Secret Invasion Has Already Replaced Prominent Marvel Heroes as Skrulls

Another Secret Invasion is overtaking the Marvel Universe. The first Secret Invasion event took place between 2008 and 2009, as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes had to fight back a Skrull invasion of Earth. Marvel Studios is adapting Secret Invasion into a Disney+ limited series, and Marvel Comics is also revisiting it as well. Writer Ryan North and artist Francesco Mobili are collaborating on a new Secret Invasion miniseries, featuring Nick Fury and Maria Hill as its main characters. Since Skrulls can shapeshift, they can take on the appearance of any hero or villain they like. The first issue of Secret Invasion concludes with several Marvel heroes having already been replaced by Skrulls.

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion #1. Continue reading at your own risk!

Secret Invasion #1 is from the creative team of Ryan North, Francesco Mobili, Jordie Bellaire, and VC’s Joe Caramagna. It follows Nick Fury checking out a possible Skrull lead and informing Maria Hill of his mission. Maria is now working for the CIA since S.H.I.E.L.D. is now defunct. After Nick Fury recaps how an Iowa family was replaced by Skrulls, Maria gives him a test to determine if he’s a Skrull as well. Of course, Nick fails, and Maria Hill has him arrested and thrown into a cell. Other Skrulls impersonating Nick Fury are also captured.

Maria Hill gives the Avengers a call to alert them regarding another Secret Invasion taking place. Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, and Echo complete a training exercise, and we follow one of the heroes as they enter a unisex bathroom. This unknown character then changes into a Skrull, stating, “Well… that’s not the news I was hoping to hear today.”

What Is Marvel’s Sequel to Secret Invasion? 

Secret Invasion is a five-issue limited series from writer Ryan North and artist Francesco Mobili. The first Secret Invasion storyline revealed that a faction of shape-shifting Skrulls had infiltrated the Marvel Universe years back, replacing key figures (heroes, villains, officials) with deep-cover operatives. Earth’s heroes had to figure out who was who in time to stop an all-out Skrull invasion from both within their ranks, and outer space. 

North previously teased that this will be a “continuation” of the events that the first Secret Invasion set in motion.

“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,” Ryan North told IGN. “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.”

This new iteration of Secret Invasion will also focus on Maria Hill. “This is really Maria’s story,” North explained. “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) used the time since then to prepare.”

Secret Invasion #1 by Ryan North, Francesco Mobili, Jordie Bellaire, and VC’s Joe Caramagna is on sale now from Marvel Comics.