User reviews

Take a good premise, an absolutely stellar cast, a reportedly generous budget and somehow get.....this???

This badly made, cheap-looking, muddled, dull, bland excuse for an espionage/action thriller?

The occasional scene where individual performances occasionally manage to elevate the awful material aside, this was an absolute train wreck.

Confusing narrative, badly shot, character motivations all over the place, what should have been major.plot revelations (and character deaths) were tossed away without any sense of import or gravitas.

God knows where the reported $200m budget went, this had the production values of a daytime soap apart from the obligatory CGI finale (which sets up more narrative problems for the future in itself)

Looks like it was reshot extensively, someone needs to carry the can for this bin fire.

Let me start with what this series isn't. It isn't exciting, original or in the least bit interesting. The path it treads is well worn and has been done better so many times before. The majority of the characters are immediately forgotten due to their sheer blandness and similarity to one another. I don't think it understands what it's trying to be. Is it a superhero series or or a tepid spy thriller? It presents as yet another hodgepodge of cliches and tropes, packaged under the Disney/Marvel banner. The character of Nick Fury and his tired quips is now at the point of being a parody of who he used to be.

...there IS a "but" (more on that later)

• This review is based off the first 5 episodes.

First the criticism.

In a universe so full of extraordinary superheroes and alien technology, it makes absolutely no sense that "good old Fury" is running around on his own, with a normal run of the mill pistol, to try to "save" earth from being taken over by aliens.

It's just unbelievable dumb in its premise, and despite excellent production quality (as is the norm for the MCU) the show is on track to get a 3.

BUT (and here is the kicker)... then enters Olivia Colman.

Her character lifts the entire show by 3 points, all by herself.

That understated, witty, stiff upper lip character just makes it all worth while.

More or less every time she is on screen you chuckle, if not laugh out loud.

Imagine taking her from "The Crown", with a few (obvious) changes, and then making her a much funnier stone cold killer, with absolutely no boundaries.

I'd happily watch an entire show based off just her character.

It takes the show from a waste of time, in an already overcrowded universe, to being something you find yourself grudgingly continuing to watch, despite all the illogical poorly thought out BS going on around her, just to watch what she does next.

I dearly hope they expand her character and give it a bigger part as the show develops, and I hope they are not dumb enough to kill her off, as that would instantly make me lose interest in this otherwise senseless drivel.

This was a show that intrigued me when it came out. I had just gotten caught up on all the Marvel properties so I knew that I needed to find time to check out this television mini-series. What I found interesting is that we've hadn't had a Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) property yet. He featured heavily in Captain Marvel, but that is her origin story for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to gear up for Avengers: Endgame.

What we're getting here is an espionage style story. It is in the vein of a James Bond or the like. This is much different though dealing with an alien race that can look like us, the Skrulls. This allows them to infiltrate world governments and important positions. We are exploring here the story of the deal that Fury made with Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) who is their leader. We see how he credited the villain, Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), since things that were promised didn't come true. He leads a terrorist group that wants to take over Earth, since their planet was taken over by the Kree.

There are great characters here like Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman), who I believe is with British intelligence. This falls into Captain America films in that we're exploring a story that is relevant today. Gravik brings the world on the brink of World War III by doing things in Russia and making it look like they're working together. This introduces G'iah (Emilia Clarke) who is the daughter of Talos. Where she ends up in this series is intriguing and I wonder if she will be back for a later property with the changes to her character. There's also the idea of the outsider and how as humans, we fear it. Our nature is to destroy instead of come together so I like that we explore that here.

I'll say that overall, this was solid. I think that the story is stretched too much and it never fully hooked me. I'm glad that I watched it now to see where things go from here. Again, also glad that Fury got his own show now. The cast is great around him as well. Clarke, Don Cheadle, Ben-Adir, Mendelsohn, Colman, Charlayne Woodard, Dermot Mulroney and Christopher McDonald, all are solid. We also have a cameo by Martin Freeman. I'd also say this is well-made. The cinematography is good. There are drab sequences, showing how bleak the outlook is for Fury's mission. This is once again a CGI-fest, not as much as others. There were slight issues here and there where this took me out.

