Secret Invasion season 1 episode 1 recap & review: Resurrection

In Marvel’s Secret Invasion, Nick Fury returns to Earth after several years away to face a new threat that puts the whole of humanity at risk. The first episode is now streaming on Disney+.

Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers

Recap

Everett Ross has a clandestine meeting with Agent Prescod who claims that there is a group of Skrulls that have infiltrated positions of power in the world to orchestrate the downfall of the human race.

He has concrete evidence of this conspiracy and after Ross kills him, he sneaks away with the evidence as he’s being chased by another man. Maya Hill is responding to Ross’s request for extraction and reaches him just as the other man catches up to him.

It turns out to be Talos in disguise who is actually chasing a Skrull posing as Ross. Nick Fury returns to Earth and meets up with Hill and Talosin Moscow.

Talos mentions that his partner Soren has passed away and that the Skrulls have become disillusioned under the leadership of Gravik, including his daughter Giiah.

They have been masquerading as different terrorist groups carrying out attacks all around the world and their next big plan is to get their hands on the materials to create a dirty bomb.

Fury decides to go for a walk in the city and observes the various people he sees along the way before he is kidnapped and taken to a second location.

He is brought in front of Sonya Falsworth, an MI6 agent who has some history with Fury. She asks him what he’s doing back on Earth and he says that he’s got the same mission as her, to stop a Skrull rebellion.

While he’s in her office, he leaves behind a surveillance device to listen in on any important conversations she might have later on. Rhodey informs the US president that Fury is back on Earth and that he and Hill are effectively AWOL.

The Skrulls have set up a community in an abandoned nuclear plant in Russia where there are over 500 of them living in harmony. It is also the base of their rebel operations where warriors gain access to their human shells and they plan out their actions.

Fury, Talos, and Hill observe a meeting where Sonya mentions the supplier that the Skrulls are most probably meeting to get their bomb components and they decide to get to him first.

Gravik learns about Fury’s return and G’iah is sent to meet with the contact in the city. She collects the parts moments before Fury and Talos meet with the bomb maker. Hill notices G’iah leaving and follows her.

The bomb maker turns out to be a Skrull who accuses Talos of betraying his people and they fight before Fury shoots down the enemy Skrull. Hill faces off against G’iah and is taken down before Talos catches up to her.

He tells her that her mother is dead and asks her to hand over the bombs but G’iah refuses and escapes.

Fury and Hill meet up at a bar later where she asks him why he left and tells him that he’s not the same person he was before the Blip, something Talos mentioned earlier as well. Hill believes that Fury isn’t ready for the threat they are currently facing.

Talos meets with G’iah who tells him that the Skrulls plan to set 3 bombs the following day at the square during the Unity Day celebrations. Talos lets the others know that G’iah is on their side after receiving this information.

The three of them arrive at a crowded square the next day with their eyes peeled for the G’iah and the bombs. They follow the exchange but it turns out to be a decoy as Gravik reveals himself to Fury and then sets off the bombs.

In the chaos, Hill runs into Fury but is shot before Gravik unveils that it was actually him. The real Fury rushes to Hill and holds her in his arms during her final moments before he and Talos run away.

Review

• The MCU shows have mostly been lackluster for various reasons but this latest mini-series needs to be observed with a fresh perspective if that is even possible in the middle of phase 5.
• It is an espionage thriller that also explores a grizzled and worn Nick Fury who has lost his drive to fight back ever since the Blip. That characterization is portrayed brilliantly by Samuel L. Jackson who has become synonymous with the role.
• The action sequences in the first episode are a little chaotic and the direction behind it isn’t exactly crisp. The chase sequence at the beginning is too haphazard and frantic.
• Killing Maya Hill is a bold decision that could be considered truly brilliant depending on what follows. The MCU has constantly faced criticism for not being adventurous enough and with fatigue setting in, they need to do something different.

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