Secret Invasion’s broken ‘Promises’: Fugitive Fury takes nothing at face value…

In the aftermath of the attack in Russia, Maria Hill is dead and Nick Fury looks likely to be taken into custody if his friends don’t act fast. However the damage is already done: Fury’s forces are depleted, the world leaders and news services ponder the implications and Gravik’s cabal of Skrulls are reaping the rewards of the chaos. Fury must face a grieving mother and an old friend (one who isn’t in the mood to do anything but remove Fury from the battlefield before more damage is done to diplomatic relations) and also the fact that Talos’ actions may have contributed to the current state of play.

Even as the Skrulls continue to replace strategic names and faces with their own shape-shifters, others are moving against them – but with full loyalties tested and subject to doubt, will the agendas being played out on all sides threaten any chance of this ‘secret invasion’ can be stopped. Or is it already too late?

*spoilers*

Once again, there’s a lot of walking and talking in Marvel‘s latest Disney+ series, Secret Invasion, but all of it is important and contributes to the sense of urgency and unease. There’s all kinds of physicality going on, but the more interesting aspects are in the general powerplays that are developing and just how ruthless some of those people are willing to be. As with most espionage thrillers, some of the players seem to move around with a fair bit of unlikely ease on foreign soil, but whether it be trains, planes or automobiles, it’s all a means to an end.

The conversation between James Rhodes and Fury is restrained but not, on any level, a subtle one. Fury is dismayed that Rhodey appears more concerned with the political fallout of recent events and isn’t backing him directly with regards to acting against the Skrull invasion… while Rhodey (if it is Rhodey, which we presume so far it is, but that’s the nature of this drama) is understandably aware of the global implications of what an explosive event in the heart of Moscow (and appearing to directly involving former SHIELD operatives) has already done international powerplays and recriminations. (And, in a week when there was nearly a real-life coup in Russia, it’s all a little topical). It really isn’t surprising that the men would disagree, they have respect but no particular like for each other, but when the analogy of people first being judged for what they look like and then their actions come into play, the fact that the two men are people of colour also becomes part of the confrontation, exchanging experiences and acknowledgement of their personal as well as professional battles. Snark and sentiment both ping-pong across the table with neither giving an inch. Again, the analogy isn’t a subtle one, but it works as a character moment.

Rapidly becoming the most interesting character in the show, Olivia Colman as Sonya Falsworth, continues to steal every scene she’s in. She plays the UK’s equivalent to Nick Fury with a mixture of impish glee, snark and cold, ruthless detached pragmatism and does so with some great dialogue…. like your favourite and most hated teacher demanding to see your homework while juggling a grenade. Last week the banter between herself and Jackson sparked wonderfully and here, torturing a prisoner without ever breaking a sweat, she’s just as good ruling her own domain and delivering it all with the aplomb of an Oscar-winning performer in her own right. I’m hoping we see a lot more of her beyond this series as she is already a fan-favourite.

We also know that the Skrull’s own Shadow Council consists of the alien race masquerading as various world leaders and influencers, including the British PM (surprise, surprise) and that they’ve been rather too easily swayed in most part by Gravik’s own power-base and threats. We’ve already seen how Gravik deals with even the slightest possibility of betrayal and in the end only one of the ‘politicians’ doesn’t support him. Even when they immediately warn Talos of the situation, one feels that it’s part of Gravik’s plan to reel Talos in and remove another opponent’s piece from the board. With this episode we get to see more of Kingsley Ben-Adir’s efforts to make Gravik a threat and the script makes him an early dissatisfied Skrull always destined to not sit idly by. It’s clear to see that Emilia Clarke’s G’iah’ isn’t so happy with the way that Gravik’s plan is unfolding as she snoops around his computer files concerning the gathering DNA (with on-screen name-checks for Groot, Cull Obsidian and a Frost Beast, no less) and an eyes-only experiment that appears linked to boosting Skrull powers (a hint about a Super-Skrull, anyone?) but it’s not clear yet if she’s acting on her own impulses or actually reporting to someone else as a double-agent. It would seem her loyalties will be tested and be at the heart of the story as things progress.

Once again, there’s some interesting points of view put forward. For all that Fury is attempting to stop a hostile takeover, there’s little doubt that the more militant (and even the peaceful) Skrulls have every reason to be dissatisfied with Fury and Danvers lack of follow-through. Marvel is using the series to address that so far is not really explaining the reasons for the delay. Sure, Fury had some universe-saving to do (see the entirety of Marvel‘s Phases 1-4) and finding a habitable planet isn’t that easy, but it’s rather hard to believe that they (especially Captain Marvel) haven’t been able to find any solution in over three decades and we know Fury’s been off having a mid-life crisis so he really has no-one else to blame for dropping the ball and breaking those promises.

As with the first episode, we’re left with something of a twist at the end – Fury returning home to what appears to be his wife and who we clearly see is actually a Skrull. It’s not clear from the ending whether Fury is aware of her lineage or not (she changes into human form before greeting him but we’ve already seen her a s a Skrull refugee with Fury before indicating he knows)… but the implications of either are quite profound… that either the perceived ‘enemy’ is closer to home than he could possibly realise or that part of Fury’s mission is that close relationship and the understanding that a Skrull, like a human, should be judged by their actions not their race.

Secret Invasion may be proving slow for some, but for a six-episode run with a cold war remit, I’d argue the pace is fine, the balance is pretty even and the attitude suited to the genre – it will just need to keep giving the story momentum and the audience on their toes.