Marvel's 'Secret Invasion' Was the Breaking Point for the MCU

Marvel’s Secret Invasion didn’t exactly set the world alight when it premiered on Disney+—but in hindsight, it marked a critical turning point for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Since Disney+ launched in 2019, Marvel has debuted several MCU series on the platform. It started strong with the universally-acclaimed WandaVision, but later series have been more inconsistent, both in quality and reception.

Related: ‘Secret Invasion’ Will Reveal the “Truth” of Nick Fury

Secret Invasion started streaming in June 2023, at a moment when Marvel was under growing pressure to reignite interest in the post-Avengers: Endgame (2019) era. Focused on longtime MCU figure Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the series follows his return to Earth to uncover a Skrull conspiracy led by a radical faction of shapeshifting aliens.

It also brought in Emilia Clarke as G’iah—recast from her youthful Captain Marvel (2019) appearance—and introduced Olivia Colman as the ruthless MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth.

Despite a slick marketing campaign, the show was met with tepid reviews. By the end of its run, it held a 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling it “overripe with exposition,” complaining that the tone felt “too dour,” and that the adult spy-thriller approach was muddled by confusing scenes and uneven pacing.

Viewership was also disappointing. The series opened to 994,000 U.S. households, making it Marvel’s second-lowest Disney+ premiere, narrowly ahead of Ms. Marvel‘s 775,000. That lackluster debut stood in stark contrast to the show’s massive budget—reportedly $211.6 million, according to Forbes—which only deepened concerns over Marvel’s spending-to-returns ratio.

Related: ‘Secret Invasion’ Could Set up the Future of the MCU

Secret Invasion was always going to be a risk. With minimal action and an absence of marquee superheroes, it leaned into a darker, more cerebral tone reminiscent of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) but lacked the same narrative clarity and momentum. The spy-thriller premise promised maturity, but by sidelining beloved characters and introducing inconsistent new ones, the show struggled to strike a balance between grounded realism and comic book spectacle.

It also left fans divided on its depiction of Nick Fury, who was portrayed as more weary and reactive than ever before—a far cry from the calculated tactician audiences had come to admire.

By the time the finale aired, it wasn’t just that the show had underperformed—it had become a symbol of Marvel’s broader creative fatigue.

The decision to kill off major characters like Talos without fanfare and to hastily elevate G’iah into one of the most powerful beings in the MCU felt emblematic of storytelling choices driven by shock value rather than long-term planning.

Fans were quick to compare it to WandaVision, which had used its Disney+ format to successfully reframe grief through genre experimentation, or even Loki, which introduced high-concept multiverse ideas that have continued to ripple through the franchise. In contrast, Secret Invasion left few lasting threads, despite its original promise to reshape the MCU’s future.

In the years since, Marvel has taken clear steps to correct the course. Projects like Echo and Daredevil: Born Again have emphasized tighter episode counts, more focused storytelling, and less dependence on cameos or sprawling connective tissue.

Behind the scenes, Marvel has also scaled back its Disney+ pipeline, announcing fewer simultaneous productions and bringing in showrunners to oversee long-form storytelling better. The studio’s new approach—more streamlined, character-first, and less reliant on CGI-heavy finales—can arguably be traced back to the fallout from Secret Invasion.

Though the series itself may not be fondly remembered, its legacy is significant. It marked the end of Marvel’s “everything matters” approach to streaming, exposed the limits of fan goodwill, and helped usher in a new era of creative recalibration. In that sense, Secret Invasion wasn’t just a misfire. It was a wake-up call.

Have you been watching Secret Invasion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!