Secret Invasion is inspired by The Winter Soldier – but "takes it a step further"

As soon as fans got their first glimpse at Secret Invasion, the comparisons to Captain America: The Winter Soldier started flying around. Straight out the gate, the Marvel series went heavy on the conspiracy vibes – and Nick Fury being in it clearly helped strengthen the similarities. 

Now, speaking to Total Film magazine for its new issue – which is out on newsstands on May 25, director Ali Selim and producer Jonathan Schwartz opened up about how they were bolstered by the positive reception to Captain America 2, and ran with it. They also revealed that it'll delve deep into Fury; something that past titles haven't really had the chance to do yet, despite the character being introduced onscreen way back in 2008.

"The first conversations I had [with Marvel] were, 'Nobody flies in the air in the show,'" Selim recalled. "I realized, 'Yeah, they're doing something very different, and that's exciting.'"

"The Winter Soldier certainly gave us a lot of confidence that we could tell a
story in that space that felt more like a paranoid thriller," Schwartz pointed out, as he perched in front of an illustrated Winter Soldier poster in his Marvel Studios office. "Secret Invasion takes that a step further, and you really get to dig into
Nick. It becomes much more character-focused in a way that I really love."

That's not all either, we also get an exclusive new look at the upcoming series in the new issue of Total Film. Nick Fury can be seen hiding behind a doorway as something flies overhead in the snap at the top of this page.

• Preorder the Oppenheimer issue of Total Film now

Set to release on Disney Plus on June 21, Secret Invasion sees several Marvel characters unsure of who to trust, when they discover that a shape-shifting race has infiltrated all facets of life on Earth. Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders, and Martin Freeman reprise their roles as Talos, Maria Hill and Everett Ross, respectively, while newcomers Olivia Colman, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Emilia Clarke are set to appear as a yet-to-be-named MI6 agent, Skrull resistance leader Gravik, and Talos' daughter G'iah.

The above is just a snippet of our interview in the new issue of Total Film magazine, which features Christopher Nolan's epic Oppenheimer on the cover. The magazine hits shelves this Thursday, May 25. Check out the covers below:

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