Marvel Studios has been having a bit of fun in promoting their upcoming Disney Plus streaming series, Secret Invasion. From releasing hidden messages online that lead to uncovering the first 5 minutes of the series to the subterfuge that has been their entire press tour, the studio certainly can’t be accused of “same old Marvel.” Now, they’ve taken it to a whole new level.
A series of videos have made their way to Reddit that show Skrulls part of different newscasts in major cities across the country. The videos show actors fully decked out as Skrulls either walking through news stories or, in this case, working behind the camera!
They can be anywhere. They can be anyone. Who do you trust? Secret Invasion begins streaming on Disney Plus June 21st at 3 AM ET/12 PT.
After blowing the doors off Hall H last year, Marvel Studios has decided to skip San Diego Comic-Con this July. Though the move is sure to upset fans, it’s hardly surprising given the current climate in Hollywood. The ongoing WGA strike has caused Marvel Studios to put productions on several projects on hold and the looming SAG strike would mean the Hall H stage would be pretty empty as actors would sit it out.
SDCC ’22 was a huge hit for Kevin Feige and company with the announcements of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, Avengers: Secret Wars and Daredevil: Born Again leading the way. Feige also revealed that Phases 4-6 would make up the Multiverse Saga and dropped trailers for a few projects. Given Feige’s insistence that the studio won’t show up in San Diego unless it can over-deliver, sitting out 2023 makes sense. With talent likely to sit out the event, once the studio updated its theatrical slate via an official release, there’s not much left to deliver.
Nearly ten years after it first hit theaters, Captain America: The Winter Solider remains one of Marvel Studios’ most highly regarded projects. Tonally different from anything that came before it, the second installment in the Captain America franchise is the gold-standard spy thriller of the MCU and according to Secret Invasion star Samuel L. Jackson, connects to his upcoming Disney Plus streaming series.
“It ranks as number one in terms of things that I’ve done in the, you know, Marvel Cinematic Universe,” said Jackson during the global press event for the new series. “I really loved Winter Soldier, so that tone, you know, flows into this in a very real kind of way. And it’s a story about people doing people stuff, you know, without, you know, all those supers coming in to save you and help you and doing all that other stuff.“
Following a brief cameo in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Don Cheadle‘s James Rhodes steps into a bit of a new role as a “political animal” in his second post-Blip appearance in Secret Invasion. Now the “right hand” of Dermot Mulroney‘s President Ritson, Rhodey has traded in the War Machine suit for a three-piece (at least through the first two episodes). While Rhodes’ full role in the series has yet to be revealed, Cheadle’s character seems as though he’ll survive and advance given he’s set to star in Armor Wars.
For Cheadle, Secret Invasion provided not only his first time to share an extended scene with star Samuel L. Jackson but also for the character to step out of the shadow of Tony Stark and The Avengers. During the global press event for the Disney Plus streaming series, Cheadle was asked what it was like to step into the role again without the comfort of so many familiar characters. “It was liberating not to have to carry that dead weight,” joked Cheadle before shooting straight.
It was great. Look, I’ve known Sam for a long time, and, you know, we’ve spent a lot of time, you know, talking about what it would be like to work together, looking for projects to do together. So, you know, the central relationship between myself and Sam, and this is, you know, it was very important to me and I was very glad to be brought on.
Don Cheadle on Rhodey’s role in Secret Invasion
Cheadle went on to reveal that his character didn’t originally have a role in Secret Invasion…until his longtime friend changed that. “I don’t think it was originally conceived that Rhodey was gonna be in this,” said the actor. “But when it came to me and Sam called me, I was really excited about leaning into it.” And lean into it he did, especially given the room he had to work in the new environment.
And also being in a show like this, that’s really a departure from what I have been in, as far as the genre goes, it’s really an opportunity to act and really, you know, lean into some human stuff, which was also a lot of fun. And, you know, as Emilia [Clarke] said and as Olivia [Colman] said, as Kingsley [Ben-Adir] said, as Ben [Mendelsohn] said, this is a great cast and [director] Ali [Selim]was a great director, a great leader. So it was just all upside, and, you know, very happy to, you know, look into who Rhodey is and to probe that more and kind of find out what really makes him tick.
Don Cheadle
Fans don’t have long to wait to find out exactly what it is that makes Rhodey tick as Secret Invasion premieres on Disney Plus on June 21st .
Along with Nick Fury, James Rhodes is the longest-surviving member of the MCU (technically Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan are in that boat as well, though it’s highly unlikely that Gwyneth Paltrow knows that after having made their first appearances in 2008’s Iron Man. While Secret Invasion puts Samuel L. Jackson‘s Nick Fury front and center, Don Cheadle‘s Rhodey has a part to play as well, albeit a little different one than what fans have become accustomed to. During the global press event for the upcoming Disney Plus streaming series, Cheadle gave some insight into his character’s “different role” in Secret Invasion.
