Sfdebris.net

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1x01 "Resurrection"

I’m a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but, unfortunately (for Disney), it’s been running out of steam ever since Avengers: Endgame. The X-men, Fantastic Four, Blade, and other properties coming back offer it opportunities to breathe new life into the franchise but it’s kind of meandering right now with so many films killing off or retiring characters. No, I’m not bitter about Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

Disney+ has also pushed a heavy focus on its television shows when they probably should have made at least a few of these movies. Hawkeye, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and even Moon Knight feel like they could have been trimmed a bit before being made into movies. Some, like She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and Loki are better paced for being television series.

So, what did I think of Secret Invasion’s pilot? Well, my impression is mixed. Secret Invasion was a somewhat mediocre follow-up to Avengers Disassembled, The House of M, X-men: Decimation, and Civil War. Basically, the Skrulls show up, have been replacing heroes and then they attack everyone with their superpowers. It also played into some uncomfortable politics with the advertising showing the Skrulls invoking Obama’s campaign speeches as well as the Skrulls being based on ISIS.

The television version is even more confusing in its politics with the Skrulls in the Marvel Cinematic Universe being different from the comic. The Skrulls in the comic universe are an authoritarian racist empire that loses their homeworld before deciding to take Earth as their new one. The Skrulls in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are a bunch of homeless refugees being hunted by Space Nazis AKA the Kree.

The show is left with the uncomfortable Far Right talking point that refugees are just a bunch of potential terrorists waiting to eventually overthrow their host nation. Doctor Who’s “The Zygon Invasion” managed to thread the needle with the distinctly similar ‘refugees on Earth with shapeshifting alien’ plot with a focus on the people involved being victims as much as they are aggressors.

Secret Invasion has the premise that the Skrulls, living among us for thirty years, now want to kill all of humanity and take over the Earth for…reasons. Nick Fury (Sam Jackson) comes back from his space station to try to deal with the problem. Aiding Nick Fury in this is Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) and Maria HIll (Cobie Smulders). Talos’ daughter, G’iah (Emilia Clark), is part of the radicalized Skrulls but still has a conscience. The main Skrull, Gravik, is planning to kill all of humanity by getting America to go to war with Russia.

Honestly, things aren’t well-defined and I’m not sure why the Skrulls have decided to become genocidal now. There doesn’t seem to be a specific inciting event. It seems like they skipped a few steps. It doesn’t seem like there’s so many Skrulls that they need an entire planet to take over. So, it’s a big jump to genocide and seemingly having all of the Skrulls but for a handful want to kill every human makes it seem like the show is saying refugees are untrustworthy monsters.

Then there’s the fact a major character of the MCU, or at least a well-liked well-beloved one, is killed for seemingly no other reason than to ramp up the stakes. As a fan of the character, I was not a fan of this development and feel like the show does not benefit from it in the slightest. Indeed, it almost caused me to drop it completely.

Right now, I’m not feeling Secret Invasion. The show seems to be rushing into its storyline, does not seem to have done much to set up the Skrulls as villains, and hasn’t introduced its bad guy or his motivations well. Plus, killing the character it did was a big mistake for those who are the sort of MCU superfans that would best enjoy this series.

1x02 "Promises"

Secret Invasion didn’t make a huge impression on me the previous episode. It felt like the show suffered from trying to rush into its premise without properly setting up its stakes or world-building. The Skrulls are going to kill us all! Yes, why? How? How did we get from the point of the Skrulls being the hated refugees hunted by the Kree Empire to the point that they’re planning to exterminate the race that has decided to host them.

“Promises” improves on this a bit by starting us off with flashbacks to Captain Marvel that probably should have been there from the very beginning. It also elaborates a bit on Skrull culture and numbers, letting us know that Nick Fury has been using them as spies for the past thirty years as well as the fact that they are numbering a million strong.

A million Skrulls works well for establishing the threat as it’s not so high it’s unbelievable that they could hiding among us Earthmen (and women) but not so low that they couldn’t be living in, say, Pripyat without disturbing anyone. Unfortunately, the episode also plays into some more unfortunate storytelling points that undermine the entire experience.

