Secret Invasion

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson (6 episodes), Emilia Clarke (6 episodes), Don Cheadle (6 episodes), Kingsley Ben-Adir (6 episodes), Killian Scott (6 episodes), Ben Mendelsohn (5 episodes), Olivia Colman (5 episodes), Charlayne Woodard (5 episodes), Samuel Adewunmi (5 episodes), Katie Finneran (5 episodes), Irmena Chichikova (5 episodes), Dermot Mulroney (4 episodes), Michael Epp (4 episodes), Christopher MacDonald (3 episodes), Martin Freeman (2 episodes), Cobie Smulders (1 episode), O-T Fagbenie (1 episode)
Directed by: Ali Selim (6 episodes)
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
2023

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) must stop a secret Skrull infiltration of planet Earth.

Review:

Tim: I've long been among the most vocal proponents of what Marvel has done with their game-changing MCU. I've loved the journey that they took us on, achieving one massive story spanning film and television, in a way that no one has ever achieved before. I've even been forgiving of some of their lesser efforts. However, I have so little praise to bestow upon Secret Invasion, the worst thing the MCU has ever done. This miniseries was boring, offensive to long-term fans, and an utter waste of our time. The bad taste from this miniseries has not left my mouth yet.

There was such promise when the series was announced. I've never read the comics upon this was based, but the idea of Nick Fury finally getting the spotlight in a miniseries that proved to be unlike anything else we've seen in the MCU, I mean, that all sounds fantastic. However, we got something very different. I don't know Ali Selim, who directed all 6 episodes, but the direction was awful. Kyle Bradstreet was the showrunner and he also did a bad job. This was a slow, pointless, awful effort. It took so much to get me to sit through each episode and I left feeling bitter and frustrated. This miniseries accomplishes so little and there's plenty of blame to go around.

I find it hilarious (in a tragic way) that one miniseries manages to anger fans by dismissing Maria Hill's contributions to the MCU in such a careless manner, then completely rewriting the MCU's past with how they treated James Rhodes. Their handling of these two characters was bumbling and infuriating. It's like they never considered the big picture. If that wasn't bad enough, Talos gets a bit shortchanged in this series, too. Nick Fury also comes across poorly here. It feels like a story that went so hard into "making it personal" with Fury that they lost sight of him as a character. Fury feels very un-Fury-like here. I didn't even recognize the character. I'm truly not sure what this miniseries thought it was going to accomplish. The decisions here were poorly thought out. While I do blame Bradstreet and Selim significantly, Kevin Feige is ultimately responsible. He okayed these decisions. While his decision-making appeared nearly flawless during The Infinity Saga, it's been pedestrian ever since. I couldn't believe some of the bad decisions this miniseries made.

To add insult to injury, this series didn't have a big enough budget to tell this kind of story. My goodness, this series talked a lot. It was so short on action, on momentum. I don't think I could ever sit through these six episodes again. The characters just talk so much and say so little. The episodes were dull, redundant. When you consider what actually happens in six hours of television, it's infuriating.

It's always fun to see Samuel L. Jackson play Fury, but it was so frustrating how much he was relegated to the sidelines. He seemed like a old man here. When you consider older men are still playing actual action heroes (looking at Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones), it makes no sense that they saddled Jackson with a dull, talky role with such minimal excitement. Jackson is good in the role, he's just given nothing to do. Emilia Clarke was a solid addition to the MCU. While I didn't love how they handled her character, I thought she escaped this miniseries at least decently. I would like to see her character show up again in the future. I was so excited to see Don Cheadle play a bigger role here, then so disappointed about how his character was portrayed. Cheadle is good, but it's ridiculous what he was called upon to do. Kinglsey Ben-Adir is a good actor but I felt like his villain was one of the most boring, tedious villains in the history of the MCU. I had no interest in his character. Ben Mendelsohn and Olivia Colman are great actors and they both made the series better, for sure. Martin Freeman was underutilized. Smulders was great, but screwed over. It was nice seeing Dermot Mulroney and Christopher MacDonald in smaller roles. Charlayne Woodard was often boring and occasionally impressive. I was a bit underwhelmed at the end. It's so hard to gauge these actors' performances because the scripts were bad and they weren't given adequate material to work with.

I guess I could go on, but I'll just conclude by stating that Secret Invasion is a bitter disappointment. I've found the ability to love or at least like most of what Marvel has done in the MCU. That didn't happen here. Secret Invasion is really bad. It was way too dull, too much boring talk, not enough action. It felt like it accomplished so little. It doesn't move the broader MCU forward in any meaningful way. It ruins the stories of multiple characters. It's simply bad television, perhaps the worst part of the entire MCU so far. Marvel needs to do better.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: I don't know, man, look up the other MCU television series