“I think we’re just kind of finding out what’s happening with Rhodey as this series goes on,” said Cheadle about his character’s evolution in the post-Blip world. “He’s in a different role. We see him as more a political animal than we have in the past. He’s been more of a military man, but now he’s sort of, you know, in some ways, a right hand of the president and this special envoy, in that regard.” And, as has been teased in the trailers for the series, that role puts him a bit at odds with Nick Fury despite their shared past.
For Cheadle, having the opportunity to explore that changing relationship with Fury–and the rest of the cast–is what he most enjoyed about working on Secret Invasion. “I think what I’m looking forward to is just seeing more, you know, getting under the hood of who he is,” explained Cheadle. “And seeing how this relationship, not only with Nick Fury, but the other cast members evolves.”
With Cheadle’s Armor Wars project set to spin out of the events of Secret Invasion, it seems like there might be another evolution ahead for War Machine.
In the Fall of 2020, trade reports broke the news that Marvel Studios had hired Kyle Bradstreet to develop a Disney Plus streaming series around Nick Fury. Long having been one of the MCU’s most important supporting characters, the man who put together the Avengers finally gets the spotlight in Secret Invasion and despite some issues, there can be no doubt that giving Samuel L. Jackson this much room to work as Fury was a solid decision. And despite 15 years of appearances, Secret Invasion makes it very clear that we simply do not know Nick Fury.
Though the series boasts an impressive supporting cast bolstered by the always-brilliant Ben Mendelsohn, who returns to the MCU as Talos, and Kingsley Ben-Adir as the brooding Gravik, Secret Invasion is–as advertised–a vehicle for Jackson’s Fury. And to the surprise of nobody, given more to do as Fury, Jackson simply does more with the graceful ease of a supremely talented actor who knows how to inhabit a role. Whether it’s the playful conversation with Olivia Colman‘s absolutely fantastic Sonya Falsworth, recollecting on train rides to Detroit with his mom or sharing a powerful scene with Don Cheadle‘s James Rhodes, Jackson’s performance alone makes the series a worthy entry in the MCU. Short of headliners Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans work as Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, respectively, it’s hard to recall a performance like the one on display here by Jackson. Secret Invasion shows, for the first time, a vulnerable Nick Fury who becomes, for the first time, a relatable character as each of the first two episodes peels away layers of what previously appeared to be a bulletproof persona putting THE spy on the outside looking in without his usual support. Where that ultimately leaves Fury is hard to say having only screened two episodes but as he tells Rhodey, he is Nick Fury and even when he’s out, he’s in.
By the end of the second episode, the stage is set and the grand plan of Gravik–whose previously unknown connection to Fury makes him an interesting and motivated foe–and his Skrull extremists made clear. Unfortunately, it takes two episodes to get to that point and as enjoyable as the performance by Jackson is, the first episode certainly slows down considerably after an exciting cold open and, at times, spins its wheels. Part of the pacing struggle comes from the increasingly unbearable weight of the shared universe that is the MCU and the prerequisite knowledge necessary to navigate each new entry. Good, bad or otherwise, an interconnected franchise of this magnitude can’t always blaze new trails and has to retread old ground. Though they aren’t present nor expected to be present in the series, Carol Danvers and the Avengers still take up chunk of the exposition and while that might be necessary, the heavy-handedness of the writer’s room only works as an exacerbating factor. If you know anything by the end of the first episode, it’s that Nick Fury hasn’t been the same since Thanos’ snap…because everyone he knows tells him all about it…again…and again…and again. That said, navigating the first episode is manageable and though it’s attempt to shock the audience falls unfortunately flat, it provides all the necessary table setting for the second episode to be one of the better episodes of television Marvel Studios has put together on Disney Plus. There’s some fun retconning and at least one surprise that you almost certainly don’t see coming.
Despite the slow start, through two episodes, it looks like Bradstreet and company have hit the mark for which they were aiming. Cleverly, most of what the audience thinks they know about the show through promotional footage and interviews seems to have been subterfuge by the studio. Essentially, Secret Invasion is not the show fans thought they were getting. “Who Do You Trust?” is more than just a tagline related to sorting out who is or isn’t a Skrull, it’s a reflection of the fact that the studio has created as much of a false flag as the Skrull operatives in the show. For a studio that gets criticized for its formula and generic press events, Marvel Studios went pretty non-formulaic here in leading the audience astray. One place they did stay true to their word, however, was in putting Jackson in the spotlight and if he, Cheadle, Mendelsohn and Ben-Adir continue to shine through the next four episodes, Secret Invasion will become one of Marvel Studios’ finest character-driven projects to date.