The episode itself follows Nick Fury in the aftermath of Maria Hill’s assassination at the hands of Gravik. Unfortunately, fans hoping that it would prove to be a fake-out are proven wrong. Not only do we see her body post-mortem, but we attend her funeral. Maria Hill’s mother even confronts Nick Fury in one of the stronger moments of the episode. Sadly, even that undermines Maria Hill as Nick Fury says it’s all about him. It was a trap to kill and frame him despite Maria Hill being one of the highest-ranking SHIELD operatives herself.

Much of the episode is about how Nick Fury has lost control over the situation and isn’t the spymaster he used to be. Honestly, that isn’t as strong a premise as it seems. Nick Fury’s biggest roles in the MCU have been almost getting steamrolled by the World Security Council during the Chitahuri invasion and missing Hydra had managed to subvert SHIELD from the very start of its existence. Which is to say he’s always been a supremely capable human being but not an infallible god either.

I’m also not sure why the Skrulls specifically blame Nick Fury. Carol Danvers promised to find them a new homeworld and Nick Fury backed her up, but it seems like they’d be more upset with Carol. Again, the episode makes Nick Fury into something of an untouchable god but I’m not sure why the Skrulls thought an Earth spymaster could provide them their own homeworld. Which plays into a larger issue of the episode, that the Skrulls are unreasonable jerkasses.

The Skrulls turn out to not be a bunch of impoverished refugees after all with the Skrull Council including the head of NATO, the Prime Minister of the UK, the General Secretary of the UN, and a Fox News pundit all being members. In other words, the Skrulls should be sitting pretty. It also unfortunately falls into a bunch of Anti-Semitic anti-UN global conspiracy tropes for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Again, I’m not sure what the Skrulls want here if they’re secretly in charge of the world.

The show is presently carried by Samuel L. Jackson’s charisma with moments like his story about living in segregation-era America and his conversation with James Rhodes being highlights of the episode. We also find out a shocking twist about his home life. I’m hoping this show will turn itself around but, right now, it’s not my favorite of Disney+’s MCU series.

I'm going to say it. Something I never thought I would say. OK, here goes: Star Trek Picard season 1 did ''past it old man dealing with a refugee crisis and an invasion from both inside and out'' better.

That aside, let me get something off my chest here. The Secret Invasion from the comics was poorly executed, poorly planned out and isn't all that fondly remembered - something that Linkara got into as well as Chuck. BUT. But, but, but. It had one very huge advantage over this version: it had a full cast of established characters whom the audience supposedly cared about and in which any of them could be a Skrull. There was tension there. You didn't know who was dead, you didn't know who was a traitor, you didn't know who or what you could trust.

But in the MCU, a large portion of the characters we know and love are either dead or past their sell-by-date. Sorry, but so what if MCU Maria Hill died? She's by no means a prominent character. Or at least, not in any of the films/shows I've watched. The Maria Hill of the comics was an integral part of the canon for years and not just ''there''.

Most of the original Avengers gone, Black Panther gone, The Guardians of the Galaxy are finished, no one currently remembers Spider-Man, and the new heroes such as Ms Marvel, Lady Thor and She Hulk are by no means successful to put it mildly. All we have here are a bunch of people we don't really care about and once you remove what made the Secret Invasion of the comics work (the aspect of watching characters you love turn against their friends), what you have left is... just enough show.

This could have been great if it came out during Phase 3. But it didn't. And now its just another in a chain of MCU failures from a series that used to do no wrong.

clearspira wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 7:38 pm Most of the original Avengers gone, Black Panther gone, The Guardians of the Galaxy are finished, no one currently remembers Spider-Man, and the new heroes such as Ms Marvel, Lady Thor and She Hulk are by no means successful to put it mildly.

Lady Thor died in the movie she was introduced. There was plenty of complaints about the comic book one but the Love and Thunder Jane never replaced Thor, took his name, or was the star. She appeared and died.

Secret Invasion COULD have guest stars like Captain Marvel (a conspicuous absence) but they seem only to have Rhodey.

