Secret Invasion Cast, Story & Everything We Know

After 15 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we're finally getting a Secret Invasion adaptation in the world's highest-grossing franchise. We truly never thought this day would come.

The story is a pretty big deal in the world of Marvel Comics, forging an airtight mystery around the invasion of the Skrulls that seem to have overtaken the identities of many heroes and villains.

Samuel L. Jackson's fan-favourite Nick Fury is tasked with bringing it to an end, and with a ballooning cast of new faces joining the MCU in unconfirmed roles, the show is fittingly wrought with mystery.

So, that bears the question - what do we actually know about Secret Invasion? Here's all you need to know about the Secret Invasion cast, story, and more. 

Is There A Secret Invasion Release Date?

Even though we don't have a concrete release date for the upcoming espionage-y adventure for Nick Fury and co, that doesn't mean we don't know when to expect it.

Secret Invasion is set to launch in early 2023, and we're hoping that it'll rear its head in the next few months. With something of a Marvel drought since She-Hulk, it's starting to feel like we're overdue for something new.

The latest update comes courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, with sources close to the site claiming Disney is scaling back its Marvel output due to franchise fatigue. Apparently, "Numbers matter now, and costs are going to be outlined and enforced."

While the start of the Phase 5 slate was originally packed with everything from X-Men '97 to Agatha: Coven of Chaos, it now looks like Loki Season 2 and Secret Invasion will be the only shows to launch this year. Still, it would be nice if we had a Secret Invasion release date. 

Secret Invasion Cast - Who's In Secret Invasion?

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The returning Marvel militia coming back for Secret Invasion are the aforementioned Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman). There's also Don Cheadle's Rhodey, and if none of these are a secret Skrull, we'll be surprised.

In terms of newcomers, there's a galaxy of A-Listers joining the series, with many in unknown roles. Oscar-winner Olivia Colman plays Sonya Falsworth - an old ally of Nick Fury - while Dermot Mulroney is seemingly POTUS Michael Ritson.

Kingsley Ben-Adir is the villainous Graivk, who is the leader of the Skrull invasion, joined by mysterious parts for Killian Scott, Christopher McDonald, and Carmen Ejogo. The big one is Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke and the question mark about her part.

All signs point to Clarke playing the green-haired Abigail Brand, a prominent mutant and head of S.W.O.R.D. Clarke joined the cast in 2021, and back then, told ComicBook.com, "To be part of that family feels like, 'Oh my god, I'm in the cool kid crowd. That's so cool.'"

Secret Invasion Story - What Happens In Secret Invasion?

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Marvel is keeping the story of Secret Invasion locked down pretty tight (who'd have thought?), but as with plenty of other Marvel properties, we have a comic book to go off.

The story sees Fury take lead on an operation to weed out a faction of Skrulls, who over a long string of years, have gradually infiltrated Earth posing as humans. Calling it now, we bet President Ritson is actually a Skrull. 

The original comic also saw a huge wad of heroes replaced by Skrulls too, with the likes of Spider-Woman being secret Skrulls. As Jessica Drew isn't part of this world yet, we guess some of our favourite Avengers might've been usurped by Skrull imposters.

Speaking at Comic-Con 2022, Smulders warned, "You're never going to know who people are. Are they a Skrull? Are they a human? It's going to be a bit of a guessing game."

Many thought Secret Invasion would lead on from the WandaVision post-credits scene with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) being sent to space, but now that The Marvels has been pushed to November, it's unclear whether these ties will remain. 

Beyond that, we're not sure how Secret Invasion will weave into the events of the MCU so far. It feels a bit like this ensemble is a low-key Avengers movie, but it's likely to leave ramifications for plenty of series and films to come.