU origins will be kept intentionally vague, which gives Marvel some wriggle room aboutAgents of SHIELD’s MCU canonicity, too.
Since those rumors (and denials) were posted online, Bennet appears to have confirmed she’s back as Quake. Taking toInstagramin late November, Bennet posed alongside some daisies (hint hint), with Marvel fans assuming she’ll make her MCU debut very soon.
However, while speaking toScreenRant, Bennet also said she’d “be open to” reprising her role as Quake in an MCU project, but shut down rumors of her appearance in Secret Invasion, adding: “I am not involved in anything that is coming out”. Sure, Chloe, we believe you. Anyway, we’ll find out whether she was pulling the proverbial wool over our eyes or not in the coming weeks.
Secret Invasion plot
Here’sSecret Invasion’s brief story synopsis: “Secret Invasionis a newly announced series heading to Disney Plus. The crossover comic event series showcases a faction of shape-shifting Skrulls who have been infiltrating earth for years.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the series has espionage DNA running through its veins. John Le Carré novels, TV shows likeHomeland, political thrillers includingThe Bourne Identity, westerns likeThe Searchers, and film noir flicks such asThe Third Man(perEmpire magazine), have all been mentioned as huge inspirations. Closer to home, it’s also likened toCaptain America: The Winter Solider– Marvel’s first foray into the political, subterfuge, and surveillance subgenres.
Additionally,Secret Invasionwill be theMCU’s first crossover event, so it’ll likely tie intoMarvel Phase 4and other Phase 5 projects. However, it won’t be as narratively expansive as the comics it’s based on. In January 2021, Marvel President Kevin Feige toldComicBook.com: “There were more characters in the comic series than there were in Endgame so, no [Secret Invasionwon’t be bigger in scope].”
Given the series’ major players,Secret Invasionis a continuation of the story fromCaptain MarvelandSpider-Man: Far From Home. These movies involved the Skrulls to varying degrees, so it’ll come as no surprise if they act as jumping-off points for the series.
PerVanity Fair, spymaster Nick Fury will become embroiled in a vast conspiracy that sees double agent-like Skrulls installed in positions of power across the globe. At the end of 1990s-setCaptain Marvel, Fury and the titular superhero were tasked with helping Talos' peaceful group of Skrulls find a new planet to call home. As Samuel L Jackson tells Vanity Fair, though “that’s not going so well”.
Clearly, some of those Skrulls have grown tired of waiting and, after being radicalized by breakaway leaders Gravik, start taking matters into their own hands – including invading Earth and masquerading as humans. Speaking to Total Film magazine (thanks toRedditfor the catch), Marvel Studios Vice President of Production Jonathan Schwartz confirmed this is why the Skrulls are ahem alienated when the series begins.
Among Gravik’s number is G’iah, who’s become emotionally hardened and worn out by broken promises from Fury and company. Speaking to Vanity Fair, Clarke said: “These people promised a lot of stuff a long time ago, and not a lot has happened. 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. You understand why she has the feelings that she does.”
Speaking toColliderin 2021, Feige said the series' “political paranoia” was something Marvel had wanted to explore for a long time, adding: “We wanted to do a series because it would allow us to do something different than we’ve seen before.”
Chatting toDigital Spy, Martin Freeman also teased: “It’s pretty dark figuratively and literally. It’s a bit murky, quite labyrinthine in terms of storytelling, and the amount of people crossing over with each other”. Cobie Smulders also toldPeople magazinethat the show is “much more dark in tone”, which speaks to its 16-plus age rating.
So, why doesn’t Fury just call in a few favors from his superpowered friends, aka the Avengers, to stop Gravik’s radicalized sect? As Jackson teases via Vanity Fair: “You’ll find that out. There’s a very good reason he’s holding back.” (NB: we think we know why, but you’ll have to read on – at your own risk, mind you – to find out more).
Potential spoilers follow for Secret Invasion’s plot.
One interesting plot point might concern The Blip – i.e. the moment where Thanos snapped half of the universe out of existence inAvengers: Infinity War.CineStealthclaims it doesn’t take place during this period, but the Skrull invasion apparently occurs in the five years betweenInfinity WarandEndgame. If true, its first episode may cover the Skrull invasion before the show’s main narrative begins.
Given the Skrulls’ ability to shapeshift, we could see other MCU characters make cameo appearances. The comic series revealed there were Skrulls who had been masquerading as some of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for years. And it sounds like this story thread could be adapted for the show, withMyTimetoShineHellosaying there’ll be “some superheroes” who turn up in the series. Is this what Jackson is alluding to when he teases why Fury doesn’t ask for the Avengers' help?
Elsewhere,The Cosmic Circussuggests the Department of Damage Control (DoDC), who showed up inSpider-Man: No Way Home,Ms Marvel, andShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law, will figure. And we’ll learn more about Fury’s life away from the superhero world, too – Jackson tellingEW: “There are things that even I really didn’t know about Nick Fury that I just found out. The minds behind what happened during The Blip are fantastic. That’s part of what we’re uncovering when we do this series now.”
Finally, chatting toThe Hollywood Reporter, Jackson elaborated on how the series will explore Fury’s priorities and world outside of his job. “I can have a whole life as Nick Fury that’s not Nick Fury at work,” he said. “You know, we get to go home with me and see what happens with me at home or when I’m alone or when I’m not so strong.” Expect Charlayne Woodward’s Priscilla to feature heavily in these scenes.
Secret Invasion: how will it impact the MCU?
Secret Invasionshould follow on fromCaptain MarvelandFar From Home, and potentially pick up some plot threads fromWandaVision, which saw Monica Rambeau/Photon (Teyonah Parris) approached by a Skrull in the series finale. The unnamed Skrull told Rambeau that a friend of her mother wanted to meet Monica, and, as thefirst trailer forThe Marvelsconfirmed, this “friend” is Nick Fury.
This plot point wasn’t resolved beforeWandaVisionended, so it’s possible (though unlikely, in our view) that Rambeau could cameo inSecret Invasion. If she doesn’t, we’ll see thisWandaVisionplot thread picked up inThe Marvels, with Rambeau working for Fury at SABER. Rambeau will have a major role in that film alongside Captain Marvel andMs. Marvel.
Meanwhile, during Marvel’s presentation at Disney’s 2020 Investor Day (viaMashable), Feige revealedSecret Invasionwould tie directly into upcoming MCU movies.The Marvelswill be one – Jackson has since confirmedSecret Invasion"has to happen" to allow that movie to, well, fly high (viaEmpire magazine) – and, as we touched upon when covering President Ritson in our cast section,Captain America 4might be another.
Lastly, Don Cheadle confirmed to Total Film magazine (viaSlashFilm) thatSecret Invasion"kicks off what happens" inArmor Wars, Rhodey’s first solo MCU adventure. So that’s three forthcoming films that’ll be directly set up by what happens here.
For more MCU content, read up onhow to watch the Marvel movies in order, check out ourbest Marvel moviesranked guide, or read up on what you need to know aboutLokiseason 2. Lastly, read up on theseven important MCU movies and TV shows you need to watch beforeSecret Invasionarrives.
As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.
An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as thisMoon Knight TV spot.
Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across.
Got a scoop, interesting story, or an intriguing angle on the latest news in entertainment? Feel free to drop him a line.
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