TV Talk: Marvel-ous ‘Secret Invasion’ showcases Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury

Two things about Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” can be true at once: Where Disney’s superhero franchise once had an easy-to-follow heroes-versus-villains plot, it has become a convoluted, labyrinthine ongoing story that requires a Ph.D. in Marvel (and viewing of all Marvel filmed entertainment) to completely understand.

And yet, this latest Disney+ series showcases the best writing and performances in a Marvel project since “WandaVision.”

Streaming Wednesday, the first two (of six) episodes of “Secret Invasion” made available for review make the case, though it’s too soon to say definitively, that “Secret Invasion” could be to Marvel what “Andor” was to “Star Wars,” a grown-up story with more morally ambiguous characters weighed down by conflicting loyalties.

The superhero-free “Secret Invasion” finds Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) returning from space to stop the alien, shape-shifting Skrulls who are set on fomenting chaos on Earth, goading America and Russia into war in an effort to wipe out humanity to secure the planet as their new home.

“We’re being invaded and we can’t even tell who the invaders are,” Fury says in this sci-fi-tinged entry.

While “Secret Invasion” creator Kyle Bradstreet (“Mr. Robot,” “Copper”) does as good a job as one could in bringing new viewers up to speed, the previous Marvel film that’s most helpful to see before watching “Secret Invasion” is 2019’s “Captain Marvel,” which featured the Skrull story and introduced Earth-friendly Skrull Talos (Ben Mendelsohn, a series regular in “Secret Invasion”).

Fury reunites with compatriot Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) as they seek to stop the Skrull Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) from unleashing a dirty bomb attack. Episode two deals with the aftermath of that mission, perhaps too flimsily addresses why Fury doesn’t just hail the Avengers and delivers one of the most dramatic, CGI-free Marvel scenes ever as Fury and Rhodey (Don Cheadle) spar in a way that invokes their racial identity.

“We owe each other,” Fury tells Rhodey. “Men who look like us don’t get promoted because of who our daddies know. Every ounce of power we wrestled from the vice grip of the mediocre Alexander Pierces who run this world was earned in blood. So let’s make the power mean something: Help a brother out!”

Rhodey’s response proves even more searing.

In addition to providing a bravura showcase for Jackson (“I’m Nick Fury: Even when I’m out, I’m in!”), “Secret Invasion” also welcomes British actress Olivia Colman into the fold as Sonya Falsworth, an MI6 agent and frenemy to Fury. Colman is delightful in everything, but her addition here brings some much-needed comic relief as she cheerfully interrogates a suspect to the brink of death.

Broadway actress Katie Finneran (“Up Here”), another performer who consistently elevates the material she’s given, may prove another smart addition as a scientist working with the Skrulls.

But above all else, “Secret Invasion” is a Nick Fury showcase and Jackson fully embraces it with his trademark, effortlessly cool vibe.

In a Zoom news conference with the cast and producers, Jackson compared the espionage-and- politics tone of “Secret Invasion” to “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”

“That tone flows into this in a very real kind of way,” Jackson said. “It’s a story about people doing people stuff without supers coming in to save you.”

Jackson, in more than a dozen times playing Fury, was particularly glad to share the screen with Cheadle.

“I’d never had an in-depth scene with Don, so that was like manna,” Jackson said of the confrontation between Fury and Rhodey in episode two. “We’ve been waiting to do this for years. It was wonderful to do and have that little abrasive thing happen.”

Cheadle says viewers will see Rhodey in a different light in “Secret Invasion.”

“We see him as more of a political animal than we have in the past. He’s been more of a military man, but now he’s in some ways the right hand of the (U.S.) President and his special envoy,” Cheadle said. “I’m looking forward to getting under the hood of who he is and seeing how this relationship, not only with Nick Fury but the other cast members, evolves.”

Cheadle also views “Secret Invasion” as a departure from how his character fit into past Marvel projects.

“It’s really an opportunity to act and lean into some human stuff,” he said.

Ali Selim, who directed all six episodes of “Secret Invasion,” said the show’s focus on the inner life of Fury and the lack of heroes “flying through the air” makes this Marvel entry stand out.

“It’s a story about (Fury) putting his feet back on the ground after some time, and I liked that because I like human stories that come from the heart and are human-scaled and reach for a universal appeal rather than the reverse of that,” Selim said. “And I liked the espionage, political thriller element. … And then there is — spoiler alert — a point in the story where Nick Fury realizes this is his own battle, and he becomes a classic American western hero and the tone sort of shifted in the later episodes to Nick Fury as John Wayne.”

Jackson didn’t love that comparison.

“John Wayne, no! I need a shower,” Jackson said as another cast member shouted out Richard Roundtree in “Shaft” as a more palatable analog.

Channel surfing

The first season of the critically acclaimed, FX-produced Hulu series “Reservation Dogs” will air two episodes Monday nights at 10 and 10:30 on the linear FX channel beginning June 26 and running through July 17. … Apple TV+ renewed the global thriller “Silo” for a second season. … Netflix renewed “XO, Kitty” for a second season.