Secret Invasion Could've Taken More Cues From Captain America: The Winter Soldier
While their powers may be perfect for espionage, Secret Invasion's Skrulls could've learned a few things from The Winter Soldier's Hydra infiltration.
Nick Fury fought Hydra spies long before the Skrull Resistance established themselves, and the Skrulls could've adopted Hydra's more secretive tactics. Before the Secret Invasion series, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was the first Marvel Cinematic Universe attempt at a spy thriller narrative with a superhero twist and featured Hydra as the main villain. The threat of clandestine infiltrators is not new to Nick Fury when Secret Invasion continues his story.
Secret Invasion follows spymaster Nick Fury as he discovers a secret conspiracy conducted by terrorist Skrulls. These shapeshifting aliens use their deceptive powers to attempt to start World War 3. However, their schemes could've been more effective if they had taken cues from Hydra's strategy book.
The Skrulls Could've Better Manipulated Fury's Trust in His Friends
The Skrull Resistance could've taken more inspiration from Hydra by trying to get closer to Fury. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Nick Fury found out that S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised by Hydra. The paramilitary organization infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ranks and rebuilt itself from within Fury's agency, secretly manipulating its resources to destabilize the world and ensure global Hydra control. The film revealed that multiple MCU characters who were once believed to be loyal government allies -- like S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell and U.S. Senator Stern -- were secret Hydra members who plotted the destruction of their enemies. Secret Invasion revisits the infiltration premise with its introduction of the Skrull Resistance. This radical group of alien shapeshifters conspires to conquer Earth by assuming the human identities of international military and political leaders. Although these two organizations pursue their goals in similar ways, the Skrull Resistance struggles to pose the same threat embodied by Hydra.
One reason the Skrulls' danger to Nick Fury is minimal is that they remotely deploy most of their operatives from their New Skrullos home, located far from any human city. The radical Skrulls' isolation from human society drastically reduces the chances of Fury encountering their agents in everyday life and undermines the paranoid spy thriller atmosphere the series tries to evoke. Hydra presented a legitimate threat worthy of paranoia because their agents worked alongside Fury every day. Secret Hydra members like Secretary Alexander Pierce acted as Fury's closest allies within the S.H.I.E.L.D. workplace, only to exploit Fury's weaknesses and justify the character's paranoia. Hydra's S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltration evoked the spy thriller genre by taking advantage of the faith these characters place in government agencies. In contrast, Skrull Resistance agents like James Rhodes and Varra -- who do live among humans -- show limited interest in fully exploiting Fury's lifelong trust. Most of their operatives rarely ever present an immediate danger to Fury, and the group's overall isolation from Fury prevents Secret Invasion from reproducing The Winter Soldier's paranoia-laced atmosphere.
The Skrull Terrorists Could've Adopted Hydra's Cunning Secrecy
Secret Invasion's portrayal of the Skrull Resistance could've taken more cues from The Winter Soldier's secretive conspiracy. During Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Hydra wasted no time in sending their agents and assassins to kill Nick Fury right after he discovered their S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltration, and they almost succeeded in killing him. Throughout the film, Hydra continues to send their hidden agents to hunt Fury's friends after they learn the truth as well. The film's iconic elevator betrayal scene, in which Captain America's S.H.I.E.L.D. coworkers reveal their Hydra allegiances and attack him, illustrated just how far Hydra would go to cover up their operations. However, Secret Invasion's Skrull Resistance has a different philosophy in regard to concealing their plans. Their leader, Gravik, is perfectly content with letting Nick Fury and his allies live despite their knowledge about the Skrulls' infiltration. Furthermore, Gravik only kills Nick Fury's allies in order to traumatize or blackmail him.
Hydra was a memorably cunning organization because it recognized the threat Fury and his friends posed to its conspiracy, and it targeted Fury as quickly as possible. But the Skrulls' mass infiltrations are unable to establish a tense spy conspiracy when its own leaders aren't particularly concerned about hiding from enemies like Fury. Gravik's arrogant lack of caution may be reasonable given his superpowered advantages, but the lack of careful secrecy prevents the Skrull Resistance from representing a genuine spy thriller threat to Fury. Secret Invasion's own iconic betrayal scene -- the moment when U.S. President Ritson doesn't know whether he should trust Fury or the Skrull disguised as James Rhodes -- is overshadowed by a massive Super-Skrull fight that emphasizes how little Gravik cares about hiding the Skrull conspiracy. The MCU established a solid blueprint for a villainous secret organization in The Winter Soldier, but Secret Invasion's Skrulls ultimately move in the opposite creative direction.
Secret Invasion's story about Skrull infiltrators had the potential to be the MCU's next big spy thriller. However, its Skrull Resistance struggles to match the shadowy menace Hydra presented in The Winter Soldier. Secret Invasion's Skrull Resistance could've become a compellingly clandestine threat to Nick Fury if it had taken more inspiration from Hydra's strategies.
To see how it compares, Secret Invasion is now available to stream in full on Disney+.