‘Secret Invasion’ Recap: ‘Home’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in Marvel Studios' SECRET INVASION, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Finale of ‘Secret Invasion’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
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Marvel Cinematic Universe stories, follow a pretty standard formula for their finales. Wherein the hero and the heavy… square off in a tour de force final battle. One that features lessons abound for both sides, collateral damage, and the all-important happy ending. Wherein the hero is triumphant, and the world is put back together in the best manner possible. All because that makes for a satisfying ending and good triumphing over evil is what we’ve come to expect from superhero stories. If anything, that standard ending is top of mind today largely because… the finale of Secret Invasion on Disney+, opted to basically buck that formula and take the finale of this story in a new direction. One that was quite surprising to say the least. For ‘Home’ is a story… that featured a vastly different kind of final showdown between Gravik and Nick Fury.
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For that was what we expected to take place in the Skrull Sanctuary, and we thought, based on the track record of these stories… that Nick would find a way to diffuse the situation and save the day. But instead, Nick was deeply ill and willing to just give Gravik what he wanted. Which more or less made it seem as though evil was going to win. Since Nick was obviously in no shape to stand up to a monster made of the greatest heroes in all the land. But that’s where this finale started taking us in a vastly different direction. For it turned out, that it wasn’t Fury in front of Gravik. It was G’iah. Who said what Fury needed to express to a broken alien, before taking him on head-to-head. For she also garnered those incredible powers and was able to go, blow for blow, with Gravik, before finally bringing his madness to an end, saving endless lives, and the uniqueness of this finale didn’t end with that fascinating final fight.

After all, we were all curious as to what Fury was up to since he clearly wasn’t in Russia, and well… his job in this story… was to save the President of the United States… from a lie. For Ritson was rattled and still healing from what happened shortly after he arrived in Russia, and of course… the Rhodey-Skrull was eager to push him to start the march to war. To give the Skrulls the fight they wanted… no… needed to take over the planet for themselves and Skrodey was pushing hard to have POTUS ignore logic and ignore evidence and just give into fear. Thankfully… President Ritson never had the opportunity to really think too deeply on launching a nuke. Because Fury was in the hospital and dropping Secret Service agents left and right. So that he could get to this imposter and the president and finally show the most powerful man in the world, that he was being duped by an alien. Which should have brought forth the happy ending in question. Since Fury did accomplish his mission and saved the day.

But this was merely the showdown that led to a dark and unsettling ending. Wherein the President of the United States didn’t ask for calm and unity following the end of this unfortunate conflict. Instead, he called for war against the Skrulls, and that inspired hate and spread more fear. Which led to more violence and more bloodshed of both human and Skrull alike. Which was an ending that took all of us by surprise. Since we expected unity and wonder. Instead, we were treated to an us versus them world that oddly reflects the fire of our own world at the moment, and well… the chaos that was unleashed was more than Fury could handle. For there was no putting the genie back in the bottle, and this hero was helpless to do anything… but walk away. With his love no less, to let the fight take its course, and to return to his new work and well… that made for quite the shocking ending. Because… that truly broke with formula and was a little too human and real in nature. 

For it spoke to a world on the brink, one that couldn’t be saved by a hero and that’s the stuff we see in real life, not in comic book themed stories. And that is likely an ending that will not sit well with every member of the audience, who are used to escapism over commentary this heavy in these stories. But is the ending we received, and it fits since Fury is indeed a busted man that is slowly making his way back into the light. The only question is what will redeem him long term. But in the here and the now, we can celebrate one bold finale. One that truly took the MCU in a vastly darker direction we are used to, making this perhaps… a flawless comic book adaptation, and truly it will be interesting to see if this is the beginning of a new era for the MCU. Where flaws and failures… rule the day. Until next time.  

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