The Disney+ series side of the MCU has slowed down considerably this year, so this will be the first of 2023 that I'll get a chance to talk about. Secret Invasion finally puts Nick Fury in the lead role of an MCU story, as he returns from space (where he's been busy setting up SABER) to deal with a personal mission. It appears that a faction of Skrulls have turned and decided to use their shapeshifting abilities to destabilize the world's geopolitical state, and they hope to use the ensuing chaos to take over the Earth.
It's made clear that the Nick Fury we got here is far from the badass we know, as he struggles both physically and mentally to see his mission through. Thankfully, he's not alone, as he has the backup of loyal lieutenant Maria Hill and his old Skrull buddy Talos, who also feels a sense of responsibility for the events of the show. Talos is an excellent foil to Fury, adding an entertaining buddy cop dynamic that plays into the 30-year in-universe history the two have together. Hill, on the other hand, was completely wasted, and I say that with unwavering conviction. Fury himself is a mixed bag to me. I liked the angle of him not being perfect (as it's his mistakes that kick off the events of the show), I was pleasantly surprised that they showed a new corner of his character by introducing a certain someone with whom he has a special relationship with, and I appreciated that they touched on the trauma he's dealing with after the calamity of Thanos's snap. These are the makings of new, interesting layers to a storied character, but I felt like they never had the time to fully come together. Plus, he makes a lot of uncharacteristic choices throughout the series, from failing to be the super spy we know him to be (which, to be fair, can be chalked up to him being out of the game), to actively refusing to call the Avengers even though he's faced with a situation that absolutely calls for it. We meet a handful of new characters as well, like British Intelligence operative Sonya Falsworth (a hilarious show-stealer), G'iah (Talos's daughter, played by Emilia Clarke), and Gravik (the leader of the splinter Skrull group with a chip on his shoulder). I wish I could say they were all amazingly compelling and worthwhile new introductions, but this was a mixed bag to me as well. I really felt like G'iah as a character did not get nearly enough to do to justify the casting of a renowned and talented actress who could have been given more to chew on. Gravik had sensible motivations rooted in Fury's failure to keep his promise at the end of Captain Marvel, but his plans felt all over the place. Sonya is mostly a fun contrast to Fury's type of spy, and she's a delight to watch onscreen. If there's one good thing to come out of this show, it's her, and I want more of her. When this show was first announced, many fans were highly skeptical of a show called Secret Invasion that doesn't quite follow the comic it's named after (my thoughts on that here). I will admit I shared a similar skepticism (though not to the extremes of the Internet), but I gave the show the benefit of the doubt when they presented this show to be a "grounded" spy thriller with shapeshifting aliens that leans into the paranoia of not knowing who is or isn't a Skrull. The actual execution of this left a lot to be desired in my eyes, as I can only name a handful of moments where that sense of paranoia felt prevalent, and the show's pacing was way too quick and all over the place to let that feeling even ferment to begin with. Another thing I had high hopes for was how the show seemed to focus more on the geopolitical ramifications of shapeshifters taking over powerful people for their own ends. The only moment I recall that felt remotely close to tackling something interesting on that front happened in the finale, and that being the case really hammered home how this show missed the mark for me. The feeling of utter dissatisfaction I felt upon seeing what the show could have been right at the very end of the series is a feeling I have no interest in reliving anytime soon. One narrative hurdle regarding the Skrulls that I've observed over the years of my enjoyment of comics is how their very nature can get in the way of the characters they shapeshift into. There are a number of instances here where a character has a compelling speech that really builds on or serves their character well, but then it's revealed that they're a Skrull. Moments like these end up feeling cheap because now you don't know if that's something the actual character truly feels. Plus, the fact that you don't know exactly when the characters were replaced with impostors also threatens to ruin compelling character moments from other MCU projects. The worst offender of this is how they imply that a certain character has been a Skrull for much longer than viewers expected, and accepting that as fact ends up completely ruining the entire Phase 3 presence of that character. Despite the espionage angle of the show, I still expected there to be some manner of superhero action to take place, which does happen when they introduce a classic element of Skrull lore into the story. I really liked the idea at first, and then they ruined it with the nonsense that was the final battle. I'm not going into detail since those would constitute spoilers, but the finale is the first time in a long time that something from the MCU has left me shaking my head in disappointment, and that fight is one major reason behind that feeling. They bring in a couple of guest stars from other MCU projects to participate in the action, and it's impossible to really talk about them without giving away too much. I suppose I'll just say what they were going for with them is so obvious, you could figure out what that is even with me dancing around the fact. It's one of those "cool in theory, horrendous in practice" situations. When it comes to TV shows and movies, I'm relatively easy to please (which apparently is a crime to many film snobs I encounter), so what I'm about to say next is not something I say lightly. Between this show and Quantumania, this is the first time in years that I've really called the MCU's direction into question. Speaking about Secret Invasion specifically, the runtime was unreasonably short for a story that would probably work better as a slow burn, they make a bunch of questionable character choices, and it somehow makes the same mistake as the comic it takes its name from and never fully commits to its premise. I'm actually disappointed in how this turned out, and in my book, that's worse than an end product I actively hate. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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