Although Secret Invasion was a disappointment to many Marvel fans, its ending laid some interesting ground work that could make for a very good Season 2.
Secret Invasion has come to an end as one of the worst-reviewed projects in the MCU, with criticism of the show’s CGI, uneven quality, and short runtime of the finale.
The show promised a spy-thriller similar to the comic run of the same name, with Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury as the centerpiece in trying to figure out which long-time Marvel heroes were actually Skrulls. Despite this interesting setup, the titular invasion never felt as though it was deep enough to be a real threat, nor that it posed any real stakes to the main characters.
Ultimately, the cloak and dagger show devolved into a CGI slugfest at the end, leaving most fans unsatisfied. However, the ending of the series also showed some elements that, if expanded in in a Secret Invasion Season 2, could do justice to the show’s name.
Warning: Spoilers for Secret Invasion to follow
Secret Invasion Season 2 could raise the stakes with Super Skrulls
The comic version of Skrulls includes the Super Skrulls, warriors who elect to undergo enhancements that allow them to copy the abilities of Marvel heroes in the same way they can copy human DNA. But before Secret Invasion, Super Skrulls were not a thing that existed in the MCU.
What made the comic Secret Invasion so interesting was that any of the Marvel heroes from Black Bolt to Spider-Woman to Elektra could be Skrulls. But in the MCU, it wasn’t possible for a Skrull to replicate the powers of enhanced or non-human heroes like Spider-Man, Hulk, Groot, Ms. Marvel, or Black Panther.
This drastically lowered the stakes of the first season, because Skrulls could only have taken over regular human characters like Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Col. James Rhodes, Everett Ross, or Sam Wilson.
But now that Super Skrull technology has been unlocked, a second season could reveal that some of those powered heroes were actually swapped with Skrulls.
If a Secret Invasion Season 2 revealed that major players like Captain Marvel, Valkyrie, or She-Hulk had been replaced by Skrulls, rather than just Rhodey and Ross, it could make future movies have even more intrigue as we don’t know who to fully trust.
Secret Invasion Season 2 could nerf the Super Skrulls
The introduction of Super Skrulls in Season 1 also created a massive power. In the finale, both Gi’ah and Gravik gain the powers of almost all the MCU heroes, including incredibly powerful characters like Captain Marvel and the Hulk.
Many fans have joked that Gi’ah is now the most powerful being in the MCU, stronger even than Captain Marvel. This creates an issue because if the MCU has one or two characters who are essentially gods, they can make the rest of the Avengers obselete.
Giah is now most overpowered character in mcu ☠️ #SecretInvasion pic.twitter.com/rEW1yZ3hkB
— iko 😵💫 (@irakliwontmiss) July 26, 2023
So a second season would give Marvel a chance to reign in this powerset that Gi’ah now has, adding some sort of limitation where she can’t just be Thor, Captain Marvel, Hulk, Ghost, and Thanos all rolled into one.
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Until that happens, either in Season 2 or another MCU project, Gi’ah and the Super Skrulls remain a silver bullet to fight most of the upcoming MCU villains.
More time with the good Secret Invasion characters
Even though she is an extremely overpowered hero, Gi’ah’s conflicted taken on humanity and the Skrulls’ position on Earth – set right between Talos’s assimilation and Gravik’s conquering stances – could be interesting going forward.
As a potential leader of the Skrulls, Gi’ah could serve as an uneasy ally to the humans and Avengers, as she tries to use her powers and influence to get the Skrulls a permanent home (whether on Earth or another planet).
Secret Invasion Season 1 ended with Gi’ah forming an alliance with Sonya Falsworth, which is the sort of relationship that could make for a fascinating dynamic in a second season. As Falsworth herself said, “I’ll use you and you’ll use me.”
It could create a fascinating cat-and-mouse dynamic between the two, as they could be ostensibly working side-by-side against a common enemy in Season 2. But neither will truly know what the other’s end goal is.
Season 2 could have a proper Secret Invasion
The most interesting part of Secret Invasion’s finale was a brief montage where the President declared open war on the Skrulls. We saw vigilante groups hunting and executing presumed Skrulls as humanity became aware that anyone around them could be replaced by an alien.
This setup creates a fascinating opportunity that would crank the paranoia and political intrigue that the show promised to 11.
Imagine, a scenario where vigilantes are targeting a US political figure, under the belief that they are actually a Skrull. Falsworth and Gi’ah could be tasked with protecting that politician and rooting out the threat against them. But underneath this simple mission, there would still be questions as to whether this politician is a Skrull or not, whether the vigilantes are targeting them for another reason and just using the Skrull explanation as a cover, whether anyone around the politician is a Skrull themselves, and then whether the politician’s survival could further either Falsworth or Gi’ah’s ultimate goals.
The point is that, in a world where no one truly knows whether someone is human or not, the possibilities for a plot are endless. Marvel could mix-and-match elements from political dramas (House of Cards, The West Wing), spy thrillers (The Americans, Alias), and counter-terror dramas (24, Homeland) in a truly unique way.
Just because the MCU didn’t fully take advantage of that premise in Secret Invasion, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try again. If they do it right and use the few good pieces left by the first season, Secret Invasion Season 2 could be a crown jewel of Marvel television.
Secret Invasion Episodes 1-6 are available to stream on Disney+ now. Check out our other coverage below:
- Episode 1 review
- Episode 2 review
- Episode 3 review
- Episode 4 review
- Episode 5 review
- Episode 6 review
- Secret Invasion ending explained
- Secret Invasion cast and characters
- Secret Invasion episodes and release schedule
- How to watch Secret Invasion
- When is Secret Invasion set in the MCU timeline?
- Who is Gravik?
- Who is Olivia Colman’s Sonya Falsworth?
- Super-Skrulls explained
- Is Talos dead?
- What is the Harvest?