Secret Invasion: Kevin Feige on Adapting Major Marvel Comic Event to Disney+ Series (Exclusive)

Secret Invasion is one of the most acclaimed Marvel Comics events in the comic franchise’s history. The story calls for shapeshifting Skrulls to invade the planet, often posing as Avengers, in an effort to dethrone Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and take over the world. It called for dozens of Avengers heroes and other Marvel characters to play roles. Years later, the series originally written by Brian Michael Bendis is seeing itself get adapted into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a series starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn as Nick Fury and Talos, respectively. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige opened up about the upcoming Secret Invasion series coming to Disney+, promising the key elements of the comic are going to remain, even if the massive roster of characters does not.

During a press event in promotion of Friday’s WandaVision premiere, Feige connected with ComicBook.com via Zoom, where we asked if the Secret Invasion TV series will match the scope of the comic series, in terms of total characters and impact on the Marvel Universe. “Well, there were more characters in the Secret Invasion comic series than there were in Endgame so, no,” Feige admits. “It’s not that but it very much is a showcase for Sam Jackson and Ben Mendelson and tapping into the paranoia elements of the Secret Invasion comic series that was great with the twists and turns that that took. So, that’s certainly our focus more than, ‘Can we cram in more characters than Endgame? like publishing?’”

The seeds for a Secret Invasion series or movie were first planted in the Captain Marvel movie which introduced Skrulls into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, before they went on to have roles in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Far From Home showed Talos and Nick Fury have been doing a considerable amount of work together, as Talos and his wife Soren essentially filled in for Nick Fury and Maria Hill throughout Spider-Man: Far From Home. Fury was out in the cosmos, expected by fans to have been founding SWORD (a cosmic version of SHIELD, for brevity’s sake) and SWORD is playing a part in WandaVision.

The next steps to Secret Invasion could come in the WandaVision series or, at least, some characters who will be involved with the story. Teyonah Parris checks in as Monica Rambeau, promising viewers will see what the character has been up to since she was a young girl in Louisiana in the Captain Marvel movie before going on to Captain Marvel 2 in 2022. Secret Invasion does not yet have a release date but it is possible the series could lead into Captain Marvel 2, especially with how connected the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in the wake of Avengers: Endgame and many of the titles are seeing more crossovers than in previous phases.

“Basically, in WandaVision, we pick up with who she is now as a grown woman. Through the course of the show we find out what she’s been up to, what’s happened to her in that gap,” Parris revealed, before reminding fans that “we will get to see Monica join Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, and Ms. Marvel in Captain Marvel 2!”

For more from ComicBook.com’s interview with Feige, watch and listen to it in its entirety on ComicBook.com’s Phase Zero podcast which launches its first episode on Friday!

Are you excited for WandaVision, Secret Invasion, and the rest of the Marvel content coming in 2021 and 2022? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram.