Series Phase 4 — Multiverse Opens (2024–2025)

Secret Invasion (Season 1)

Name: Secret Invasion (Season 1)
Released: 2023-06-21
Duration: 330 min
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Killian Scott, Samuel Adewunmi

"Who do you trust?"

Released June 21, 2023 5h 30m ○ Optional

Nick Fury and Talos discover a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls who have been infiltrating Earth for years.

Watch note

Rogue Skrulls attempt a nuclear attack. Fury's post-Endgame Skrull replacement revealed. No confirmed Doomsday payoff.

Why It Matters in the MCU

The six-episode Skrull conspiracy series drew on the premise of the classic comics event — any human could secretly be a Skrull, including the people closest to Nick Fury — and delivered a political thriller with Sam Jackson anchoring every frame. The compressed format prevents the kind of paranoia build-up the premise needed, but Olivia Colman's Sonya Falsworth and the Gravik antagonist's radicalization arc are both genuinely strong performances in service of a storyline that needed more room. The finale's consequences — including a central death — carry more dramatic weight than the build-up fully supports.

Where It Fits in the MCU

Secret Invasion (Season 1) sits at position 115 of 133 in the MCU's story-chronological order, placing it within the Phase 4 — Multiverse Opens (2024–2025) era. It is rated Optional — can be skipped without losing the main thread. Watching in story-chronological order provides the most coherent character development experience — individual arcs build naturally toward the franchise's major crossover events, with each film's post-credits scenes carrying forward into what follows.