SECRET INVASION (SPOILER TALK)

[John from Cincinnati]

Maybe a hot take, but now feels like a really bad time for clumsily conceived stories about a group of refugees hiding terrorist sleeper cells looking to push out the current population and take over. But, uh, gotta keep churning out the content I guess.

[JonnyLaw]

This episode does raise the question of what exactly Fury and Captain Marvel have been doing all this time, especially since Fury missed the Hydra takeover and has now missed the Skrull invasion.

[Craig H]

On 6/22/2023 at 11:08 PM, Travis Sheldon said:

My wife was not happy with ending of e1. 

What's funny is my wife had the exact same reaction and she has an irrational dislike of that actor from before we met and her roommate had her watch the tv series they're on. She couldn't stand that character and she never cared much for the character in the MCU. Then the end of the episode happens and all of a sudden my wife has a change of hurt and is bummed about what happened.

I thought the episode was good and it's clear they're setting up Fury for some kind of John Wick/Nobody/Old Man vs Everybody type of thing. I just don't know how well they're going to be able to pull that off.

[J.T.]

I just wonder how long it will be before the Yon-Rogg was Right meme begins.

[Craig H]

3 hours ago, JonnyLaw said:

This episode does raise the question of what exactly Fury and Captain Marvel have been doing all this time, especially since Fury missed the Hydra takeover and has now missed the Skrull invasion.

To be fair, Fury went into hiding after missing the Hydra takeover and pretty much went back into hiding after the blip. It also sounds like SWORD was being used more as something to track intergalactic threats and they took their focus off of the Skrulls. 

Captain Marvel is easy to explain because she already mentioned in Endgame that she's been scouring the galaxy to help other planets because not everyone has the Avengers. So she also took her eyes off of the Skrulls, and everything else, which probably also explains why Monica isn't too thrilled with Carol.

[JonnyLaw]

4 hours ago, Craig H said:

To be fair, Fury went into hiding after missing the Hydra takeover and pretty much went back into hiding after the blip. It also sounds like SWORD was being used more as something to track intergalactic threats and they took their focus off of the Skrulls.

That’s kind of my point though. He apparently wasn’t doing much to find a new Skrull homeworld* that was the whole resolution to the Captain Marvel movie, he missed the Hydra infiltration and then took his ball and went home, which causes him to not be around for the Civil War between Cap and Stark and which caused him to be caught off guard by Thanos (which if you’re scouting the Galaxy for a new homeworld, it seems like you’d catch word of), then after the blip he again takes his ball and goes home which causes him to miss the Skrull invasion aka Hydra 2.0.  Plus, some of the Skrulls who supposedly went into space to find a new home seemingly have been back on Earth for a while instead.

This isn’t a real complaint as much as it’s something I find amusing.  They tell us Fury is a badass, but outside of being in the right place/right time with Captain Marvel and forming the Avengers, it doesn’t seem like he’s actually done that much**.

 

*TBF, 30 years really doesn’t seem that long when it comes to finding a new hospitable planet that isn’t already inhabited.

**I assume that will change in this show.

[Casey]

I’m just gonna state the obvious that Fury’s wife is a Skrull. Probably the one at the beginning of the episode that introduced him to Gravik. Makes you wonder about Gravik and the appearance he’s been wearing, too. The only question is, if she is a Skrull, does he know about it? I’m gonna say yes.

Super Skrull is coming, made up of DNA from a frost beast, Groot and Cull Obsidian and there were Extremis files on that computer too.

Calling my shot: despite what the internet thinks, Rhodey isn’t a Skrull. I think that would be way too obvious. It would be funny if, somehow, it turned out Fury was.

[Eivion]

Kind of figured Fury was with Skrull. Something about the first episode even before Gravik showed up gave me that feel so that ending was expected. 

Wondered about Rhodey being a Skrull actual this this episode. Now it feels unlikely. 

I love Olivia Colman's character.

[JonnyLaw]

7 hours ago, Casey said:

I’m just gonna state the obvious that Fury’s wife is a Skrull. Probably the one at the beginning of the episode that introduced him to Gravik.

It was revealed that she was a Skrull as he pulled up, was it not?  I do agree about it being that particular Skrull.

[EVA]

I’ve felt so burned and burned out on the MCU over the past year that I haven’t watched any of these shows since Moon Knight, but with it being a long holiday weekend and with little else to do yesterday afternoon, I queued up the first two episodes of Secret Invasion…and I did not hate it. Which was surprising, because any IP-based espionage show following in the wake of ANDOR  has a tough hill to climb, because that show proved you can do that kind of story in a sophisticated and emotionally powerful way. And this is also not anywhere close to that. But it’s fine.

