Secret Invasion Probably Won’t Be Anything Like the Comics and That’s Okay

This post contains spoilers for Secret Invasion.

When Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu unleashed the shocking Secret Invasion event on readers in 2008, it changed the Marvel Universe forever. The reveal that certain fan favorite heroes were actually aliens in disguise made readers question everything and caused massive ramifications throughout the world of the comics. While the intimate and smaller-scale first episode of the Disney+ TV series of the same name doesn’t immediately introduce the universe-changing conflict of the comics, there are recognizable nods and names from the comics that inspired it.

But after the shocking premiere, many fans are wondering if this is an adaptation in name only. And while the signs point to the show straying far from the source material, that actually continues the core narrative tradition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

How Is Secret Invasion Different From the Marvel Comics?

Secret Invasion is so memorable to comic book readers that it’s hard to go into the show not hoping to replicate that feeling. Marvel Comics marketed Secret Invasion on the impeccably simple and effective motto “Who Do You Trust?” that set every comic shop, forum, and fan community ablaze with the question of which hero you loved had actually been an alien invader the whole time. From the outset, Kevin Feige has been clear that the MCU’s Secret Invasion won’t have those stakes, and the premiere proves that to be true. Instead, this is a Cold War-inspired thriller with roots in espionage cinema, far closer to the real-world politics of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier than the bombastic cosmic comics that inspired it.

Immediately diverging from the comics, the premiere centers around Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) dealing with the reveal that his alien allies, the Skrulls, have another more militaristic and radical segment that wants to take over Earth. In the comics our heroes are far more famous and well known Marvel names like Iron Man, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, and Charles Xavier, who secretly formed the Illuminati years earlier in order to deal with the Skrull threat. The premiere episode of the show introduces us to the Skrull rebellion leader Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), whereas the main antagonist in the comics is the Skrull Empress Veranke. There are similarly named Skrulls in the show and the comics. For example, Veranke’s comic book lover, Pagon (Killian Scott), appears in the premiere. But he isn’t in his prominent role from the original comics, where he had replaced the famed hero known as Elektra for many years.

That leads us to the biggest change from the comics that the premiere presents: This Skrull invasion is more focused on politicians than heroes. While we see MCU mainstay Agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) replaced by a Skrull, that seems to be confirmed as a more recent thing rather than a decades-long ruse like the comics. So far it appears that we won’t get those huge, shocking reveals that our favorite MCU characters have been Skrulls all along.

Why Is Secret Invasion so Different From the Comics?

This isn’t a huge worry as it follows what the MCU has always done: Take ideas from the comics but don’t adapt them directly. This is true of most of your favorite comic book blockbusters — with the big exceptions being Watchmen and Sin City — especially for ones based on Marvel or DC stories. Even the films that take their names from the most famous comic book arcs — like Fox’s much maligned X-Men: Dark Phoenix, based on the iconic Marvel comics by Chris Claremont and John Byrne — rarely stick to the story beats that made the tales become the classics that they are. Although the MCU changed the way that Hollywood approached and made comic book movies, it never strayed far from that pattern.

While MCU movies like The Avengers, Iron Man, Black Panther, and The Incredible Hulk are named after not only the characters but also the ongoing comics that inspired them, the stories they tell are the cumulations of decades of comic book storytelling and rarely take from a single arc. But MCU movies often take from the titles of famous comic book arcs for their sequel titles — Age of Ultron, Ragnarok, and Infinity War being keen examples — but none pull particularly closely from the source material. The two Captain America sequels — The Winter Soldier and Civil War — also lifted their names from famous Marvel comic book runs and are arguably the two entries in the larger franchise that pull most directly from their comic book counterparts. However, even in those cases the movies are loose adaptations at best rather than direct takes.

With Secret Invasion, it’s understandable that fans might be hoping for something more direct. There’s no overarching team or title to rely on. It’s not Captain America: Secret Invasion or even Fury: Secret Invasion;; it’s simply the title of the fan-favorite comic. But if the premiere is anything to go by, the MCU is continuing its tradition of taking inspiration from the comics without directly adapting them. The best thing about adaptations is they can’t change the source material, so the brilliant wildness of the original Secret Invasion arc still exists alongside this grounded and far more smaller-scale take that fits more neatly into the world of the MCU.

Will Secret Invasion Introduce New Characters Into the MCU?

If, unexpectedly, Marvel Studios does want to use Secret Invasion as a way to introduce (or reintroduce) more characters to the MCU, the comics have plenty to pull from. Though many of the most well known players would contradict the more grounded and grim tone of the series, there are some players from the comic book that could make sense. Many fans have been wondering if Netflix TV stalwarts Jessica Jones (Kristen Ritter) and Luke Cage (Mike Coulter) might join the current MCU, and Secret Invasion could present that opportunity. The pair play an interesting role in the comics with the latter as the leader of the New Avengers, and their Netflix TV origins fit the darker atmosphere of the MCU show.

But there are other characters who could easily fit into the series too, thanks to the numerous tie-in and spin-off comics that Secret Invasion spawned. The Young Avengers are arguably one of the most highly-anticipated teams yet to formally enter the MCU fray. But many of the team’s key players already exist on screen, and two immediately stick out as easily fitting into the framework of Secret Invasion. Both Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) and Eli Bradley (Elijah Richardson) could easily appear in the more grounded series. The former has skills rather than powers and the latter would fit perfectly into the military intrigue of the show. It would also be interesting to see Nick Fury go to the younger heroes for help if he finds that his more established colleagues are out of action or not to be trusted.

Another potential inclusion that immediately comes to mind is the upcoming superteam the Thunderbolts, which features in Secret Invasion’s epic final battle and the MCU could easily use the invasion of the Skrulls as a way to necessitate their creation. But don’t expect to see Harrison Ford’s President Ross popping up even if the Thunderbolts are mentioned. After the low-key premiere it feels like that would be more of a narrative tease than a big name cameo. And if we do see or hear about the Thunderbolts expect that to come at the very end of the six episode mini-series, rather than an overarching plotline as we go forward.

But what do you think of Secret Invasion so far? Would you rather it stuck closer to the comics? Discuss in the comments!

Author: Rosie Knight. [Source Link (*), IGN All]

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