Everything is not as it seems in the world in the first Secret Invasion footage description. The Marvel Cinematic Universe series acts as an adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu's comic book storyline of the same name, in which a sect of the Skrulls are revealed to have infiltrated a number of aspects of Earth and replaced a number of key figures. Secret Invasion will center on Nick Fury as he returns to Earth to investigate the situation with the help of Skrull ally Talos.
Samuel L. Jackson is returning to lead the cast of Secret Invasion as Nick Fury alongside fellow MCU vets Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross and Don Cheadle as Rhodey. The series will also mark the MCU debuts of One Night in Miami's Kingsley Ben-Adir as the show's undisclosed lead villain, Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, Killian Scott, Christopher McDonald and Carmen Ejogo. Kyle Bradstreet, well-known for his Emmy-nominated work on the thriller series Mr. Robot, is head writer for Secret Invasion with Let Him Go's Thomas Bezucha and The Looming Tower's Ali Selim directing.
During the studios' San Diego Comic-Con panel, of which Screen Rant attended, Marvel unveiled the first Secret Invasion footage, which includes the return of Don Cheadle as War Machine. More details below:
Nick Fury lands back to Earth and visits Maria Hill. She tells him she's been trying to call him and leaving voicemails. He says this time it's different. Shot of Ben Mendelsohn. There's an action beat where a building explodes. Shot of Skrulls. They're the only ones in the way of what we wants. Someone asks him what that is.
The Secret Invasion footage description goes on to indicate that Fury meets with Don Cheadle's Rhodey in an indeterminate location and subtly hinting to the MCU's War Machine of the impending threat of the Skrulls. Interestingly, the footage show at SDCC revealed Olivia Colman to be playing an authority-type figure to Jackson's character, leaving many to wonder whether The Crown star is playing a Skrull or if she worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. prior to their public dismantling in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Given Fury has been in space working with the Skrulls since the events of Avengers: Endgame, in which the world was brought back from The Blip, either option seems possible for Colman's character.
With the confirmation of Cheadle's War Machine returning for Secret Invasion, it will be interesting to see how large of a role he plays within the MCU series. The character was last seen in The Falcon & the Winter Soldier for one episode, which he still earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for, and given his work in Armor Wars later down the road, one can hope Rhodey gets more screen time with his fellow MCU vets than seen of late. Only time will tell when Secret Invasion hits Disney+ in Spring 2023.