I'd recommend this if you are a MCU fan to continue the story that runs through everything.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

There is no secrecy here, there is no invasion in here, there is just... terrible writing as always.

In 2019 when I first watched Captain Marvel and saw how they butchered Skrulls in there, I already knew Marvel just ruined one of their best storylines and there was no salvaging it.

Secret Invasion is one of the most interesting and somewhat complicated comic storylines I've seen. I haven't read the comics but The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes' Secret Invasion storyline was enough to convince me how good this story is and how mind-blowing and intense a live-action of it would be.

But Disney Plus, like the trash-making machine it is, unsurprisingly took it and made one of the most boring and uninteresting pieces of you know what with it just like every other MCU show it has crapped out in the past couple of years.

But I understand that a storyline on this scale couldn't've been done in the main MCU films because it would be so hard to pull off and also having the Infinity War Saga would make it difficult to incorporate the story in there. I understand that they don't have the budget to bring more actors from the MCU in here, even though it had a movie-level budget of over $200M. And it is then fair to review the show based on its story and not what other story it should've been. The problem is, the new story of this show is just soooo bland and boring and they don't even care about doing anything interesting with it.

If I had to talk about the problems of this show, this review would go on for paragraphs after paragraphs and IMDb's word limit is only 10000 characters, so I make a list of pros and cons instead.

The bad:

• AI intro

• Tv show that had a budget twice Oppenheimer's looks low-budget

• Inferior story and plot to the original in every way imaginable

• A colossal waste of Emilia Clarke

• Awful characterization where you don't even care about already-established characters you cared for once

• Terrible villain which seems to be a tradition at this point with D+ MCU shows

• A movie cut into uneven episodes sold as a weekly show but it isn't a weekly formula

• Terrible pacing as always

• The whole world is Secretly being Invaded but this global scale is never presented and is never felt

• They don't even have enough material to keep the already small season above 30 minutes

• No character development

• There is no tension or secrecy in the story

• There is no Secret Invasion because the villains are practically nonexistent and don't do much

• The villain ultimately becomes a copy of Flag-Smashers

• You will not care about anything in the show because of the awful writing. Not the characters and certainly not the story

• Random character deaths for the sake of shock value without first even establishing the character

• A 6-episode mini series with "30-minute" penultimate and finale episodes, have time for filler episodes where nothing happens

• Very little action or espionage compared to constant nonsense dialogue

• Taking zero advantage of this Skrull infiltration plot device to make the story even a little bit more interesting

• Butchering one of the coolest storylines that could've been an Avengers movie with a better story than the first two Avengers

• Not many twists and turns

• They lay out the plot with the literal first line of the show and give away every advantage they have on the viewer's not knowing the whole picture

• Terribly written character motivations and presented in a worse way

• Very dull and boring storytelling

Now what I liked about it

• Some of the few action scenes that are in this show are pretty decently choreographed and CGIed and they look good

• The music is decent

And yeah, that's it!

I wouldn't say this show is necessarily worse than Ms. Marvel even though I gave that a 5, but I give it lower because I didn't expect much from Ms. Marvel and got a mid show. With this show however, I am aware of what a good storyline they butchered and I give it an even lower score.

If you have unfortunately seen every MCU show up to this point like me, then it really shouldn't be a surprise to you that this show is another Disney Plus trash with terrible writing.

I would recommend you start away from this hot garbage and go watch The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes instead. It's way better than anything MCU has done, at least on Disney Plus maybe and you'll see what a missed opportunity it was for them with having that Captain Marvel script.

I just cannot imagine having billions of dollars and burning them on these shows that aren't even for die-hard Marvel and MCU fans, let alone a casual audience. I cannot fathom someone actually enjoying this and think it's well-written. But I guess if the subscriptions keep coming, why stop making the mid shows, right?

What an absolute waste. Samuel L Jackson seriously must have had a clause written into his contract that states he must be seated 75% of the time on set. Watch these episodes again and notice every excuse in the world for him to be sitting in a chair. They even made a Louie 14th chair joke in the first episode to cover for him having to sit down while they filmed an action sequence around him. He is old the character is old and it just doesn't work. Add the fact that the writing is incredibly shallow and predictable and it makes you wonder why anybody is praising this garbage.

It's great to be a fan but to put blinders on and to blindly support things hurts actual fans. They will just keep delivering nonsense if you keep eating it up we'll get more trash. Stop ruining it for everyone.

Disney's much-anticipated show, "Secret Invasion," based on the Marvel Comics storyline, falls flat on its promises of intrigue and excitement. Despite its star-studded cast and the potential for an engaging plot, the series fails to deliver on multiple fronts, leaving viewers with a frustrating sense of missed opportunities.

One of the most glaring issues with "Secret Invasion" is its lackluster character development. Despite having a talented ensemble cast, the characters are poorly fleshed out and fail to evoke any real emotional connection. We are introduced to a multitude of personalities, but none of them are given enough depth or nuance to make us truly care about their journey. Instead, they feel like mere placeholders, going through the motions without leaving a lasting impression.

Compounding the problem of weak character development is the lack of likability in the main cast. Even the most talented actors struggle to salvage their roles from the clutches of dull writing. Characters who were meant to be complex and layered come across as one-dimensional, leaving us indifferent to their struggles. It becomes increasingly difficult to invest in a story when you can't find a single character to root for or empathize with.

Perhaps the most egregious flaw of "Secret Invasion" is its agonizingly slow progression. The series seems more interested in elongating the mystery rather than moving the plot forward. Episodes pass by, and the storyline inches forward at an excruciatingly slow pace. It's like watching paint dry, with little payoff for the patience invested. This snail-paced narrative drains the excitement from what should have been a thrilling and action-packed show.

What's more, "Secret Invasion" fails to generate any genuine interest in what lies ahead. The lack of compelling storytelling and uninspired character arcs diminish any anticipation for future episodes. Viewers are left feeling detached and disinterested, questioning whether it's worth investing their time in a show that fails to capture their imagination or ignite curiosity about what is to come.

Overall, "Secret Invasion" falls short of its potential, providing a lackluster viewing experience with its boring character development, unlikable characters, slow progression, and a general lack of interest in the future episodes. Marvel fans hoping for an engrossing and captivating series will likely be left disappointed. With so many other high-quality shows available, it's difficult to recommend investing time in a show that fails to deliver on its promises.

I need to start off by saying I'm a huge fan of superhero movies and shows so my review for Secret Invasion may be a little biased, especially to people like me that love these shows. I even enjoy the superhero movies/shows that aren't as liked or as highly rated as the others. Having said that, I think Secret Invasion should be enjoyable to most. It's much more than just another superhero show, it's also a solid spy thriller. While there is still plenty of fun to have it's also a lot more serious than other Marvel projects and it moves the overall MCU story forward in a lot of ways. It also has plenty of Easter eggs throughout each episode. We learn more about Nick Fury in this series than all of the other movies and shows combined. Obviously, if you're a fan of the MCU this this is a must watch. It's only six episodes so you can binge the entire season over a weekend.

This series feels like a missed opportunity layered with strange choices. First off, this should have been an Avengers movie. Secondly, it is very strange that Nick Furry has been married to an alien this whole time and we never even got a hint at it. The character development was weak and the plot was confusing. For such a big arch, it should have had a biggest scale, i.e. An Avengers movie. The MCU has more or less lost its touch lately, and it's sad to see. This was a perfect opportunity for twists and surprises done the right way, and that opportunity seems to have been missed. Hopefully Marvel can get their act together eventually.