It’s still frustrating because, like most things MCU at this point, you can tell it has the bones of a far better story if the MCU could just settle down and tell one good, character-based story instead of trying to juggle too many things, or if they were actually willing to touch the third-rail social issues they prefer to vaguely gesture at in an effort to make sure that all consumers are comfortable with their purchase at all times (never more apparent than during Fury and Rhodes’s meeting in the second episode, where they have to awkwardly talk around saying the word “white;” the show trying to say something without saying the thing and ultimately saying nothing).

But I like the idea of Fury as the spy who has to go back out into the cold. And this show might have the best character-based reason for not “just calling the Avengers” ever, as this mess is 100% Fury’s fault and he feels a personal  responsibility to fix it himself.

I’m saying it’s watchable so far.

[JonnyLaw]

So… Rhodey’s definitely a Skrull.  Not only did that sound like his voice on the phone at the end, but he called Fury “Nick” at the end of their meeting when he fired him.  Fury obviously seemed caught off guard by being fired, but in hindsight, it works as a response to realizing Rhodes was a Skrull.

[odessasteps]

It would be funny if Rhodey was a Skrull and then they brought back Terrence Howard as the real Rhodey. 

[JonnyLaw]

“You know, I thought you looked a little different.”

[Raziel]

3 hours ago, JonnyLaw said:

So… Rhodey’s definitely a Skrull.  Not only did that sound like his voice on the phone at the end, but he called Fury “Nick” at the end of their meeting when he fired him.  Fury obviously seemed caught off guard by being fired, but in hindsight, it works as a response to realizing Rhodes was a Skrull.

Rhodie is a skrull and Fury knows it. When Fury went to Talos before their jaunt after Bob to stop the UN attack, he was telling Talos that he "had info about a Skrull infiltrating high up in the US Government, and the person was in London".  And yeah, that was Cheadle's voice on the phone.  Disappointed Fury's wife turned, but it makes sense given her relation to Gravik.  

Now, I wonder how they're going to keep G'aih alive besides "she was wearing a vest" 

 

[JonnyLaw]

I’m guessing she gave herself Extremis powers on the sly.

[Casey]

I don’t think Rhodey is a Skrull. I think the high ranking US government official is the President, which leads the way for his removal and then General Ross to become President. IMO, the big reveal is that Fury has been one for decades and just can’t remember at this point because it’s been too long.

[JonnyLaw]

I like the show overall, but I was amused how none of the soldiers/Secret Service really reacted to someone they thought was a Russian suddenly grabbing one of them with thick vines growing from where their arm was.  

[odessasteps]

You prob get desensitized quick to weird stuff in a comic book universe. 

[Coletti]

How many episodes are going to end with somebody laying down on the ground, presumably dead? 

[Raziel]

I gotta go with Talos is dead.  Rhodie is a confirmed Skrull, and Fury is gonna get the Extremis'd G'iah and go HAM.  Although at this point, he probably should call in a Supe.

[JonnyLaw]

2 hours ago, christopher.annino said:

How many episodes are going to end with somebody laying down on the ground, presumably dead? 

Three of four right now, with two of four ending on a surprise Skrull reveal (counting Rhodey last week).

[AxB]

Wouldn't it be funny if it turned out that Rhodey was replaced by a Skrull sometime between Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2, and that's why he looks so different from that point on?

[odessasteps]

On 7/5/2023 at 10:01 AM, odessasteps said:

It would be funny if Rhodey was a Skrull and then they brought back Terrence Howard as the real Rhodey. 

Still hoping for this. 
 

or a cameo from The Hoff as a Skrull-Ed Nick Fury. 

[Technico Support]

On 7/12/2023 at 8:32 PM, Raziel said:

I gotta go with Talos is dead.  Rhodie is a confirmed Skrull, and Fury is gonna get the Extremis'd G'iah and go HAM.  Although at this point, he probably should call in a Supe.

This is where all this world building and connected stories falls apart for me.  Why are the Avengers (new Avengers?  Maybe what's left of the Avengers?  Whatever.) not showing up to help yet?  A rogue group of Skrulls is threatening to literally destroy the world and Fury can't at least shoot Dr. Strange a text? 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Technico Support

[Casey]

The Avengers are all dead or retired, my dude. Nobody has formed a new team.

And Fury literally said he didn’t want to call in any heroes because 1) it’s “his battle” or whatever and 2) the potential of a Skrull assuming the form of, say, Captain America, and murdering a bunch of people is too high and could ruin goodwill with the public. All of this was in the sit down scene with Rhodey before Fury was fired.

I mean, we as viewers know the real reason why Sam or Carol or whoever aren’t showing up, but they’ve given a reasoning for it not happening in the show, so..

EDIT: Oh yeah, I hate that Rhodey is a Skrull. Only because it was so obvious and the route of a Skrull being Fury for so long that they’ve forgotten is way more interesting for the plot of this show and implications for the future.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Casey