New Secret Invasion trailer shows a gritty Marvel series that no one’s ready for – description

Samuel L. Jackson in The Avengers
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Marvel delivered a huge panel at San Diego Comic-Con, and while we’re all excited for Avengers 5 and 6, perhaps the most impressive showing was Secret Invasion.

The upcoming Disney Plus series, touching down in 2023, looks set to be the franchise’s most gritty outing yet, and Total Film was on the scene to witness the exclusive footage.

It starts with Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill bringing a now stressed-looked Nick Fury back to Earth as there’s an issue. Skrulls are causing issues, and Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos is trying to get to the bottom of it. He goes for a meeting with Kingsley Ben-Adir’s character, who’s backed by a bunch of goons who suddenly shape-shift into versions of Ben-Adir’s character. He’s seemingly the villain of the piece.

Olivia Colman’s in a scene talking with Nick Fury, while we also see Emilia Clarke holding a gun while looking for someone. Don Cheadle’s Rhodey is also seen wearing a decorated suit, though it’s unclear how he fits into this story. What is clear, however, is how Nick Fury is trying to get to the bottom of a major conspiracy unlike anything else we’ve seen before. The footage had definite Captain America: Winter Soldier vibes, but expect this to go deeper across the series.

Smulders and Marvel boss Kevin Feige were both on stage and called it "dark" and "gritty". And considering what we saw, they are not wrong.

Secret Invasion wasn’t the only exclusive footage we saw at Comic-Con: there were also special trailers for Guardians 3 and Ant-Man 3, as well as plentiful announcements.

If you want to catch up on the MCU so far, check out our guide to watching Marvel movies in order – and the good news is, most are available on Disney Plus to stream now. You can also keep up to date on Comic-Con with our complete SDCC 2022 schedule and our guide to Marvel at SDCC this year. 

Jack Shepherd
Freelance Journalist

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.