Now that the finale for the Disney Plus Marvel miniseries Secret Invasion has concluded, it’s only inevitable that the post-mortem of what went wrong in the show has commenced. In our opinion, one of the most glaring issues with the show from the beginning was that it never really lived up to its title.
You see, the plot of Secret Invasion as it is envisioned in the Marvel Cinematic Universe revolves around the Skrull alien race, who had previously been peacefully living on Earth for the last 30 years while being disguised as humans. It was only really recently in the timeline that a small sect of the Skrulls branched off to lead an uprising. Because of this, the show would have been more accurate if it were called “Secret Rebellion,” or something to that effect.
What’s more, the comics source material differs from the MCU interpretation, making the inappropriate title that much more glaring. Like the 1978 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the comic arc of Secret Invasion was always an intentional overthrowing of Earth from the very beginning, rather than a story about refugees who decided to start a civil war last minute.
We don’t fault Marvel Studios for trying to do something a little bit different with the Skrull origin, especially since it served as a plot twist in the 2019 blockbuster Captain Marvel. However, it could be argued that the Skrulls in the MCU more closely resemble the stranded aliens in District 9 who are simply trying to find a home rather than the cunning, yet still nuanced, villains from the comics.
In addition, the whole “Invasion” moniker doesn’t really fit when you consider the Disney Plus show did not include major player superheroes like the comics did, including some of the Avengers themselves, which in the comics were replaced by Skrulls. Despite the final episode of Secret Invasion drawing a tepid response from fans and critics alike, when it comes to the overall reception of the show in retrospect, we shall see if the Skrull plot will improve when it continues to unfold in movies such as the forthcoming The Marvels.