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Nick Fury famously once said, “Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye.” It’s a line that was included inCaptain America: The Winter Soldierto show how the spymaster and former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. likes to keep even his closest allies at arm’s length (and then lost a lot of its coolness factor when we found out an alien cat clawed out his eye inCaptain Marvel). It was likely meant to showcase that Fury has some pretty significant trust issues, but those survival instincts may prove extremely useful in the upcoming series,Secret Invasion.
One of the most mysterious Disney+ projects to take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far,Secret Invasionwill see Fury, once again played bySamuel L. Jackson, return to Earth to uncover a plot being enacted by a group of rogue Skrulls, the shape-shifting aliens that Fury and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) assisted years ago inCaptain Marvel. Here is everything we know about Marvel’sSecret Invasion.
Editor’s Note: This piece was last updated on July 15, 2025.
Secret Invasion
Fury and Talos try to stop the Skrulls who have infiltrated the highest spheres of the Marvel Universe.
Does Secret Invasion Have a Release Date?
Secret Invasionwill premiere on July 11, 2025, exclusively on Disney+. The series will have a six-episode season and follow Nick Fury after the events ofAvengers: EndgameandSpider-Man: Far From Home.
Watch on Disney+
Related:New ‘Secret Invasion’ Character Posters Remind You No One Can Be Trusted
Is There a Trailer for Secret Invasion?
After first being screened behind the closed doors of Comic-Con’s Hall H,theSecret Invasiontrailer was finally released during Disney’s D23 Expo2022. The teaser opens with Nick Fury finally returning to Earth, this time with a full grey beard and without that iconic eye patch of his. What follows is Fury interacting with a wide variety of faces, some of which we’ve seen before. Not only do we get to see Talos in human form (which looks like regular Ben Mendelsohn), but we also get surprise glimpses atDon Cheadle returning as James Rhodes, AKA War Machineas well asMartin Freemanreturning as Agent Everett K. Ross. We also get a first look atOlivia ColmanandEmilia Clarke, both of which make their MCU debut in this series. You can watch the video in the player above, and here’s thelink to our full trailer breakdown.
The second trailer forSecret Invasiondives a little bit deeper into the show’s story but, surprisingly, doesn’t show much of the villainous Skrulls expected to populate the series. One thing is for certain, this is going to be a dark espionage spy thriller, supposedly reining in Marvel’s signature brand of humor to potentially do for Marvel whatAndor(2022-) did forStar Wars. We see that in his long vacation off-world, Nick Fury isn’t exactly welcome on Earth, with James Rhodes telling Fury that he’s the most wanted man on the planet. Luckily for Fury, he still has some allies in Talos, Maria Hill, Olivia Colman’s character who is now confirmed to be Agent Sonya Falsworth. That is, they appear to be allies, as who knows which ones may actually be undercover Skrulls waiting for their time to strike.
While not an official trailer, this featurette offers us a new look at the making ofSecret Invasion. We hear from the stars of the show about their approach to the world of spies and espionage. The featurette also showcases Jackson’s approach to Fury when he can’t rely on the Avengers. This was followed by thelatestSecret Invasiontrailer, released on June 18, 2025. Titled “Fight”, the one-minute clip shows just how alone Fury is in this fight, as even allies seem to be turning against him. It also teases that one way or another, all the events that led up to this invasion were caused by Fury’s own actions. Check it out below:
Nick Fury is the most wanted man on the planet, but we aren’t surprised. The world’s greatest spy has enough information to cripple entire nations.In the clip below, we get to see the ramifications of Fury’s knowledge and how it plays intoSecret Invasionas a whole.
A clip was released by Marvel Studios on July 12, 2025, featuringNick Fury and Maria Hill playing chess with each other, with Hill telling Fury that he hasn’t been the same since the Blip.
Who’s In the Secret Invasion Cast?
Though he has appeared in around a dozen MCU projects since the very first end credits scene in the originalIron Man, this is the very first time that Nick Fury will be the leading man of his own story, played again by none other than Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson will be rejoined by Ben Mendelsohn as the good-natured Skrull Talos, returning from his red herring antagonist role inCaptain Marveland his brief end credits cameo inSpider-Man: Far From Home. Other MCU alumni joining the fray includeCobie Smuldersas Maria Hill, Don Cheadle as James “Rohdey” Rhodes, and Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross.
Making her Marvel Cinematic Universe debutis Academy Award-winning star ofThe FavouriteOlivia Colman, as MI6, an antagonistic character. Samuel J. Jackson described her as a “cold-blooded and just relishes being that person.” Joining Coleman isGame of Thronesalum Emilia Clarke.Clark will be playing G’iah, a Skrull freedom fighter and the daughter of Talos. G’iah is fighting for her people, and the war (seen inCaptain Marvel) has radicalized her. Clarke spoke about the role saying:
She’s a refugee kid who’s had Talos for a dad, you know what I mean? Maybe the fact that we didn’t know he had a kid up until this point tells you everything you need to know about their relationship… So understandably, a certain amount of resentment has been built. There’s a lot of emotions that live within her, and there’s a lot of confrontational aspects to her character that have come from circumstance.