Boring, predictable, uninspired

Run of the mill plot, hardly spy stuff, it looks just like any other Marvel TV show, actually it looks and feels very similar to Winter Soldier and the Falcon. It's like all Marvel TV shows are made to look identical to one another.. no character, no nuance just canned goods on a shelf.

The cast is good but the script is boring. Is the world is in danger again why is it just 3 people are trying to stop it. I mean.. I hope there is some kind of other plot twist further down because we've seen it all before and it doesn't really have anything to offer than a haggard Nick Fury who god knows what he was doing and how or why and this aura of mystery is just lazy you know?

I hope it gets better really but somehow I doubt it.

Secret Invasion had so much potential to be a dark, and thrilling conspiracy series, but ended up missing the mark.

The series starts off as a slow burn, but lacks the intrigue and suspense to make it an edge of your seat thrill ride.

The back half of the season had much shorter episodes with more action and, therefore, a faster pace, but it wasn't enough to remedy the weak writing.

It attempts to be bold and shocking by including several twists throughout its 6-episode run, but the anti-climactic character deaths, and the revelation of certain key characters being skrulls, end up leaving us more confused, than sad or shocked.

Samuel L. Jackson does a fine job in the role he's had for over a decade, but Kingsley Ben-Adir and Olivia Coleman are the ones that really shine, too bad the latter's screen time was way too short.

Unlike some of the recent movies, Secret Invasion has a less reliance on massive CGI spectacle, so ends up looking much better than previous MCU outings. The de-aging effects in particular were incredible, and more convincing than most attempts in film these days.

Overall, it could have been Marvels next big hit, but unfortunately matches the quality of most of the Phase 4 and 5 films and TV shows.

6/10 - Okay.

Well.. another marvel series stuck in a groove where and how will it resolve, I feel sorry for the Lads and Ladies who are doing their best with the Scribe they've been given, which is what happens after the Avengers who are not in the picture anymore, so surely Nick Fury is now redundant?

Making it into a historical pre-blip alien invasion, where they've replaced the world politicians, except for Potus, a bit absurd...really..????

I'm giving it a 7 rating..as the production values are there,but let down by the absurd plot, which is really around 3 mebbe a 4..

John Le Carre this ain't.. Also why do the Brits and rest of Europe leaders have to be replaced, and Brit PM has to be a female scumbag skrull with her own agenda.. If you're going to pad it out for more than one season,there will be a lack of interest from viewers,this can't all be from a comic book series content from yesteryear.

Stan Lee must be turning in his grave..

With the Marvel Phase 5 arriving, they could've made a sort of a come back after the mess Phase 4 was, but they continue to be stuck, in this particular time around it seems they are making the old Marvel stages irrelevant.

There is a limit to the amount of super heroes and villains that exist in Marvel where it just become senseless, even with the Multiverse, in this story they are still facing threats on Earth (actually USA as always) and none of the major super heroes appear which makes no sense specially when the threat is as big as the antagonists on Secret Invasion, a shape shifting alien race that can infiltrate to the highest level of governments a destroy a world from within... Nonetheless I was actually expecting this show to be good, it started nice but the first problem started with lack of context, Fury has been away for a long time and now he comes back as a shadow version of his former self, a beat down man and we have no context as to why, throughout the series they try to give this context but it doesn't make too much of an impact. We follow along just for the character to do a full circle...

More bad decisions, killing off a character that has been present in MCU for quite some time and this character's death was as underwhelming as the character participation on the franchise as a whole, we had a moment of USA military arrogance which always annoys me personally, but I am getting side tracked... This all could've been overlooked but then the last episode arrives and I cannot stress how absurd that final battle was and how much of a middle finger it is for every single super hero movie that came before... really, all powers each with a particular explanation, they are given just like that? I don't want to give away to much, it reminded me of a particular scene on the old Fantastic 4, just laughable.

I am becoming hopeless to a recovery from the hit Phase 4 took on Marvel, I see mediocrity going forward.

