Secret Invasion Season 1, Episode 6 - Home SPOILER Discussion Thread

[MadVillainy]

Well, I think the story of Secret Invasion had to either be done big, or not be done at all. Trying to limit this story and its implications to a little show with a half dozen side characters undersells it and makes its impact non-existent.

My GF is very angry about the Rhodey reveal for instance. But had that been a major mic drop moment in a movie, I think it would've gone over much better. This show has so many implications for the wider universe, and not many people will have watched it to know about it. All I could say to my gf was "Don't worry, none of this will probably ever be mentioned again." Mayyyybe Armor Wars makes some joke about "haven't been myself lately" and moves on.

I'd honestly rather they limited the multiverse story to Loki, and had Secret Invasion be the next big Saga. Multiverse crap does nothing for me, whereas if handled right, the intrigue of the Skrulls could've been cool. If it had been plotted out well for the future back during Phase 3, they could've come up with cool reveals that didn't mess with important character moments from the past. There still would've been some retcons, yes, but if handled properly I think they would have been jaw-dropping "holy s**t" moments. Thinking back to the comic, when Wolverine died months before the event, and his body reverted to a Skrull, that was a major WTF moment that added mystery and hype for the event to come.

Instead, we get one character revealed to have been a Skrull, and then Marvels and everything else will probably just ignore the massive war the US just launched on an alien race and the fact that Emilia Clarke is now far and away the most powerful character in the Universe

I don't think Secret Invasion needed to be a saga but it should've been carried over the course of the phase. And in that phase all of the government/spy intrigue MCU properties like FatWS, Cap 4, Thunderbolts, Armor Wars, and maybe even BP2 would be affected. Maybe it could've been a sage if the whole saga was about the Kree-Skrull war and Secret Invasion is part of it. Have Earth freak out about this alien war coming to our planet and it involves shapeshifting aliens who have taken over some world governments.
Because the way it's handled now is just too small scale I agree. Because other than Rhodey being a Skrull there's no real "holy s***" moment from this series. As you said, in the source material Wolverine turning into a Skrull was a big thing. Imagine if the US president was made a Skrull. That would've been major. Alsofrom what I read from the comic, there was a whole Manchurian Candidate/Winter Soldier type thing where some people didn't even know they were Skrulls until activated and that added another element.


I'm not huge on multiverse things. I like them ok when theyre pretty simple like Back to the Future II, Justice Lords/Crime Syndicate, DoFP, etc. But the main problem with how the MCU has handled it is a) there are WAAAAY too many characters/storylines and that's bogged things down and b) they've used it mostly right now for cheap fanservice cameos.

 

[MadVillainy]

Between the international politics teased in "BP2", this show, Sharon's Powerbroker story, "Armor Wars", whatever's going on with Val and the "Thunderbolts", "Cap:NWO" and the growing presence of Damage Control, those could all tie together into a larger story that's being built in a really interesting way if it had been presented well, but so far it comes across (to me anyway) as random pieces that goes nowhere probably.

This reminds me of just how many storylines there are. I'm indifferent to her character but the whole Power Broker thing hasn't been brought up again right? Unless it's under wraps, she isn't scheduled to appear in Thunderbolts or Cap 4.

 

[MadVillainy]

I don't mean to stray off topic but I 100% agree. In retrospect, a smaller scale Avengers movie would have done wonders for the current state of the MCU. It would have been an early point to start connecting storylines and characters together while paving a clearer path to upcoming projects.

I think they really could've done with another Avengers movie. Or at least some Avengers .5 type movies like Civil War.

Like MoM for sure should've been an "Avengers .5" type movie. Could've thrown in Hulk, Bishop Hawkeye, and maybe even Shang Chi.
Secret Invasion maybe too featuring nuCap, Black Panther, War Machine, Fury (I swear I'm not just naming all the black characters on purpose haha) that deals with the fallout of the whole Skrull thing

 

[Broseph44]

This is inherently the flaw of Secret Invasion as a concept. Regardless who you choose, the audience feels cheated

This is also very true.

 

[Broseph44]

Just incredibly annoying that you’re writing a show without even having certainty about whether the character you're writing is the same character. The same one who we’ve been watching have these experiences and emotional moments or if he's a different guy entirely.

And then you basically have no definitive answer of how long he has not been himself. And wanna give the lazy response of saying they’re not sure, how it can be up to the audience or we have to wait and see in the next show or film. It’s just aggravating.

 

[Holy Slapper]

Yeah this isnt a great answer. MCU if you are going to do things like this you cant just pull it out of your behind. Its like MoM writers having NO clue what was happening with WandaVision and vice versa. MCU is getting lazier and lazier.

I feel they do know and it will be addressed in Armor Wars. Telling it would deprive Don Cheadle of the acting moment/impact of the scene in it of Rhodey hearing Tony and Natasha are dead and Steve is over 90 literally now.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I feel they do know and it will be addressed in Armor Wars. Telling it would deprive Don Cheadle of the acting moment/impact of the scene in it of Rhodey hearing Tony and Natasha are dead and Steve is over 90 literally now.

All he'd have to say is "we do know and it will be dealt with durinv Armor Wars"

 

[BoredGuy]

I still don't buy it, director be damned
there's no way this stupid plan took 9 years to plot out

My head cannon is Rhodey was getting a checkup/MRI (thus he didn't have his Stark Tech legs on) just after FATWS and his nurse was a Skrull.

 

[PunyGod]

Remember that marketing campaign? WHO DO YOU TRUST? They had people dressed up as Skrulls hidden in the real world.

And then in the show we get exactly one person we know that is a Skrull. And even that was revealed in the lamest most anticlimactic way possible.

This is the first MCU property that I actively hate.

 

[Kev4000]

I still don't buy it, director be damned
there's no way this stupid plan took 9 years to plot out

My head cannon is Rhodey was getting a checkup/MRI (thus he didn't have his Stark Tech legs on) just after FATWS and his nurse was a Skrull.

Im going with you. And this is the reason he coudnt show up in the final montage after encouraging Sam in episode 1.

 

[Yellow Cyclone]

Im going with you. And this is the reason he coudnt show up in the final montage after encouraging Sam in episode 1.

it has to AT LEAST be post-endgame

no way they do something like this to his character moments in IW/EG

 

[Chris B]

Walking away from the series, I really feel that Secret Invasion should've served as the basis for a Captain Marvel sequel. Many of the themes explored in the series just struck me as ones that would've worked following the story in her first film.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I think this needed to be Avengers 5, and it needed to be released this May to close Phase 4

 

[legendkillin]

Im going with you. And this is the reason he coudnt show up in the final montage after encouraging Sam in episode 1.

It makes too much sense to have it be from Falcon & Winter Soldier. They won't want to taint some of the movie moments. Having him be a Skrull during tv show is safe, the Skrull made him come off like an ass too on a power trip. It was clear he was a Skrull, in the movies he didn't have any out of character moments.

I think Freeman was a Skrull from end of BP 2.

 

[darthcoolness3]

It makes too much sense to have it be from Falcon & Winter Soldier. They won't want to taint some of the movie moments. Having him be a Skrull during tv show is safe, the Skrull made him come off like an ass too on a power trip. It was clear he was a Skrull, in the movies he didn't have any out of character moments.

I think Freeman was a Skrull from end of BP 2.

MCU Spider-Man, Myserio, and every Spider-Man villain could be an Skrull as well, since they didn't get mentioned in the MCU after Spider-Man No Way Home

 

[Detective Conan]

I think this needed to be Avengers 5, and it needed to be released this May to close Phase 4

I have to respectfully disagree. Having never been a big fan of the Secret Invasion storyline in the comics, and really generally not a big fan of the Skrulls anyway I’m more than happy that it’s not the focus of an entire phase, let alone a big crossover event movie like Avengers. And I think it was the smart move to withhold Avengers 5 until Phase 5. I think after Endgame, we needed a long wait until the next Avengers film. Getting another Avengers flick in Phase 4 would’ve been too soon, imo.

 

[Venom 1988]

I have to respectfully disagree. Having never been a big fan of the Secret Invasion storyline in the comics, and really generally not a big fan of the Skrulls anyway I’m more than happy that it’s not the focus of an entire phase, let alone a big crossover event movie like Avengers. And I think it was the smart move to withhold Avengers 5 until Phase 5. I think after Endgame, we needed a long wait until the next Avengers film. Getting another Avengers flick in Phase 4 would’ve been too soon, imo.

I get where you are coming from, as I used to feel the same way post Endgame going into Phase 4. But I do think they needed to make a film that provided a major connective tissue at the end of Phase 4. Honestly it didn't even have to be a proper Avengers movie either, but some type of Civil War-esque event/ team up movie where they could have started to connect the various characters or threads introduced in the last phase. Thunderbolts seems to be that for Phase 5 but even then it's only paying off primarily for the Cap/Black Widow pockets of the MCU.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I have to respectfully disagree. Having never been a big fan of the Secret Invasion storyline in the comics, and really generally not a big fan of the Skrulls anyway I’m more than happy that it’s not the focus of an entire phase, let alone a big crossover event movie like Avengers. And I think it was the smart move to withhold Avengers 5 until Phase 5. I think after Endgame, we needed a long wait until the next Avengers film. Getting another Avengers flick in Phase 4 would’ve been too soon, imo.

I thought that....until we saw Phase 4 and how people have reacted to the MCU since then. Now I think that was a mistake and an Avengers film was needed to end Phase 4

 

[Mr. Peanut]

This is inherently the flaw of Secret Invasion as a concept. Regardless who you choose, the audience feels cheated

And this is exponentially more the case with the MCU. As I said in the other topic...

Skrulls were never a particularly good fit for the MCU anyway. They work in the comics because characters have endless amounts of screentime to spare. Whereas with the MCU we get a few hours total with each character. People were never gonna be happy about retconning any of those precious few hours into being a skrull all along.

 

[SPO2 Dalisay]

I still don't understand why they decided to give Gravik all that power to take him out, when G'iah was already a Super Skrull the same as Gravik. Why couldn't she just kill him before giving both him and her enough power to beat Thanos to a pulp?

I think like the first line of Star Trek Into Darkness was have Spock lift his head and scream Khan now build me a story to make that happen I think Secret Invasion was written to have a Super Skrull battle royal of different powers shown. So now write me a story to get there.

 

[Havok83]

So I see for the most part everyone hates it. Im glad Im not the only one. This was terrible

 

[Link]

Awful show. The inconsistencies, lack of tension, generic characters, and plot lines... This could've been written by an AI.

It's a ridiculous notion that Rhodey has been a Skrull for a long time. Why? Because it was obvious from his first scene in this show that he wasn't the same character we've known for years. So much wasted potential.

This show had a huge budget, but none of that ended up showing on the screen. The big CGI battle? I swear I've seen equal (or better) special effects on Youtube. No doubt a channel like Corridor Crew could create a similar fight scene with their resources. How odd. I've said it before, Secret Invasion had an equal per-episode budget as Stranger Things 4. Those episodes were sometimes four-five times longer than any Secret Invasion episode and its special effects looked better than Quantumania. Whoever is drinking/snorting/smoking all this money up, kudos, the MCU is in shambles.

I do want Olivia Colman back, her presence and character was my absolute favorite part of the show. She did a lot with her (limited) screen time. Can't say the same about Clarke. The character has all the powers in the world and no personality whatsoever.