To say that Phase Four of the MCU was disappointing for most would be an understatement. There needed to be more done with it to advance the greater story, and it is clear that Marvel became the model of more is better instead of taking their time and putting up stories that were ready and done well. And while not every project that the MCU has released for Phase Five has been good – looking at your Quantumania – it is clear that they are trying to learn from their mistakes and taking more time between projects.

And this is where Secret Invasion finds itself—in this weird limbo of Marvel having so many projects coming out but also trying to space out their release. This is why the show in itself feels disjuncted. While the show is very reminiscent of the Netflix Marvel series in tone (in a good way), it suffers from Marvel’s self-imposed (and pandemic-related) delays.

Secret Invasion follows Nick Furry (Samuel L Jackson) as he learns of a secret invasion of Earth by a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls; Fury joins his allies, and together they race against time to thwart an imminent Skrull invasion and save humanity.

Based on the popular and acclaimed comic book arc of the same name, Secret Invasion should feel like the culmination of something. Except, it is the opposite. It’s a commentary on the state of the MCU than the show itself.

So how is Secret Invasion? It stands on its own when looking at it from outside the grander arc of the MCU. Most of my problems with the MCU shows have been that they take so long to get going, and once they do, it is usually with one or two episodes left. Now, that is because most of the shows have been to introduce new characters, and Secret Invasion benefits from having that burden partially. But the show hits the ground running from the first beat, which is refreshing.

With only having seen the first two episodes, it is hard to judge the show in its entirety, but it is clear that Secret Invasion isn’t afraid to take from the source material and run with it. The comic book was unpredictable, and where anything was possible, and while it might not be precisely the same as the show, the first two episodes are proof that maybe we are in for some big surprises.

With the return of Samuel L. Jackson in the role of Nick Fury, the show finally gives him a lot to work with. But while Jackson continues to prove how perfect he is in this role, especially now that they give him more dramatic stuff to work with, it is apparent within the first two episodes that it will be his supporting cast that will steal the show—especially Olivia Colman as Sonya Falsworth and Kingsley Ben-Adir as Gravik. 

It should be no surprise that Colman continues to delight in anything she is in. She is one of the best working actresses, and while her character could have been very noted, her performance and writing benefit her greatly. By the end of episode two, I wanted to know more about Sonya Falsworth and how she factored in all of this.

The other standout is Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Gravik. It is no secret that the MCU does not always know how to do a good villain – and using the word villain for Gravik is probably wrong. From the two episodes, it is clear that the show has an arc in mind for his character and that the motivations behind his actions are nuanced; while we might not forgive all that he does, it makes him one of the show’s most intriguing characters.

Suppose the first two episodes of Secret Invasion are anything to go by. In that case, this will be a miniseries that is anything like the MCU has done before, and it will benefit significantly from it. While it might not meet the highs of the source material, it is adapting and might suffer from the fact that this arc has not been set up in any way before; the show is a welcome change from the last few projects (excluding the incredible Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) that have just been a drag to watch.