The secret is out.
Now that all six episodes of Marvel's "Secret Invasion" are out on Disney+, repercussions
from this Skrull showdown are sure to ripple throughout the MCU.
Warning: Spoilers for "Secret Invasion" ahead!
"Secret Invasion'' moves quickly, taking place over the span of a few weeks.
The series includes numerous flashbacks to depict unseen parts of Nick Fury's life and
explain how he lost the trust and respect of the Skrulls after failing to find them
a home.
Now, three decades after "Captain Marvel," there are now more than a million Skrulls
on Earth.
Most are hidden and living peacefully.
However, many also defected to Gravik's terrorist regime, including Talos' daughter G'iah, before
she started feeding her father information and ultimately defected back to his side.
The dark tone of the series is clear immediately when Gravik, disguised as Fury, kills an unsuspecting
Maria Hill at the end of Episode 1.
Another loss comes in Episode 4, when Gravik does the same thing to Talos during his attack
on President Ritson in England.
In the attack, Gravik, who has made himself into a Super-Skrull, and his soldiers are
masquerading as the Russians to set the scene for a world war.
This is just part of his plan, though.
Gravik hopes to force Fury into giving him Avengers DNA, too.
Fury explains at the end of the fifth episode,
"If I don't give Gravik the Harvest, then Rhodey is going to incinerate the Skrull compound."
If that happens, Russia will counter, and war will begin.
The stakes couldn't be any higher when Episode 6 of "Secret Invasion'' begins.
President Ritson is poised to declare war on the Russians thanks to his adviser Rhodey,
who is really the Skrull Raava.
G'iah, Fury, and MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth work to stop the Skrulls.
In the guise of Fury, G'iah faces Gravik while Sonya helps the real Fury trap the impostor
Rhodey.
Gravik infuses the Avenger DNA into his body, not expecting it to also work on G'iah, whom
he believes is about to die from radiation poisoning.
However, G'iah absorbs the new powers, too, and reveals herself to Gravik, ultimately
killing him with a beam of energy.
Just before that, as Fury, G'iah tells Gravik,
"I should have taught you that you never give up the fight."
This line marks the turn of the tide.
Afterward, G'iah goes to free the human prisoners from the Skrull compound, including the real
Colonel Rhodes.
Upon learning that he's been counseled by a Skrull, Ritson aborts the attack on Russia
and prevents a global crisis.
Fury makes plans to head off-world and find the Skrulls a home for real this time.
Back in the U.K., Sonya becomes the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service.
After they helped reunite Talos and his family in "Captain Marvel," Nick Fury and Carol Danvers
promised to help find the Skrulls a new planet to call home.
Neither of them did that, but Fury continued to use the Skrulls to help him advance his
career.
Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Fury, told Vanity Fair,
"Nick had a whole Skrull spy network because they could shape-shift and go places that
people couldn't go.
They kept their word.
They worked for him, but he hasn't done what he said he was going to do.
They want a home.
They want to live.
They want to live like they are.
They want to live in their skin.
They don't want to live in ours."
Gravik's faction of Skrull extremists was born out of Fury neglecting his promise, and
this is part of what makes Gravik such a compelling villain.
So why didn't Fury find them a home and prevent this from happening?
The answer is finally revealed in Episode 6 when G'iah, as Fury, explains that the real
Fury searched for years but didn't find a planet suitable for them.
Ultimately, she says Fury failed to "change the hearts and minds" of the people of Earth
into accepting the Skrulls, though it's not clear whether this is what the real Fury thinks.
Throughout the series, Gravik is looking for something of Fury's to help him become the
perfect Super-Skrull.
It seems that he has done so when he regenerates after Fury shoots him in the cheek.
G'iah reveals this is the result of the DNA samples he got from Cull Obsidian, an adopted
child of Thanos, and a Flora colossus, which is Groot's species.
But Gravik knows there's something more powerful out there: the Harvest.
When G'iah tells Fury that's what he's after, it's obvious by Fury's reaction that the situation
has escalated.
