Secret Invasion is coming to TV later this year, and a second comic book miniseries bearing the Secret Invasion title, created by Ryan North, Francesco Mobili, Jordie Bellaire, and Joe Caramagna, recently finished. Both of these new series were inspired by the 2008 Marvel Comics miniseries and crossover event titled Secret Invasion, which saw shapeshifting Skrulls secretly replace some of Earth’s mightiest heroes.
The Secret Invasion TV show trailer indicates that the show will largely follow Nick Fury as opposed to focusing on the Avengers themselves. The new Secret Invasion comic series focuses similarly on Nick Fury’s former lieutenant, Maria Hill, now working for the C.I.A. Given the limited characters who exist in the MCU, it seems likely the new TV show may also draw on this new miniseries for inspiration.
10 Nick Fury Makes Mistakes
After reading Marvel comics and watching the Marvel movies, many fans imagine that longtime Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury is always one step ahead of his enemies. Fury always seems to know what’s coming next, and already have an effective defense planned.
Secret Invasion revealed that even Nick Fury can get it wrong. The series started with Fury investigating a possible Skrull sighting, where he was captured by the very Skrulls he was searching for. The Skrulls then impersonated Fury in order to gain influence. In the end, Fury was able to admit his limitations, and even attempted to hire the Skrull team who helped him.
9 Maria Hill Is Always Cautious
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Everyone knows that spies are incredibly cautious and suspicious of others, and Maria Hill is no exception. Hill has worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. and other spy organizations for most of her adult life, and she is always looking for the unseen plots and angles that could pose a threat.
During Secret Invasion, Maria Hill caught the Skrull posing as Nick Fury when he failed to respond in their pre-approved way. She suspected everyone at every turn, unless she got evidence to the contrary. Hill also revealed that she had countermeasures for every major hero ready to use, including her own Iron Man suit.
8 The Avengers' Danger Room
After discovering a Skrull infiltrator, Maria Hill’s obvious first stop was the Avengers. When she arrived, the team was fighting in their new training facility–the Avengers’ own Danger Room. Apparently they needed a bit more work though, because the Skrull Black Widow kicked their butts after she was exposed.
The Avengers’ Danger Room had so much potential as a plot device, but ultimately proved to be a misdirection, as it didn’t appear again. Group scenes with the Avengers did feature one other fun surprise though–Squirrel Girl repeatedly appeared with the main team, and even became involved in the plot in a minor way.
7 The Skrull Can Beat Reed Richards' Skrull Detectors
After the Skrull invasion in the original Secret Invasion series, Earth’s heroes and governments obviously took measures to try and ensure that nothing similar could ever happen again. Reed Richards created a Skrull detector, and the new comic series explained that detectors had been installed in every intelligence building.
Unfortunately, the Skrulls who infiltrated the planet in the new Secret Invasion were able to fool the Skrull detectors. Maria Hill devised a new test involving testing peoples’ blood, which would turn green if they were a Skrull (or She-Hulk, who also has green blood). The new test proved imperfect after Iron Man was able to trick the new test using subcutaneous blood packs though.
6 A Skrull On Earth Is A Mutant
After Maria Hill realized that Iron Man and Squirrel Girl were willingly working with a group of Skrulls, she was introduced to Gillian, Squirrel Girl’s Skrull friend. Gillian is not just a Skrull, but a Mutant Skrull. Her Mutant ability allows her to transform into shapes that are a different size than her original form.
Mutants play a big role in the Marvel Comics universe, thanks to the X-Men and their peers. However, Mutants are typically originally human. The Skrulls already possess a powerful shape-shifting ability, so the addition of Mutant powers makes Skrull Mutants formidable foes. Perhaps the X-Men should attempt to recruit Gillian and harness her powers in the future.
5 Iron Man Works With Friendly Skrulls
As the Secret Invasion miniseries continued, Maria Hill discovered that there were multiple groups of Skrulls living on Earth. One of those groups was friendly to humans, and already working in secret with Iron Man, after Squirrel Girl introduced them.
When Tony Stark was revealed to be a Skrull who had beaten the blood test, readers thought the worst. It turned out, however, that Stark had been allowing Skrulls to use his spare Iron Man suits to fight minor crimes. He figured they were more reliable than AI, and they could pretend to be him if they had to remove the helmet. Tony works smarter, not harder.
4 A Skrull Replaced Maria Hill
The biggest reveal from Secret Invasion came after Maria Hill, or rather the Skrull posing as Hill, transformed and showed her captors that they had captured the wrong person. The reader was led to believe that Hill had shot the friendly Skrulls, but she was in fact working with them to deceive the Skrull invaders.
After staging a battle with Iron Man on the C.I.A. helicarrier, Maria Hill’s Skrull prisoner was released. A friendly Skrull, disguised as Hill, jumped out of the helicarrier after the escaped prisoner, then allowed herself to be captured and taken to where the group was holding Nick Fury. In typical villain fashion, the invading Skrulls revealed their plan before the ruse was unveiled.
3 The Skrulls Target Humans, Not Superheroes
During the first Secret Invasion, the invading Skrulls infiltrated the Earth by replacing many of the Avengers. This led to Maria Hill first suspecting the Avengers after she uncovered the new Skrull invasion, particularly after Black Widow was revealed as a Skrull imposter. The Skrull learned from their first attempt, however, and came up with a new plan.
The invading Skrull team revealed that this time, they had mostly infiltrated human military and political targets instead of superheroes. By replacing Senators and Generals, the invading force gained control of the United States’ nuclear arsenal, and had planned to use that to conquer the Earth.
2 A Super-Skrull Was Behind The Attack
When Maria Hill and Iron Man spoke with the friendly group of Skrulls, the aliens said they knew nothing of the invasion, and speculated that the Skrull government or military must have been responsible for the invasion. Everyone was confused, given that Dorrek VIII, the Skrull emperor, is friendly to Earth.
On the final pages of the miniseries, it was revealed that a Super-Skrull was responsible for the failed invasion attempt. Maria Hill and the heroes of Earth may have caught the team attempting to infiltrate the planet, but they didn’t discover the Super-Skrull’s involvement. The team was captured, but the Super-Skrull remained at large.
1 People Can Overcome Their Prejudices
One recurring theme throughout the Secret Invasion miniseries was prejudice. Both Maria Hill and Iron Man expressed their disdain for the Skrulls at various points. They had trouble believing that Gillian and her peers were trustworthy, and Tony Stark said, “never trust a Skrull,” which Squirrel Girl and Gillian found incredibly offensive.
The heroes’ prejudice against the Skrulls as a whole based on the actions of a select few has obvious parallels to real life. People carry all sorts of prejudices against different types of people for a number of reasons. This story showed that people shouldn’t judge each other based on the actions of others, and everyone is stronger when they work together instead of distrusting each other.