CharlesPhipps wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 8:15 pm

clearspira wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 7:38 pm Most of the original Avengers gone, Black Panther gone, The Guardians of the Galaxy are finished, no one currently remembers Spider-Man, and the new heroes such as Ms Marvel, Lady Thor and She Hulk are by no means successful to put it mildly.

Lady Thor died in the movie she was introduced. There was plenty of complaints about the comic book one but the Love and Thunder Jane never replaced Thor, took his name, or was the star. She appeared and died.

Secret Invasion COULD have guest stars like Captain Marvel (a conspicuous absence) but they seem only to have Rhodey.

Captain Marvel was so popular she... never got a sequel and was in about 4 minutes of Endgame.

It is not a coincidence that the woman whose outfit flattened every curve and had a frown chiseled out of marble is front and centre of The Marvels trailer wearing a tight top and laughing at jokes. She is a failure of a character and the only reason her film made money was "Phase 3 hype".

clearspira wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 11:46 am
Captain Marvel was so popular she... never got a sequel and was in about 4 minutes of Endgame.

It is not a coincidence that the woman whose outfit flattened every curve and had a frown chiseled out of marble is front and centre of The Marvels trailer wearing a tight top and laughing at jokes. She is a failure of a character and the only reason her film made money was "Phase 3 hype".

The sequel is coming out in November. It's called Marvels.

https://youtu.be/iuk77TjvfmE

Also, get your eyes checked on the skintight outfit she wears.

CharlesPhipps wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 11:56 am

clearspira wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 11:46 am
Captain Marvel was so popular she... never got a sequel and was in about 4 minutes of Endgame.

It is not a coincidence that the woman whose outfit flattened every curve and had a frown chiseled out of marble is front and centre of The Marvels trailer wearing a tight top and laughing at jokes. She is a failure of a character and the only reason her film made money was "Phase 3 hype".

The sequel is coming out in November. It's called Marvels.

https://youtu.be/iuk77TjvfmE

Also, get your eyes checked on the skintight outfit she wears.

Ooh, asking me to get my eyes checked when I already mentioned it in the comment you are replying to. Bad look

I do not consider ''The Marvels'' to be a sequel to a film called ''Captain Marvel''. By your logic, ''The Avengers'' is the sequel to ''Iron Man 2'' when it is nothing more than an ensemble story with him in it. And this is further emphasised by the fact that the third Captain America film is called ''Captain America: Civil War'' which demonstrates that whilst in many ways it is the third Avengers film, it is still very much about Captain America. It's his struggles with Bucky, his relationship with Tony, his rebellion against the accords. Him, him, him.

Captain Marvel was not considered popular enough to carry her own sequel. Which BTW, makes her the only hero from Phase 1 to 3 who had a stand alone movie to get that honour.

I'm still very, very on the fence on this but credit where credit is due that firing scene in ep2 is by far the best use of the War Machine character since he was played by a different actor all the way back in the first Iron Man. Genuinely good stuff that conversation. Now if the rest of the show could be that good I'd be a lot more invested than I am now, which is barely.

I agree how Phase 4 seems meandering. I think if the shows were interconnected to like any degree then it would start feeling more like phase 4 should. The shows are mainly interactive with the movie backdrops, and I am somewhat taken with it.

Falcon and Winter Soldier, Loki, Wandavision, I thought felt intrenched in the movie section, unlike the Netflix MCU shows, which in opposite fashion had superb interconnectivity with each other and no interactivity with the movies.

BridgeConsoleMasher wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 11:53 pm I agree how Phase 4 seems meandering. I think if the shows were interconnected to like any degree then it would start feeling more like phase 4 should. The shows are mainly interactive with the movie backdrops, and I am somewhat taken with it.

Falcon and Winter Soldier, Loki, Wandavision, I thought felt intrenched in the movie section, unlike the Netflix MCU shows, which in opposite fashion had superb interconnectivity with each other and no interactivity with the movies.

The MCU has been fucking WEIRD since Endgame as it seems to be constantly retiring its heroes and not doing much to set up popular ones for the Avengers. The Scarlet Witch, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Ant-Man is retired...I mean, the only one they've set up is Captain America II.

Disney doesn't seem to realize it's been winding down the setting.