In addition to a staggering amount of moves to its upcoming theatrical slate, Marvel Studios has removed two films from its 2025 slate.
Per an official release from Disney, a pair of untitled Marvel Studios films, originally dated July 25th, 2025 and November 7th, 2025, are no longer Marvel Studios films.
UNTITLED DISNEY is the updated title of UNTITLED MARVEL dated on 7/25/25
UNTITLED DISNEY is the updated title of UNTITLED MARVEL dated on 11/7/25
It is likely that these changes come as a result of the ongoing WGA strike. With writers not working during the strike, development on any potential 2025 scripts will have halted completely.
As it stands, the official updated slate only shows two Marvel Studios films will hit theaters in 2025. Blade, which has faced ongoing challenges in its development, has been tentatively rescheduled for February 14th, 2025 and Fantastic Four has, for now, been moved to May 2nd, 2025.
At this time, the 2026 slate still features four films:
Untitled Marvel on February 13th Avengers: Kang Dynasty on May 1st Untitled Marvel on July 24th Untitled Marvel on November 6th
As part of a multitude of moves made by Disney, Marvel Studios upcoming film slate has been changed significantly.
Resultant to the production delays caused by the ongoing WGA strike, Marvel has made a series of changes beginning in 2024. Deadpool 3 will now kick off their theatrical offerings, opening on May 3, 2024, a date that was originally supposed to see the debut of Captain America: Brave New World. Sam Wilson’ first feature film as Captain America will now instead open on July 26, 2024–where Thunderbolts was slated. In turn, Thunderbolts, which has not yet begun production, will be released on December 20th, 2024 which was originally set aside for Avatar 3.
Blade, which like Thunderbolts has not begun production because of the WGA strike, will now move to February 14th, 2025. The domino effect continues, moving Fantastic Four to May 2nd, 2025 where Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was originally intended to debut. That film is now slated for May 1, 2026 which was the original date of Avengers: Secret Wars and so, as you’ve probably guessed by now, Secret Wars will now release a full year later on May 7, 2027.
Before
May 3, 2024-Captain America: Brave New World
July 26, 2024-Thunderbolts
September 6, 2024-Blade
November 8, 2024-Deadpool 3
December 20, 2024-Avatar 3
After
May 3, 2024-Deadpool 3
July 26, 2024-Captain America: Brave New World
September 6, 2024-Untitled Disney
November 8, 2024-The Amateur
December 20, 2024-Thunderbolts
The net result, of course, is one less Marvel Studios film in 2024.
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.
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.
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!
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 KyleBradstreet to reveal that the Ross we thought we knew was a Skrull all along.
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.
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!
In another universe, Marvel Studios’ The Marvels would be hitting theaters in less than 2 months. In this universe, Disney moved the release date from July 28th to November 11th, but not before the gears on the machine that is merchandising had already been set in motion. Today, Hasbro released the first look at one of the many branches of merchandise associated with Marvel Studios projects: Marvel Legends.
In has to be one of Hasbro’s most hodgepodge waves to date, The Marvels wave of Marvel Legends includes only 3 figures from the film (Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel and Photon) while the other 4 figures (Commander Rogers, Heroes Return Iron Man, Karnak and Marvel Boy) and the Build-A-Figure (Amadeus Cho’s Totally Awesome Hulk) are all comic based.
While an argument could be made that each of the comic-based figures are Captain Marvel and/or Ms. Marvel adjacent, it’s surprising nonetheless to see Marvel Boy and Karnak get their own figures. Karnak’s inclusion could bode well for fans of Marvel Comics Inhumans as it could indicate that Hasbro may start pushing out individual Inhumans over the next few years.
As for Amadeus Cho’s Totally Awesome Hulk, his connection to Kamala Khan as a fellow member of the first modern-day iteration of The Champions seems to explain his inclusion here. It’s worth noting, however, that Cho was long-rumored to be in The Marvels.
Pre-orders for the wave will go live on June 7th at 1:00 PM ET on Hasbro Pulse, Amazon and other online retailers.
Cookie Consent
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
This website uses cookies
Websites store cookies to enhance functionality and personalise your experience. You can manage your preferences, but blocking some cookies may impact site performance and services.
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
Name
Description
Duration
Cookie Preferences
This cookie is used to store the user's cookie consent preferences.
30 days
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
Name
Description
Duration
comment_author_email
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_url
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
Pinterest Tag is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
