Series Phase 4 — Multiverse Opens (2024–2025)

Secret Invasion (Season 1)

Name: Secret Invasion (Season 1)
Released: 2023-06-21
Duration: 330 min
Rating: 6.5
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Killian Scott, Samuel Adewunmi

"Who do you trust?"

Released June 21, 2023 5h 30m ★ 6.5TMDB ◆ Recommended for the MCU

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

Watch note

Rogue Skrulls bomb Moscow to start a war, and Fury comes down from space to stop them. Maria Hill and Talos are killed. 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.

Watch These First

22 titles lead into Secret Invasion (Season 1) — 48 hours in total. All 22 are essential.

Captain America: The First Avenger Essential 2h 4m ★ 7.0
Captain Marvel Essential 2h 4m ★ 6.8
Iron Man Essential 2h 6m ★ 7.7
Iron Man 2 Essential 2h 4m ★ 6.9
The Incredible Hulk Essential 1h 52m ★ 6.3
Iron Man 2 (Post-Credit Scene) Essential 0h 2m
Thor Essential 1h 55m ★ 6.8 +2 before this
Captain America: The First Avenger (Credits) Essential 0h 2m
Thor (Post-Credit Scene) Essential 0h 2m
The Avengers Essential 2h 23m ★ 8.1 +2 before this
Iron Man 3 Essential 2h 10m ★ 6.9
Thor: The Dark World Essential 1h 52m ★ 6.5
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Essential 2h 16m ★ 7.7 +3 before this
Guardians of the Galaxy Essential 2h 1m ★ 7.9
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Essential 2h 16m ★ 7.6
Avengers: Age of Ultron Essential 2h 21m ★ 7.3
Captain America: Civil War Essential 2h 27m ★ 7.5 +1 before this
Eyes of Wakanda (Season 1) Essential 2h ★ 6.2
Black Panther Essential 2h 14m ★ 7.4
Spider-Man: Homecoming Essential 2h 13m ★ 7.3
Doctor Strange Essential 1h 55m ★ 7.4
Thor: Ragnarok Essential 2h 10m ★ 7.6 +2 before this
Avengers: Infinity War Essential 2h 29m ★ 8.2 +5 before this
Captain Marvel (Post-Credits Scene) Essential 0h 2m
Avengers: Endgame Essential 3h 2m ★ 8.2 +10 before this
Avengers: Endgame Encore Essential 3h 5m +10 before this
Peter's To-Do List Essential 0h 4m ★ 7.0
Spider-Man: Far From Home Essential 2h 9m ★ 7.4

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Where It Fits in the MCU

Secret Invasion (Season 1) sits at position 140 of 158 in the MCU's story-chronological order, placing it within the Phase 4 — Multiverse Opens (2024–2025) era. It is rated Recommended — skippable, but you will miss something. 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.