Marvel Studios was anything but stingy with this year’s Comic-Con footage. New trailers for “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” and, most importantly, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” were released online in a matter of minutes, allowing fans around the world to join in the celebration of all things Phase 4. But Comic-Con was also home to several exclusive trailers for Marvel’s upcoming slate of shows and movies, including the much-anticipated “Secret Invasion,” the Disney+ show that potentially sets the stage for a full-fledged alien invasion of Earth.
For those not lucky enough to make it into Hall H, we have put together a brief summary of the exclusive footage to get you up-to-speed on the future of the MCU.
The “Secret Invasion” trailer begins with a static shot of a field as a beam of light opens along the horizon and a silhouetted figure resembling a retro grey alien emerges, walking towards the foreground. As the figure gets closer, it takes on a less and less abstract shape until we see it is in fact Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), returning to Earth after a stint in space.
What follows is a trailer that feels like a cross between the “X-Files” and a McCarthy-era red scare thriller, with voiceover from Fury alluding to a threat graver than anything earth’s earthbound heroes have ever faced before. The returning faces of Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) round out a cast of new and enigmatic characters played by Kingsley Ben-Adir, Emilia Clarke, and Olivia Colman. As the trailer ramps up in intensity, the central conflict of the show becomes clear: are you who you say you are, or are you a secret Skrull invader?
“It’s going to be an exciting thriller,” Smulders explained to a packed Hall H. “You’re never going to know who people are — are they a Skrull? Are they a human? It’s going to be a bit of a guessing game.” The moody atmosphere and grounded palette indicate the series will be a more serious entity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, akin to “Captain America: The Winter Solider” — built around cloak-and-dagger subterfuge and paranoia. “This is a darker show,” Smulders said. “We’re going to get deeper into the characters. We’re going to see them in new ways.”
The trailer ends with Fury defiantly declaring: “I’m the last person standing between them and what they really want.”
But the question remains, is that the real Nick Fury?
“Secret Invasion” is expected to premiere on Disney+ Spring 2023.