With Disney now putting out so many shows on top of their films, it was only a matter of time before one was made about Nick Fury. He has been in the franchise from the very beginning, so a story about him should be interesting right? Well, there are two parts to that answer. Yes, it's a very good and interesting storyline, but by the final episode, where the story ends up is very unsatisfying in my opinion. Here's why I recommend this series, even with a lacklustre finale.

It's been a while since we received anything grounded in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For that reason alone I was already on board. Picking up loosely from the events that occurred in the 90s during the film Captain Marvel, millions of shapeshifting Skrulls have been in hiding on Earth. Impersonating government officials and even one or two of the heroes we've been following for quite some time, this creates an intriguing angle to the franchise as a whole. Essentially, this story is about Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) as they work to uncover secrets and prevent any more infiltrations by rebel Skrulls.

The frustrating thing about this series is that the overall story held my interest the entire time and certain scenes stuck out as fantastic, but the conclusion broke everything it was moving towards. Yes, the main Skrull plot lines all came to a head, but what is revealed in the finale just had me shaking my head. We are now at a point in the series where serious stakes are hard to pull off and that's a problem. Samuel L. Jackson is great in this role as always, but the standouts to me were Kingsley Ben-Adir and Don Cheadle. Ben-Adir as the villain Gravik was great and I think Cheadle was given more lines of dialogue here than any project he's appeared in yet. His back and forth with Jackson was more than worth watching this series for.

Secret Invasion feels like a small piece of a much bigger puzzle and I'm honestly not sure if any of these plot threads will ever be explored again. There is so much happening in this world now that it seems impossible to satisfyingly tie everything up. This is less of a review of Secret Invasion and more of how I'm feeling about the franchise as a whole, but that's hard to ignore now. I really enjoyed myself watching this series due to the great character interactions and getting to see more of Nick Fury's actual life behind the scenes, but after finishing the finale, I have to say I'm underwhelmed. Still, there's a lot of solid stuff in this show so I will give it a recommendation. All episodes are now streaming on Disney+.

I see a lot of conditioned reviews of praise for the first episode: "Samuel Jackson + Marvel = amazing !!!" Well of course this recipe has been very successful in the past but unfortunately not this time, the stunning visuals/good atmosphere could not save the poor, cliché, boring, painfully predictable execution lacking any substance, it was so unwatchable I had to quit halfway through the first episode and I see no reason to be coming back unless something changes drastically.

"Secret invasion" naturally follows Disney's (and Hollywood's in general) decline in the last three or four years, producing quality content and making a tidy profit is evidently no longer a priority.

After first 2 episodes...

Very disappointing. I expected much, much more. Quite ambitiously conceived, promising story idea, very good casting (some actors like Olivia Colman are just brilliant, some, like a guy who plays Gravik, simply bleak), but the realization in practice... really bad.

These 6 out of 10 are like a sign of good will, nothing more.

I'm not sure exactly where the key error was made, but nothing really works. Also, there are some illogical solutions in the story that are impossible to justify.

I hope that some improvement is possible, at least to a solid 7/10, but even in that best possible case the impression of a missed opportunity remains. Pity.

In Secret Invasion Disney Marvel has managed to create something less interesting than the side effects part of a drug commercial!

I thought with a stellar cast of actors, how bad could this be? Samuel l Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Olivia Coleman, Cobie Smulders, and Amelia Clarke are talented actors. I've profoundly enjoyed their previous performances, even in not so great movies. But, Secret Invasion is so... war crime level bad, even these talented people can't save it!

Disney Marvel's Secret Invasion is a convoluted mess. The writing is beyond unimaginative, without skill or talent, and often contradicts itself in the same scene. The director and producers should be taken to the public square and made to apologize... profusely and often! And, the higher ups who greenlit this abomination should have their glasses checked or the dosage on their prescriptions changed... maybe both!

