Warning: The article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode 1.
Between nabbing Netflix’s big loss and getting blamed for a box office bomb, Disney Plus found time to suggest to MCU fans that they need to watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. before witnessing the return of Nick Fury in Secret Invasion. So, why did the streamer tell fans to binge a show that Marvel refuses to call canon and a part of the MCU? Well, looks like the studio is in no mood to let the theories simmer as the first episode of the series seems to have already solved the mystery.
Technically, just watching Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame should suffice as the former somewhat explains why the Skrulls are on Earth in the first place while the latter backs up Fury’s incompetence in leading the charge. But the first episode’s shocking ending — that underlines two of Marvel’s biggest vices in bold — has probably spelled out why Disney Plus added Agents of SHIELD to our homework.
In the episode, Fury joins forces with Maria Hill and Talos to bring down the Skrull rebellion, only to realize very soon that he is out of his depth as not only does he fail to foil their first big plan, but he also loses Hill who is shot to death by Gravik, the Skrull leader of the rebels. While her death is infuriatingly staged to give Fury the needed moral boast to get in touch with his former badass self, chances of her remaining dead being a temporary inconvenience are very much possible if we keep Disney Plus’ suspiciously well-timed suggestion in mind.
In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Phil Coulson was brought back to life after dying in The Avengers after the drug, GH-325, taken from a Kree’s corpse was injected into his body. I know there aren’t any Kree in sight at the moment in Secret Invasion, it is too much of a coincidence to not get a little spotlight.
Marvel knows the kind of ire it has stoked by killing Maria and probably plans on reversing it the same way Coulson’s death was erased. So, fine, Secret Invasion is all about Skrulls, but the Kree have always been their mortal enemies and we will be reconciling with them soon in The Marvels, which is set to star Cobie Smulders’ Hill as well. Yes, that can easily be a flashback, but what if it is not?
As the Disney Plus series directly leads into The Marvels, who is to say that Fury’s return to space and joining forces with Captain Marvel, Monica, and Kamala isn’t because the Kree tried to ambush the Skrulls once again on Earth and probably suffered casualties, allowing Marvel to at least make reviving a beloved character via dead Kree-goo MCU canon?
Secret Invasion is set to air weekly, on Wednesdays, on Disney Plus.