New ‘Secret Invasion’ Images Show the Paranoia of the Skrull Infiltration

Discussion and new media surrounding one of Marvel’s most intriguing new properties has been quite hard to come by – but today, we’ve been given a huge new look at their upcoming thriller series Secret Invasion, courtesy of Vanity Fair.

Star Cobie Smulders discussed the paranoia and subterfuge at play in what appears to be a properly gritty spy espionage drama, with elements of science fiction-based psychological horror when she spoke at the Marvel Panel during last year’s Comic-Con: “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 a human? It’s going to be a bit of a guessing game.”

And these images certainly show off the characters in new ways. We’re used to seeing Marvel characters in flashy costumes, and in supernatural and extraterrestrial settings, but this is a grounded and mature Marvel series, and the characters on display demonstrate that. Samuel L. Jackson‘s Nick Fury, sans eyepatch, looks like a cosplayer of John Wick‘s Bowery King, while Smulders truly is “on the ground” in her street clothes.

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Who Else Is In Secret Invasion?

We’re also given a look at the returning Martin Freeman as Everett Ross, the CIA agent who was most recently seen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Naturally, as a government agent, he will need to be involved in any threat dealing with infiltration—but he’s also traded in the shirt and tie for spy gear. Emilia Clarke, the Game of Thrones veteran, joins the series as G’hia, the daughter of Ben Mendelsohn‘s Talos—and we’re shown a reunion between the two, who have grown antagonistic towards each other since we first met the pair in 2019’s Captain Marvel. Clarke plays a Skrull radical who is sick of the lack of progress made in the deal to re-home the Skrulls, a deal brokered by her father.

Fury and Talos have worked closely together in the years following, as shown in the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, when it was revealed that Fury had been “off-world” on a space station while Talos took his place on Earth using his shapeshifting abilities, and their bond is evident in the new images. And finally, we’re given looks at Olivia Colman‘s mysterious MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth, a former ally of Fury—and another sign that the infiltration will reach more than just American shores – as well as Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Gravik, who is the leader of a group of rebel Skrulls who have grown tired of Talos’ leadership.

Secret Invasion will launch on June 21, 2023, and will consist of six episodes that will be directed by Thomas Bezucha and Ali Selim. Check out our interview with Clarke below: