Secret Invasion will explore some heavy themes about terrorism
By Dan Selcke
Secret Invasion is the next big Marvel series coming to Disney+. This one revolves around Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who’s been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since Iron Man way back in 2008.
The series follows up on the 2019 movie Captain Marvel, which saw a young Nick Fury help broker a deal with the shape-shifting Skrull aliens that promised them sanctuary on Earth. Decades later, that sanctuary hasn’t materialized, and they are nettled.
Talking about the Skrull threat, director Ali Selim posed a question to Empire: “Who is a terrorist and why are they a terrorist? Especially here in the States, it’s easy to say we’re the good guys and they’re the terrorists. The interesting thing for me is to ask: how did we as a nation state influence the environment these people come from?” These questions play into the backstory of Gravik, a Skrull rebel played by Kingsley Ben-Adir. “Gravik is not just a bad guy with a bomb,” Selim said. “His story and how he came to this grievance is clearly explored here. That doesn’t just refer back to movie history and noir; it refers to our times today.”
Secret Invasion will draw inspiration from espionage noir and westerns
That said, Secret Invasion will take some inspiration from classic film noir, what with all the battles in the shadows and Fury not being able to fully trust anyone. “We talked a lot about classic espionage noir, like The Third Man,” Selim said. “As Nick moves through it, he walks out of a noir and into a Western. He becomes the lone gunslinger walking down Main Street looking for bad guys to vanquish. We go from The Third Man to John Wayne in The Searchers, and Sam walks effortlessly from one into the next.”
Nick Fury is a spy, so taking inspiration from classic thrillers sounds appropriate. Theme-wise, it sounds like the show will explore some political ideas about terrorism. The last time Marvel did that was in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which ended up being pretty wishy-washy.
But there’s always time to course correct. Secret Invasion premieres on Disney+ on June 21.
Next. Pete Davidson has a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. dark
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels