Secret Invasion review: one of Marvel's best small-screen outings yet

Samuel L Jackson stars as Nick Fury in this superhero espionage thriller

Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill and Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury in Secret Invasion. Photo: Marvel

There’s an existential threat facing Earth from a malevolent alien general, and the planet’s best hope is miles away in outer space.

It sounds like the plot from Superman 3, but Nick Fury is no Superman – just a mortal committed to doing his best for the planet. And while Superman’s nemesis General Zod merely wanted to submit humanity to his tyrannical rule, Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Gravik – the leader of a terrorist faction of earth-dwelling, shape-shifting Skrulls and Secret Invasion’s public enemy number one – is hellbent on seeing humanity destroy itself so his people can claim the planet as their own.

If we were to look to another superhero movie or show to compare to Secret Invasion, which airs on Disney+ on June 21, we might find a closer fit in Logan – James Mangold’s meandering swansong for Hugh Jackman’s much-loved X-man.

The Fury we encounter in Invasion is a shadow of his former self. He’s never truly recovered from The Blip, we’re told. He’s world-weary, none-too-pleased to be recalled from self-imposed exile to save the day, and physically in no shape to do so.

It’s fitting then that Invasion takes a more measured tone than Marvel is sometimes known for. There are no flashy special effects and lurid colour schemes, with capes and costumes nowhere in sight.

Don Cheadle’s Rhodey is the only Avenger in town as Gravik’s evil plot takes shape, and he’s left the War Machine suit at home to take up a job for the government – a job that primarily involves getting Fury off the case.

Ben-Adir’s villain too is very much a shadowy figure, more likely to be found lurking in dark corners of Eastern Europe than camping up his villainy in the style of Marvel baddies Thanos and Loki.

Fury is taken back to his spying roots here, in what is more classic espionage thriller than superhero bombast. The rogue agent is hunted by both his bosses and the secretive villains they’re too blind to see – the plot pits Russia against Nato in a deadly stand-off that could leave you wondering whether you’re watching Disney+ or CNN. The classic device of supposedly allied agencies making life worse for everyone by constantly competing to outdo each other is very much at play.

As the MCU enters Phase Five – Invasion is the debut TV show in the phase that kicked off in cinemas with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania in February – it’s appropriate that it falls to Fury to save the day.

It’s been 15 years since he debuted in the post-credits of 2008’s Iron Man, and about time he played the lead. He is, after all, the beating heart of all that has gone before – the founder of Shield, and the man who brought The Avengers together.

Fury may have to take responsibility for rescuing the MCU off-screen too. Recent films have failed to set the world alight as did those before them. Three of the franchise’s worst-performing films to date were released in 2021 (Eternals, Black Widow and Shang-Chi), and Quantumania’s sub-$500m box office was something of a flop in Marvel terms.

With the future of the phase in question thanks to legal troubles surrounding its planned linchpin villain, Jonathan Majors’s Kang the Conqueror, a well-performing Invasion would be just the shot in the arm Marvel needs.

Jackson is assisted by some impressive newcomers to the MCU. Ben-Adir, best known as a good guy for his roles in Vera and The OA, switches to devastatingly handsome cold-blooded killer with ease, while Olivia Coleman is a scene stealer as MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth. Combine all Coleman’s quirkiest, most ditsy roles, add a dash of sadistic torturer, and you have Falsworth in a nutshell.

The languid pace could turn some viewers off, but as a fan of the more noir-end of the spy genre I’m counting that as a positive. Whether a brooding Fury can successfully save the entire MCU both on and off-screen remains to be seen, but Invasion can reasonably claim to be among its stronger small-screen offerings to date.

Secret Invasion is streaming on Disney+ from Wednesday June 21 with new episodes on Wednesdays