Secret Invasion Episode 1 Review - 7 Ups & 3 Downs

Secret Invasion marks a solid MCU return for Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury.

Nick Fury Secret Invasion
Marvel Studios

It's been eight long months, but after a much-needed break the Marvel Cinematic Universe is back on the small screen with Secret Invasion, with the first episode having dropped June 21.

The ninth series to come to the Disney+ platform from Marvel Studios brings in name at least one of the biggest arcs from the source material. Many believed that Secret Invasion would make for a strong Avengers movie at one point, but instead is arguably getting a deeper focus with six episodes, with Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury at the forefront.

If you're a fan of the Secret Invasion comic then you may ultimately find yourself disappointed. As per Screen Rant, director Ali Selim was banned from even reading the story in the pages of the comic books, but that doesn't mean that the show won't be a strong one. Let's be honest, after the last few years, Marvel Studios needs Secret Invasion to be a hit.

The show certainly has got off on the right path. While not necessarily anything spellbinding or groundbreaking, Secret Invasion's first episode, "Resurrection", has kicked things off solidly - albeit not without faults.

10. Down - The Opening Credits

Nick Fury Secret Invasion
Marvel Studios

Streaming platforms have made it all too easy for fans to completely bypass the opening credits to a TV show. The 'skip credits' button tends to just pop up at the right time, and it's often too tempting not to just jump straight into the show. However, this doesn't give said shows license to phone the opening credits in like Secret Invasion has.

A good opening sequence can make a huge difference to a show. Think of the likes of Game of Thrones, Brooklyn 99, and of course the original Pokémon series, where just hearing the music would immediately get you pumped for what was about to come.

Marvel aren't strangers to this themselves. Every episode of WandaVision had a wonderful new sequence, each of the Defenders on Netflix, in particular Daredevil, had an iconic intro - even Loki had a great opening titles sequence. The same cannot be said about Secret Invasion.

As reported by Polygon, Secret Invasion's opening titles were created entirely by AI, which comes with its own set of problems and has caused an understandable backlash. This would be the case even if they looked good, which in this case, they don't. Hopefully, this was just an experiment by Marvel Studios that will never be repeated.

Contributor
Contributor

This standard nerd combines the looks of Shaggy with the brains of Scooby, has an unhealthy obsession with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is a firm believer that Alter Bridge are the greatest band in the world.