Why Is ‘Secret Invasion’ So Boring?

Secret Invasion really should be the show of the summer. It’s a Marvel Studios TV show starring one of the biggest stars in Hollywood history with a premise that feels ripe for memes and fan theories… So why does it not seem to be capturing the zeitgeist?

It’s starring Samuel L. Jackson! It has a premise that is built for Lost-level fan theories! It should be talked about as much as FX/Hulu’s The Bear, arguably the actual show of the summer. Instead of being a buzzed-about hit akin to WandaVision, which had the internet losing its mind trying to decipher hexagons and seeing Marvel’s devil (Mephisto) in every detail, Secret Invasion is just kinda… There.

The series features a super spy standing up against a secret — yet overtly hostile — takeover of Earth. The invaders: a bunch of shapeshifting aliens who could be anyone and, since they’ve been on Earth for nearly 30 years, they also could have been anyone all along. It’s part Mission: Impossible, part Invasion of the Body Snatchers, all run through Marvel’s (usually) well-maintained story engine. Secret Invasion should absolutely be generating as much online chatter and YouTube theories as WandaVision or at least Loki. Just like those original Marvel Studio shows did, Secret Invasion should be keeping our brains active.

Instead, it feels like Secret Invasion was deliberately crafted to be passive television, as if they made every choice imaginable to stifle any viewer engagement. Nick Fury is going up against shapeshifting terrorists and he is suspicious of no one. He tells Rhodey (Don Cheadle) that his security detail could be spies, a.k.a. Skrulls, and Rhodey doesn’t even blink. The only Skrull surprise we’ve gotten in two episodes is the reveal that Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) was a Skrull, but there’s no follow-up on that. Maria Hill and Talos are ostensibly his teammates (remember, Skrull Ross had Hill on speed dial), but they question nothing about him being switched out. They don’t wonder how or when Ross was replaced, nor do they wonder where he really is. Like, can someone please go rescue Martin Freeman? There’s not even any suspicion around Fury’s sudden return to Earth, even though the last time he came to Earth he sent a Skrull in his stead.

Even the Skrulls that have snatched bodies are handled with zero suspense. A scene with the Skrull council in Episode 2 reveals that pretty much every important human figure that we just met is a Skrull. No buildup at all, just “Here’s Christopher McDonald perfectly cast as a Fox News-style pundit and yep he’s a Skrull.” Maybe the lack of mystery regarding who is and isn’t a Skrull would be fine if there was any mystery surrounding Gravik’s grand plan, but the clues we were given in Episode 2 seem too obvious. Please tell me that Gravik is not harvesting DNA samples from various MCU characters so he can use a machine to turn his troops into souped-up Super-Skrulls. That is exactly what he appears to be doing, and we really should not have that clear of a grasp on his grand plan after two episodes; particularly as the show is playing it as a big mystery. Where is the suspense?

This is one instance where not hewing closer to the comic book story is really, really hurting Secret Invasion. As we should all be aware by now, Marvel movies borrow names from comic book storylines (Winter Soldier, Civil War, Age of Ultron, etc.) but they never adapt the plots of those series. The problem with Secret Invasion is that I remember the Hot Skrull Summer of 2008 when, in an era before social media, fans had to freak out face to face when it was revealed that Elektra or Spider-Woman — the Spider-Woman we’d been following for three and a half years! — were really little green shapeshifters. There was legit intrigue and paranoia around this storyline, and it was fun.

We’re a third of the way into Secret Invasion and so far this is a show about shapeshifters who rarely shape-shift. This is a spy thriller with no spying. This is a mystery where no one is paranoid, or investigating any mysteries. Instead of keeping us awake at night wondering who might be a Skrull, Secret Invasion plays more like a Pure Moods CD. Put it on and drift away.