Finally, the supporting cast is rounded out byChristopher McDonald(Happy Gilmore),Carmen Ejogo(Selma),Kingsley Ben-Adir(The OA), andKillian Scott(Cavalry).
What Is Secret Invasion About?
As seen in the trailers, the show’s tone is incredibly dark, far darker than anyone could have expected. This series is being pitched as a gritty spy espionage drama with science fiction-based psychological horror elements. Cobie Smulders confirmed the show’s tone at D23 last year: “This is a darker show. We’re going to get deeper into the characters. We’re going to see them in new ways, and it’s going to be an exciting thriller, and you’re never going to know who people are. Are they a Skrull? Are they human? It’s going to be a bit of a guessing game.”
This promised style is a huge departure from what we’ve seen before in the MCU and a major tonal shift from how we saw Fury and the Skrulls inCaptain Marvel.Samuel L. Jackson talked about the seriesand the new approach to Nick Fury.
Even Nick Fury can be shaken, you know? He’s up there trying to process what the fuck happened, you know? And what his place in the world is. The death of Iron Man, the death of Black Widow, with that stuff going on he just kind of checked out. Now, he just doesn’t wear the patch. The patch is part of who thestrongNick Fury was. It’s part of his vulnerability now. You can look at it and see he’s not this perfectly indestructible person. He doesn’t feel like that guy.
Smulders echoed Jackson’s statement andtalked about where the series finds Maria Hill, saying: “I think Maria Hill has really run out of patience. She’s always had this really close relationship with Nick Fury, but he’s been gone for so long, and she’s just been running around putting out fires.” This welcome change will hopefully lead to the iconic aliens showing the cunning and villainy they’re known for in the comics that we’ve yet to see in live-action.
Related:Ben Mendelsohn on ‘To Catch a Killer’ and Returning as Talos for ‘Secret Invasion’
What are the Comic Book Origins of Secret Invasion?
So what exactly isSecret Invasion? Well, in the comics, theSecret Invasionstorylineis, as Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) fromSpider-Man: Far From Homewould say, “an Avengers level threat”. Taking place not too long after theCivil Warin the storyline of the Marvel comics,Secret Invasionpicks up in a world whereTony Starkis the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and some heroes are considered outlaws thanks to the Super Hero Registration act that began the Civil War. This controversy is put off to the wayside and the heroes (and villains) from both sides of the issue are forced to band together when a hidden plot from the Skrulls is revealed and an attempt to conquer Earth is made known.
Led by their sinister Queen, the Skrulls have been abducting many of Earth’s citizens, both civilians and super beings, and replacing them with Skrulls, creating sleeper agents who have been patiently waiting for their chance to strike. It’s a plan that was in the works for several years, with heroes like Elektra and Hank Pym being among the people replaced by Skrulls. It’s a major Marvel Comics event that has huge consequences for the rest of the Marvel Comics Universe, including the sacrifice and death of Janet Van Dyne’s Wasp, a supposedly reformed Norman Osborn taking over S.H.I.E.L.D., and the reveal of an evil equivalent of the Illuminati known as the Cabal.
Now because Disney+‘sSecret Invasionis working with a far smaller number of characters, the show will understandably be much smaller in scale than its epic comics counterpart. However, ifLokihas taught us anything, it’s that the Disney+ shows are still essential viewing for Marvel fans and can still have a massive effect on the wider MCU.
Related:‘Secret Invasion’ Will Hopefully Make Nick Fury More Human as It Fills in the Blanks
Who Is Making Secret Invasion?
As per usual, Kevin Feige is executive producing and is the head honcho when it comes toSecret Invasion, like all the other MCU projects. The showrunner and creator of the show isKyle Bradstreet, who previously was both a writer and producer on the highly successfulMr. Robot. Other members of the crew includeElizabethcinematographerRemi Adefarasin,Lost in Spaceproduction designerFrank Walsh, andBlack Mirrorcostume designerClaire Anderson. The series will reportedly bedirected byThomas Bezucha(Let Him Go) andAli Selim(The Looming Tower).
Jonathan Schwartzserves as the executive producer and talked about their approach to the series.When it comes to inspiration, Schwartz said, “We were really inspired by shows likeHomelandandTheAmericans. What you find is there are people that you trust or youthinkyou can trust—or you can only trust to a certain point." The idea of espionage makes perfect sense when you look at howCaptain America: The Winter Soldiertackled S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury’s storyline.
