Secret Invasion – Promises review- S1 E2

Secret Invasion’s second episode only reinforced the notion that this series is gunning for the top spot among the Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ shows. If anything, the series is showing how viable Secret Invasion could have been as the all-encompassing storyline for a Phase 4 or Phase 5 concluding with a massive film featuring the legacy and newer heroes.

Of course, there’s an argument to be made that with Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury firmly in the spotlight, Secret Invasion has all the heroes it needs.

I was hoping for a fake out with Maria Hill’s death, but she’s legit dead. There’s probably a cadre of think pieces raising the credible argument that the MCU is killing off too many of its strong female characters with Black Widow, Queen Ramonda, Gamora ver. 1 and now Hill. Not to mention making Scarlet Witch a major villain. Provided it’s in service of telling a good story, I’m fine with it and Hill’s death certainly was done to help legitimize the threat of this Skrull hostile takeover.

In an opening flashback from 1997, two years after the events of Captain Marvel, we see Fury and Talos meeting with a group of Skrulls. Talos vouches for Fury, who insists that if the Skrulls keep their word, he’ll keep his and they can live in harmony. A female Skrull (Glass’ Charlayne Woodard who ironically played the mother of Jackson’s Unbreakable character) introduces Fury to a young Gravix, who escaped from Kree forces that killed his parents. He’s determined to make his mark and assures Fury he’s ready.

Back to the present day with the aftermath of the explosions and Fury in shock over Hill’s body. Gravix sneers and seems to taunt Fury to come after him. Talos gets Fury out of the scene as he realizes Fury is likely to be considered a prime suspect for this bombing on Russian soil.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was packed with great scenes. One of the few non-action heavy standouts was Fury telling Captain America about his grandfather and his stance on people. Fury’s Family Files continue to provide excellent moments. It’s a savvy way to showcase Jackson’s natural talent as a storyteller. This time Fury shares with Talos about a game he and his mother would play where they’d say something they other didn’t know.

In this case, Fury didn’t know that Talos sent a beacon to all the displaced Skrulls and a million of them are now on Earth. That’s certainly enough for an invasion. Talos didn’t mean any harm by his actions, but kept that news close to the vest to ensure his people stayed safe. The Blip led to significant unrest for the Skrulls as they were left without their advocate in Fury and aimless.

Talos also mentions how Fury hasn’t been the same since The Blip, distancing himself from his friends and spending all his time in space in isolation. This created a power vacuum that Gravix is now exploiting.

Some MCU films and shows have just kind of lightly mentioned the five-year period when Thanos wiped out half the population before the Avengers brought them back. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier explored how the returning population displaced millions who suddenly felt cast aside. It’s not a coincidence that the strongest post-Blip stories are those that examine the deeper impact of this traumatic event.

Fury goes off rightfully angry at this perceived betrayal by one of his longest surviving allies. Considering he’s lost Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, turncoat ally in Alexander Pierce and maybe most devastating Maria Hill, it’s easy to see why this stings so much. Fury exasperatedly says humans can’t coexist with each other! There’s not enough tolerance on this planet for another species. No lies detected.

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There’s a welcome fallout to a character death with Fury speaking to Hill’s mother. She didn’t doubt that Hill’s death was in vain but wants Fury to make sure her daughter didn’t die for nothing. So often characters die and besides Wanda and Shuri, it feels like no one really stops to deal with their emotions.

Gravix is feeling himself after outsmarting Fury and tells G’iah he could have killed him, but he won’t give a dying man what he wants. Besides, Gravix is focusing on what he wants namely ascending further up the ranks of the Skrull council. There’s an interesting mix of characters here.

While there’s a tease of one in the field, none of the council are known MCU players. Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontainebeing one would have been a cool reveal. There is a fun one though as Christopher McDonald’s not so subtle hot take FOX News commentator — here working for FXN — is on the Skrull Council. And so is the UK Prime Minister. The Skrulls certainly allocated their million well.

Gravix felt abandoned by Fury and is just hastening the inevitable end of humanity since they’re likely to turn on each other and wipe themselves out at some point. Again, hard to argue that logic. All things considered this was a pretty peaceful hostile takeover and now Gravix is the Skrull General as they head to war.

A council member asks Gravix what happens if the Avengers return. That question hasn’t been asked nearly enough and it’s almost at the point where these villains have been very considerate to hold off on any major world-shattering plans until the Avengers decide to reunite. Gravix assures the council he’s got that covered. Interesting.

Coincidentally, James Rhodes got grilled by world leaders earlier — a tremendous scene from Don Cheadle (what else is new?) — and now he’s ready to tear into Fury for putting him in this lousy situation. Serious question: why haven’t we had all the scenes with Cheadle and Jackson before now? Good grief. This was amazing and Cheadle should get slotted for Best Cameo/Supporting Performance nomination from this interaction alone.

Turns out Fury wasn’t the only one who knew about the Skrulls as Rhodey has known for the past 15 years ago. That’s a big secret to keep from both Iron Man and Captain America. Rhodey asks about calling their friends in — which is exactly what a Skrull trying to ferret out the Avengers would say… — but Fury doesn’t want them caught up in this mess.

I also thoroughly enjoyed that the writers are not shying away from the fact that Rhodey and Fury are black men. There’s some great exchanges here culminating in Rhodey telling Nick he’s fired.

Olivia Colman has also been a pleasant surprise in the series. She crashes an interrogation led by a Russian team that doesn’t know they’ve captured a Skrill. Falsworth gets the location of the Skrull safe house in her sternly polite manner. Falsworth is quickly becoming a fun character as her disarming attitude belies her legit threat. She learns that Gravix is making a machine to make them stronger.

G’hia sneaks into a private back room and learns the Skrull Dr. Dalton is gathering samples of Cull Obsidian, a Frost Beast, Extremis and Groot. Oh man, are we actually gonna see a Super Skrull here?

Falsworth escapes Gravix and Pagon as they wipe out the Russian interrogation team. Director Ali Selim gets how to make the action scenes flow smoothly Gravix knows his man gave up valuable information and coldly has Pagon kill him. Gravix is a dangerous dude as he’s not ruled by his emotions and efficiently carries out his plans.

Gravix comes off like a real threat and with dwindling allies and available resources things actually look very dire for Nick Fury as he hopes to stop this secret invasion.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney