Did Secret Invasion's Finale Set Up the MCU's X-Men?

The season finale of Secret Invasion made its debut on Wednesday, capping off the latest live-action series within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The show might have taken some liberties when compared to the Secret Invasion comics, but it did make some unexpected moves for the franchise itself. Even as we know that Secret Invasion will lead into this fall's The Marvels, there's a chance that its impact on the MCU could've been even greater — and may have helped lay the groundwork for the inevitable debut of the franchise's X-Men. Spoilers for all six episodes of Secret Invasion below! Only look if you want to know!

In the fourth episode of Secret Invasion, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment reveals the occupation of Varra (Charlayne Woodard), the Skrull wife of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). More specifically, a framed book jacket for a book written by Varra's human alias, Priscilla Davis, can be seen on the wall of their home. The book is titled Decoding the Superhuman Gene, and even features a faint outline of an X. Fast forward to Secret Invasion's final moments, when Nick invites Varra to travel to space with him to enter peace talks with the Kree. Varra agrees, but says she can't stay long, because "all my work is here, darling", and that work has "never been more important."

Did Secret Invasion Tease the X-Men?

While these Secret Invasion nods are incredibly fleeting, they do reveal that Priscilla/Varra has been working as some sort of doctor in genetics, work that she continued to do after the human Priscilla passed away. This, combined with the X included on her book jacket, could certainly lead fans to believe that the "Superhuman Gene" is a precursor to the X-Gene that creates the X-Men.

While there would've certainly been a lot of avenues to explore Varra's genetics research on the show itself, especially once The Harvest and Super-Skrulls entered the picture, the fact that they didn't makes this line doubly interesting. Maybe Varra could eventually have a tie to the X-Men once they debut in the MCU, or maybe her work is completely unrelated.

When Will the X-Men Join the MCU?

The biggest showcase of Marvel's merry mutants in the MCU will be next year's Deadpool 3, which will see the return of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as Deadpool and Wolverine. Beyond that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has teased that the X-Men are arriving sooner than later.

"You know how much I love the X-Men," Feige explained in a 2021 interview. "I already said that's where I started. I can't tell you anything before we actually announced it, but rest assured, the discussions have been long and ongoing internally."

What do you think of Secret Invasion possibly teasing the MCU's X-Men? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!