In Episode 5, Fury explains to Sonya that almost every Avenger shed blood during the
climax of "Avengers: Endgame," and he sent Gravik's team to collect the DNA samples after
the Battle of Earth.
That DNA was combined to create the Harvest — essentially a new super soldier serum
that can recreate the powers of some of Earth's mightiest heroes and villains.
It's what gives Gravik and G'iah the abilities they use to fight each other during their
final battle.
The most important component of the Harvest is Carol Danvers' DNA — at least, according
to Gravik, who's gone to extreme lengths to get it.
When he puts himself through the machine to imbue himself with the power in The Harvest,
he unintentionally gives the same powers to G'iah, whom he believes to be a radiation-poisoned
Nick Fury.
Gravik finally claims his opportunity to kill G'iah, but she blocks his punch.
The pair test out their new powers in a fight to the death.
Featured most prominently are Hulk and Korg's strength, the ice of Frost Beast, Mantis'
psychic empathy, and Captain Marvel's powers.
Gravik has the power to regenerate, but nothing can save him from a Captain Marvel-level energy
beam, which leaves a gaping hole in his chest.
Not only does this further prove that Captain Marvel is one of the most powerful Avengers
around, it's also appropriate, given that "Captain Marvel" is the film in which the
Skrulls debuted in the MCU.
Plenty of fans wondered throughout "Secret Invasion" why Nick Fury never called in any
Avengers to help.
Given the status quo of the MCU as of the end of Phase 4, Fury has two Hulks he could
have contacted, plus a new Black Panther, two Hawkeyes, Thor, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Stature,
Doctor Strange, Wong, the new Captain America, and, of course, the often-absent Captain Marvel.
They'd probably want to know that their friend Rhodey had been kidnapped by Skrulls, after
all.
There's also Ms. Marvel, but maybe Fury doesn't know about her yet.
And everybody forgot about Spider-Man.
Fury never makes that call for the simple reason that this is a very personal fight
for him.
Not only is he haunted by his failed promise, but he's also fighting to save his wife, Priscilla,
and honor Talos' sacrifice.
He explains to Sonya that only he can defend the world his way.
"We can't keep depending on these superheroes to swoop in and save our asses.
None of them have lived the life I have."
After discovering that he was being manipulated by Raava, who's been posing as Rhodey, President
Ritson stops the U.S. attack on Russia before it's too late.
He knows how close the world came to an all-out war and holds the Skrulls responsible.
Not just the ones from Gravik's extremist faction.
All of them.
Ritson threatens their lives on a public broadcast detailing his plan to go before the Senate
to present an emergency bill declaring all aliens "enemy combatants."
Fury tells Ritson that he's overreacting and blaming the many for the actions of the few.
Fury tells the president,
"You took a bad situation and made it worse.
That's real one-term president stuff."
This is actually an indicator of what's to come.
As anyone who has been keeping up with upcoming Marvel releases will know, "Captain America:
Brave New World" is due in 2024.
Joining Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan is Harrison Ford making his MCU debut as President
Thunderbolt Ross.
So it looks like Ritson's administration will indeed only be in the White House for just
one term.
After killing Gravik in Episode 6 and the death of her father Talos in Episode 4, G'iah
becomes the de facto new leader of the Skrulls.
In the final moments of the series, she is confronted by Sonya Falsworth, the newly appointed
head of the SIS, who offers her a deal: unlimited resources in exchange for help.
"I will use you, you will use me, and together we will make this planet safe for both our
people."
Intrigued by the offer, G'iah goes with her, but there is an important difference between
this arrangement and the deal Fury and Talos made all those years ago.
G'iah and Sonya are business partners; there's nothing personal at stake between the two
of them.
With this clean slate, G'iah might finally be able to achieve what Talos couldn't.
Perhaps she can find a safe home for all her people where they can truly be themselves.
And she can establish a lasting peace between the Skrulls and the humans.
However, this will not be an easy task.
At the end of the episode, Sonya discovers a room filled with pods.
It's at that point that she realizes the true strength of her foe.
"This is how the enemy got so good."
It's not entirely clear what she means by the statement.
However, if the Skrulls have taken control of hundreds of high-ranking humans, G'iah
definitely has a long road ahead.
From early on in "Secret Invasion," it's clear something is wrong with Col. Rhodes.
He's sterner than usual and abruptly fires Nick in the wake of Maria Hill's death.
This isn't the War Machine we know, so when it's revealed that he's been replaced by the
Skrull Raava, everything starts to make sense.
However, it's not clear how long Rhodey was held captive.
Some fans have speculated that his capture took place at some point after the events
of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," but has it been longer?
When she saves him, G'iah tries to explain to Rhodey that he'd been held captive for
"a very long time."
And Marvel boss Kevin Feige outright said to the Independent that we've seen Raava impersonating
Rhodey in previous Marvel projects.
When he's rescued, Rhodes is wearing a hospital gown.
This implies that he could have been replaced after the events of "Captain America: Civil
War" while he was in recovery from the injuries he suffered in that movie.
If that's true, the Rhodey we knew has missed out on some major events in the MCU.
Thankfully, he's free now.
But we can expect to see some pretty big changes for Rhodey going forward.
If Raava was impersonating him when he took the job with the president, will the real
Rhodey continue on in that role?
We certainly imagine he's going to have something to say about this ordeal in his upcoming feature,
"Armor Wars."
Despite the rebellion boiling underneath the surface fomented by the Skrull Gravik, and
losing his access to his government resources, Fury still manages to help save the world.
So it's no surprise that at the end of the series, we see him get back to work.
He was never going to go quietly into retirement.
This was alluded to in Episode 5 when Fury puts his eyepatch back on.
Samuel L. Jackson said Fury not wearing it at the beginning was an indicator of his character's
journey.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, he said,
"He just doesn't wear the patch.
The patch is part of who the strong Nick 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."
At the end of the series, Fury has a renewed sense of self and duty.
He's headed out on a mission to right his wrong and do what he should have done all
along: Find a home for the Skrulls.
SABER is backing the mission to broker peace with the Kree, and Fury is at the forefront
of that effort.
One of the biggest surprises in "Secret Invasion" comes in Episode 2 when it's revealed Nick
Fury has been married for decades.
Fury married Priscilla, who is actually a Skrull named Varra, after the events of "Captain
Marvel."
Though it seems they were happy for a while, as evidenced by their honeymoon in Finland,
as the show begins, they are completely estranged from each other.
"Secret Invasion" reveals several series of twists and turns about Priscilla and Fury's
relationship including that Priscilla is involved with Gravik's rebellion.
But when the time comes, she defies orders to kill Fury.
The price she pays is that she has to put her life on the line instead.
The odds are stacked against Fury and Varra given that they literally come from different
worlds, but despite their past and the current conflict, they are still lovers looking to
find each other again after suffering through great trauma.
By the end, they both have taken a few steps toward each other.
Most important for their reunion, Varra reveals her true self to Fury before he leaves for
his new mission.
When he sees her as a Skrull for the first time, he promises to love her for who she
really is.
This marks a fresh start for the couple, and Fury asks Varra to come on the mission with
him and help negotiate the peace talks with the Kree.
While "Secret Invasion" provides a compelling conclusion to the threat of Gravik's terrorist
Skrulls, it leaves plenty of unanswered questions and room for storylines to continue down the
line.
This might happen sooner than expected, since "The Marvels," which premieres in November
2023, is a sequel to five MCU projects: "Captain Marvel," "WandaVision," "Avengers: Endgame,"
"Ms. Marvel," and "Secret Invasion."
Since the movie takes place after the series, Nick Fury and Varra's peace talks with the
Kree will have begun or potentially been completed.
G'iah might be one of the Skrulls set to appear in "The Marvels" as well, since she's not
just their leader, but also one of the most powerful characters in the MCU now.
It's possible she'll have a target on her back across the galaxy with anyone seeking
to use her blood to recreate the Harvest serum for themselves.
Rhodey's storyline from "Secret Invasion" will also continue, but in "Armor Wars" rather
than "The Marvels."