As announced during 2020 Disney Investor’s Day, a Secret Invasion series with Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn reprising their roles as Nick Fury and Skrull Talos respectively is set to arrive on the streaming service later this year. Based on the 2008 event comic book limited series, Secret Invasion sees the shape-shifting Skrull aliens enact their conquest of planet Earth. In yet another move for corporate synergy, through an IGN exclusive Marvel has announced a Secret Invasion sequel 5-issue limited series from writer Ryan North and artist Francesco Mobili. No additional creators for the issue were named in the announcement.
The fact that the new series shares the same title as the original may cause some confusion. But North elaborated how it connects with the 2008 series.
“It’s a sequel in that it takes place in the same Marvel Universe as the first one and everyone in the story remembers the first one happening, but it’s more of a standalone story because they’ve all learned from that adventure and aren’t interested in seeing it go the same way twice, where they almost lose the Earth to alien invaders You don’t have to have any of the 2008 series to enjoy this, of course – the book tells you all you need to know – but if you have there’s a few little callbacks you’ll catch.”
North praised artist Francesco Mobili:
“Francesco’s approach has been incredible. I’ll give you one example: there’s a spread in issue one where you see a single room in a house. I described it as best I can, but Francesco elevated it, adding incredible touches like a Dutch angle, and a very clever construction to the image itself that uses mirrors to reflect the idea of identity. It’s just really, really thoughtful imagery, and I’m so excited (and honoured) to be getting to work with someone so talented, someone so at the top of their game.”
One significant difference from the original Secret Invasion is that the sequel will focus on Maria Hill and the new Nick Fury, the latter of whom wasn’t incorporated into the comics until after Secret Invasion was published.
“This is really Maria’s story. I see her as this really competent, really clever woman who’s great at her job, which just happens to sometimes be protecting Earth from shape-shifting alien invaders. What interested me is seeing how an alien invasion story would play out if A) Earth knew what the Skrulls had done before, and B) and used the time since then to prepare. So it’s a less of an ‘Avenger VS Avenger’ story and more of exploration of how even the best, most-funded systems can still fail under unexpected load, and because of basic human nature. That said, there are definitely Avengers punching Avengers in this, so let’s say it’s the best of both worlds: an exciting story of intrigue and collapse, and cool fights with cool heroes.”
Indeed, North emphasized the self-contained nature of the Secret Invasion sequel compared to the original:
“I feel like when you’re talking about a new book there’s an instinct to say, ‘Yes, this book changes everything! Miss out on it and you’ll be lost forever, weeping and cursing yourself a fool!!’ But honestly – this isn’t that story,” North says. “The way it ends changes the status quo in some pretty interesting ways so I supposed the answer to your question is, technically yes, there’s elements here that cast a long shadow, but really it’s a self-contained story with a clear beginning, middle, and end, about some really cool and clever characters we all love facing a problem that just might be beyond their ability to control. It’s twisty and fun but I don’t want anyone to read it because they feel like it might be homework! They should read it because it’s gonna be super cool, and because Francesco is making every single panel sing. I can’t wait for it to be out in the world.”
The first issue will sport a main cover by Giuseppe Camuncoli and variant covers by other artists such as Matteo Lolli and Gabrielle Dell’Otto.
Look for Secret Invasion to arrive later in 2022.
