The MCU Missed Secret Invasion's Opportunity To Explore T...

Marvel’s Worst TV Series Flopped, But 1 Change Could’ve Saved It

Captain America leads the MCU Avengers in Marvel Studios The First 10 Years image

By Nicolas Ayala Published 44 minutes ago Nicolas Ayala is a Senior Writer for the Comics team at ScreenRant, with over five years of experience writing about Superhero media, action movies, and TV shows. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

The MCU's least popular show had the opportunity to explore the franchise's most exciting era, which could have also fixed most of the series' flaws. The MCU has delivered some truly outstanding Disney+ series, including Loki, WandaVision, and Werewolf by Night. These shows demonstrate that long-form storytelling has a valuable place in the franchise, as they can take unique risks and expand characters' stories in ways movies cannot.

While particularly divisive, Secret Invasion is a landmark comic book storyline on par with Civil War and Secret Wars. Its paranoia and superhero mistrust made it one of the most thrilling crossover events of the 2000s. Unfortunately, the MCU's 2023 adaptation takes a very different approach that barely resembles its source material.

Secret Invasion Missed Its Perfect MCU Setting

The Blip Could Have Made Secret Invasion Much Better

The Avengers assemble in front of a bright background in MCU Endgame poster

With half the Earth's population erased, global infrastructure collapses and all governments are busy trying to adapt. The Blip's chaotic environment would have provided the perfect opening for the Skrulls to infiltrate positions of power without suspicion. The Skrulls' strategic attack would have aligned with the comics’ premise of a calculated, long-term takeover. An actual invasion.

The Blip would have explained why the Skrulls decide to abandon diplomacy and resort to violent infiltration. With Nick Fury and the world’s major heroes gone, the Skrulls could logically conclude that nobody will be able to spot them and stop them. And since they would have also been decimated, their motives would feel justified in part, as their desperation would mirror humanity’s own.

Whatever would happen in this version of the MCU's Secret Invasion, it would tie into the franchise's wider context much more closely than the 2023 show. To this day, none of the events of Secret Invasion have been acknowledged, even by titles like The Marvels. Even if most of the Skrulls' attack happened off-screen, the comic storyline could have played a much more important role in the MCU.

The Blip Could Have Fixed Multiple Secret Invasion Mistakes

The Avengers' Absence Justifies The Skrulls' Impersonations

A Skrull wipes a mirror to reveal her alien appearance in Secret Invasion

One of Secret Invasion's biggest missteps is ignoring the concept of Skrulls impersonating superheroes, the core premise of the 2008 comic. With iconic heroes missing or presumed dead, the Skrulls would replace the most influential of them to steer global events. People would believe Avengers like Spider-Man and Doctor Strange were never snapped, and the original heroes wouldn't be there to unveil the truth.

The MCU's Secret Invasion only features two major MCU heroes: Nick Fury and Rhodey Rhodes. Even if the Avengers were disbanded, a Blip-set Secret Invasion adaptation would require a few more surviving heroes to respond once the crisis became undeniable. In this context, the show would send ripples across the MCU and set up the context for the whole Multiverse Saga.

The Blip could have created the perfect conditions for the long-term Skrull conspiracy that Secret Invasion lacks. Right after the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Earth’s institutions are fractured and desperate for stability for at least five years. The chaos and leadership vacuum would likely take the Skrulls at least five years to exploit.

The MCU Has Ignored The Blip's Massive Potential

The Period Between The Two Snaps Deserves A Whole Saga

Monica Rambeau disintegrates due to Thanos' Snap

The MCU has barely scratched the surface of what five years of global chaos would realistically produce. Entire nations would break apart, borders would be redrawn, and new world powers would rise as nations scrambled to stabilize dwindling populations. Crime syndicates and opportunistic militias would flourish in the chaos, filling vacuum after vacuum. Yet the MCU has only shown scattered glimpses of this geopolitical turmoil.

Socially, the Blip should have transformed everyday life with consequences far more dramatic than the brief scenes shown in Hawkeye, WandaVision, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Public and private entities would dissolve overnight, and millions of people being presumed dead so suddenly would generate endless legal, economic, and ethical conflicts. Instead of delving into this societal trauma, the MCU fast-forwards to complete normalcy. A once-in-a-generation narrative opportunity has been lost.

The Blip years represent the MCU’s greatest missed storytelling goldmine. The MCU's missing five years could have launched dozens of new heroes and villains, as well as featured dozens of self-contained stories. Besides the Skrulls' infiltration, the Blip could have seen the rise of Avengers copycats and countless street-level vigilantes, not to mention an upsurge of wannabe villains. Sadly, Marvel sidestepped a period rich enough to fuel its own multi-phase saga.

Secret Invasion Is One Project Secret Wars Should Retcon

Secret Invasion Is Easy To Modify Retroactively

A group of Skrulls impersonate all Avengers in Marvel Comics' Secret Invasion

Secret Invasion neither advanced character arcs nor created lasting consequences. A post-Avengers: Secret Wars MCU reset could overwrite the events of the series and establish one of two changes. Either Secret Invasion's titular conspiracy was a much more influential event in MCU history, or it hasn't happened yet. Either way, the MCU could get a new chance to revisit the comic properly in the future.

Continuity would barely be disrupted if Avengers: Secret Wars rewrote Secret Invasion entirely. After all, no subsequent movie or show has acknowledged it. Either through flashbacks or a reboot, Marvel could craft a much more faithful Secret Invasion adaptation in the MCU's next saga.

18 4.5/10

4/10

Secret Invasion

10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed PG-13 Adventure Drama Action Superhero Release Date 2023 - 2023-00-00 Showrunner Kyle Bradstreet Directors Ali Selim Writers Kyle Bradstreet Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe

Cast

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Samuel L. Jackson
Ben Mendelsohn

Seasons 1 Streaming Service(s) Dis Genres Adventure, Drama, Action, Superhero Powered by

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Secret Invasion
Marvel Cinematic Universe

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