I've given this mess a 2/10 for bringing together, however poorly used, amazing actors. Secret Invasion has a phenomenal cast. But, the series itself is... monumentally bad! Don't be fooled as I was. There is nothing here for anyone who isn't waiting for a plane at the airport or checking into their hotel.

I don't know how Disney, once the gold standard, can continue to produce such... excrement.

I don't understand the low ratings. But then again maybe I do. Some Marvel fans have gotten used to a certain kind of formula, but to be honest I am ready for some maturing and alternative perspectives on a Marvel UNIVERSE. This is a timely work, where people are at war, each with their own reason. But mostly to fight for a placed called home. No one group's hands are clean. This series, more than any in the MCU, felt the most human...where we see a man broken by fighting and trying his best to take responsibility for the collateral damage done. And as a side note, Ben Mendelsohn's acting is a revelation, as an alien who seems to have the best of humanity.

Thai show lives up to all its hype ! Only 2 episodes have been released and we are losing our minds. We give it 9/10 best thing to come from Mcu since the infinity arc, end game stuff! . If this keeps on this might single handedly be the best show ever done by marvel studios! . We might have to change the review to 10-10. Samuel L. Jackson Is amazing as usual and the story really shows a side of him which we never knew. The other actors are on point as well, and Emilia Clarke is not only stunning as usual but also portraits her character as if she was made for the role. It's interesting to see how far this will lead us down the rabbit hole. An amazing series to watch with the whole family. Keep it up guys !

Regards,

Speedy comics group !

I liked the premise of the first episode, and while some might complain about the political insinuation, and so on... it's just a tv show, based on comic book fiction. Don't know if this series is going to be great, as there are 5 more episodes the writers/production team can mess up, but it's certainly headed in the right direction, and THANKFULLY, cringe worthy jokes have taken a backseat.

The plot's has already highlighted (or has it?!), a good line up of cast....am particularly liking this look on Fury. Has a Captain Ahab feel to it. Ben Mendelssohn is a joy to watch, as is Olivia Coleman, although it's uncertain where her character leads to. As is Don Cheadle's Rhodes. Sorry to see some familiar faces go.

Episode 1 ended on a cliffhanger, so definitely looking forward to the next episode. If the series maintains the current tone, it has the making of one of Marvel's better offering. One can only hope Disney doesn't go off the rails, as it has been known to do... 8/10 for now. This could change either way.

Marvel has spent years expanding its universe with increasingly big and spectacular stories, but Secret Invasion takes a different route. Everything here feels more grounded, more contained. Instead of fireworks, the series dives into a world of espionage, conspiracies, and quiet tension. Nick Fury, the man who's always been one step ahead, finds himself for the first time without his usual tools - and that makes him more human, more vulnerable... and more compelling.

The tone of the show is reminiscent of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, full of betrayals, secrets, and characters who are never quite what they seem. It's not your typical superhero tale with explosions and flashy suits - it's slower and more restrained. For some viewers, that might make the series feel a bit dense or even cold compared to other MCU entries. But for fans of spy thrillers, there are definitely strong moments worth sticking around for.

Samuel L. Jackson remains the heart of the story, giving Fury a depth we've rarely seen in the character. But the real scene-stealer is Olivia Colman, who brings charisma and a sense of unpredictability that lights up every moment she's on screen. Ben Mendelsohn also shines with a more nuanced take on Talos, while Emilia Clarke and Kingsley Ben-Adir do well with their roles, though their characters could've used a bit more development.

Visually, the series opts for a more sober aesthetic, with cinematography that adds to the sense of tension and unease. Still, there are times when the story loses momentum, and some twists feel more predictable than they should in a show that hinges on paranoia and mistrust.

All in all, Secret Invasion is an intriguing addition to the MCU, offering a more mature tone and finally giving Nick Fury the spotlight he deserves. It's not perfect, and at times it may lack the punch fans expect, but if you enjoy the more strategic and serious side of this universe, it's definitely worth a watch.