In Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion, the Skrulls are here and they could be anybody. After waiting decades to find a planet to call their own, a faction of the shapeshifters have decided that they’ll just settle for taking Earth and Samuel L. Jackson‘s Nick Fury is the last person standing between them and what they really want. In order to stop them, Fury will turn to a network of friends and spies that he’s built over the years but when going up against an army of radicalized shapeshifters, who do you trust?
Ahead of the streaming spy thriller, we take a look at Fury’s potential allies and determine which ones have the best chance of being potential enemies as Skrulls in disguise. Since we assume they’ll all be simmed at one point in time or another, our odds here are based on the revelation of them being a Skrull being a major surprise and a huge plot point that moves the series forward rather than just a cute surprise within one episode.
Nick Fury
At least part of Nick Fury’s MCU persona has been built on his ability to keep a lot of secrets from pretty much everyone. He hid Clint Barton’s entire family and helped Mockingbird create an entire new identity; he hung out in space while Talos simmed him and took his place on Earth; he’s also kept the presence of the shapeshifting Skrulls–a race he’s known about for almost 30 years–a secret from most everyone. That last one is going to come back to play a major role in Secret Invasion and it’s likely that even Fury will have a hard time keeping straight who he can and cannot trust. However, the biggest twist would be to find out that Fury is a Skrull…and not Talos just pretending to be him which almost certainly will happen at some point.
In the comics, one of the great twists built into multiple Skrull stories is that many of the shapeshifters were not aware that they were not the humans they were simming. This gave them a sincere sense of purpose and allowed to them to fulfill their duties without question. It would a lost opportunity not to include this added layer of deception in the streaming series and given Fury’s long history with the Skrulls, it could have happened so many times over the years that the writers might have to fight about when it could have happened.
Odds Fury will be revealed as a Skrull: 4-1
Maria Hill
For all we know, outside of Talos and Soren, Maria Hill may be the only character with a large role in Secret Invasion who knows that the Skrull power couple simmed Fury and Hill. That’s because there’s not been a character introduced in the MCU to date who Fury trusts more than Hill and according to Cobie Smulders, it sounds like she’ll have quite a major role to play in the streaming series.
Given the relationship the two have forged over the years, what would be more impactful than Hill actually being a Skrull is leaning heavily into the paranoia of Fury believing she is. Not only would this echo her arc from the 2008 comic book event but also at least partially take away one of Fury’s strongest allies…but the comics the MCU ain’t. The promotional material for the series seems to indicate that the two haven’t seen each other for some time, providing ample opportunity for a Skrull to have captured and simmed Hill which is exactly what Fury will be thinking which is what the audience will be thinking which is what they want the audience to think they are thinking!
Odds Hill will be revealed as a Skrull: 1-5
Everett Ross
Despite being played by the wonderful Martin Freeman, Everett Ross might be one of the most boring characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but Secret Invasion might be just the right time to spice up the character. Though it seems like he initially had more to do in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever than what he did in the final cut, the revelation that he had once been married to Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ equally boring Valentia Allegre de Fontaine provides a great opportunity to add some seasoning to Ross’ well-done steak.
The last time we saw Ross, he was being freed from U.S. Government custody by Okoye. Is it possible she freed an important Skrull operative? Absolutely! And, Ross is a perfect example of the type of figure that could have been an embedded Skrull for quite some time. His time in the Air Force and the CIA would have allowed him access to some fairly important intel; moreover, his relationship with Val could be even more fruitful given the secrets locked away in her mind. Given Ross’s “aw shucks” demeanor and the way Val treated him in Wakanda Forever, it would be a really ballsy move by showrunner Kyle Bradstreet to reveal that the Ross we thought we knew was a Skrull all along.
Odds Ross will be revealed as a Skrull: 2-5
Sonya Falsworth
A brand new character–presumably with some deep family ties–who is both old frenemies with Fury, Olivia Colman‘s Sonya Falsworth provides an absolutely fascinating blank slate for Secret Invasion. The idea behind the character was to create another mysterious, behind-the-scenes mover and shaker like Fury. Falsworth will be interesting in that regard because if any non-known entity were to behave the way Fury does, they would not be trusted. The audience trusts Nick because they know Nick even though they really shouldn’t trust Nick…so how can you trust Falsworth? Nick almost certainly won’t inherently trust Falsworth and the series will almost certainly create an uneasiness around her.
On one hand, as one of MI6’s spymasters, the character is the perfect mark for a Skrull; on the other hand, it’s possible that she’s sharp enough to know about the Skrulls even before Fury approaches her about it. With no real basis for the character in the comics, one interesting twist they could throw Falsworth’s way would be to adapt the odd story of John the Skrull, one of the shapeshifters who, though he had infiltrated the ranks of the British government, became loyal to humanity and outed his fellow Skrulls. Should they choose for the character to be an outright villain, however, they could go the Mortimer Grimsdale route. Whatever the case, Colman’s Falsworth is expected to return so if she is a Skrull, her human counterpart is safe and sound somewhere…or she’ll remain in DEEP cover even after the big twists are revealed.
Odds Falsworth will be revealed as a Skrull: 3-2
James Rhodes
Marvel Studios One-Above-All, Kevin Feige, has stated that James Rhodes’ solo feature film, Armor Wars, will spin out of the events of Secret Invasion…but why? According to Don Cheadle, Rhodey is the “righthand to the President” in the streaming series and will be “not directly at odds but somewhat on the other side of where Fury is.” Cheadle also indicated that Secret Invasion is all about the double-crosses and the tension between his Rhodey and Fury in the promotional footage that’s been rolled out indicates that neither man really seems to trust the other.
So why would Rhodes’ MCU future be tied to Secret Invasion? Maybe because his past hasn’t been his past at all. Though this isn’t a big, superhero-laden event like the 2008 comic book crossover, Rhodey is the only member of the cast to have been an Avenger and you can bet that the Skrulls wanted an inside man among Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Off all the characters in the show outside of Fury himself, the revelation that Rhodes has been a Skrull for any period of time would cause the biggest shockwaves and generate the most questions. Tony Stark’s technology was a big concern for the Skrulls in the comics. Without him around, Rhodey is the next best character to take up that story which would lead nicely into Armor Wars. The real question here might not be “is Rhodey a Skrull?” but rather “how long has he been a Skrull?”…and how pissed off is he going to be when he wakes up.
Odds Rhodes will be revealed as a Skrull: 3-1
Who do you trust? Which of these characters do you think is most likely to be a Skrull? Head to our Twitter account and let us know!
Source: EW,
