I’m shocked that Secret Invasion killed a principal character so quickly

Secret Invasion premiered on Disney Plus on Wednesday, and we lastly get to see this Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) journey that may show to be so consequential to the complete MCU. Among the early reviewers criticized the sluggish tempo of the primary two episodes, however I defined that there’s no motive to panic about these early reactions. Because of these opinions, I didn’t anticipate any main developments from Secret Invasion episode 1, not to mention the demise of a serious character.

Then once more, demise is a serious theme of the MCU, a sign that the stakes are large and that the great guys received’t at all times survive. And demise is hardly shocking for a spy story like Secret Invasion when one facet can shape-shift into anybody they need.

Earlier than inspecting this main MCU demise, I’ll warn you that massive spoilers observe under, so cease studying right here till you watch the primary episode.

I didn’t flinch when Agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) died early within the episode. It was clear that we have been duped from the primary scenes. This isn’t Agent Ross we all know and love. He’s a Skrull, masquerading as Ross, trying to study what the human spies find out about their operations. Then Marvel confirmed it, exhibiting Ross’s face morphed again to the Skrull operative in disguise.

This early demise instructed me that we’d see different related combat scenes the place you wouldn’t essentially know who to root for. You see, Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) was chasing after fake-Ross. However Talos was “sporting” the face of a Russian agent.

Maria Hill simply died, and I didn’t see it coming

I by no means anticipated to see the present’s first heartbreaking demise so quickly. It occurs in the course of the climax of the primary episode when the unhealthy Skrull faction detonates a number of bombs in Moscow. Their mission is to start out a battle between the US and Russia. A battle that would flip nuclear and result in the eradication of the human species.

Skrulls don’t thoughts radiation. That’s why they’re dwelling inside former Russian atomic amenities. They’d inherit the complete planet in case of a nuclear disaster.

Because the bombs go off, we have now Fury, Talos, and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) chasing after Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and G’iah (Emilia Clarke). G’iah is Talos’s daughter, who has simply realized she is likely to be working for the improper Skrull faction.

At this level, we see Maria going towards Fury, just for the latter to shoot her point-blank. It wasn’t Fury, after all. This was Gravik briefly having stolen Fury’s look.

Whereas I used to be shocked to see Maria Hill die, I definitely beloved how Marvel dealt with her demise. I mentioned lately that I’d love Secret Invasion to inform us that Nick Fury is a Skrull by the top of the present. Effectively, Marvel considerably delivered that twist. Nevertheless, this isn’t precisely what I had in thoughts. It was Gravik sporting the Fury “shell.”

Is Hill actually useless?

As for Maria’s demise, it seems to be prefer it’s the true deal. This appears to be the human Maria Hill, who we’ve seen in varied MCU adventures, beginning with the primary Avengers film. She didn’t flip right into a Skrull on the finish of Secret Invasion, which might have implied that the true Hill continues to be alive someplace.

Sadly for her, Hill foreshadowed her destiny throughout that chess match with Fury, the place she had questioned his skill to play the spy recreation. Any errors might get folks killed.

I’ve been ready for years to see Marvel give Smulders’ character extra display screen time. Secret Invasion appeared to be the place we’d see extra of Maria Hill, Nick Fury’s most trusted ally.

Maybe Marvel didn’t present us every part, and that Maria Hill was really a Skrull agent. Possibly a pal of Talos. However Talos would in all probability know she’s not the true Maria.

Possibly this can be a spy Gravik embedded. However even he won’t know whether or not he’s taking a look at a Skrull or Agent Hill.

We did see Talos’s spouse play Maria Hill in Spider-Man: Far From Dwelling. However again then, Talos’s spouse was nonetheless alive. She died off-screen, as we discovered on this episode. And she or he died by the hands of Gavrik’s Skrulls.

Possibly Hill is barely alive because the digicam pans out, and that’s why she wouldn’t flip right into a Skrull. Possibly episode 2 will reveal that it wasn’t actually Maria Hill working with Fury in episode 1.

Interstingly, Cobie Smulders is credited for six episodes, which is the complete first season of Secret Invasion. That’s both a sign her character isn’t useless, or a method for Marvel to cover this massive spoiler.