Secret Invasion’s Cobie Smulders Hints At How Long Skrulls Might Have Been Hiding In The MCU

Along with Captain Marvel introducing Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, the 2019 Marvel movie brought Skrulls into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ve also seen these shapeshifting aliens in Spider-Man: Far From Home and WandaVision, but Secret Invasion, one of the upcoming Marvel TV shows that Disney+ subscribers will be able to check out, is unquestionably the Skrulls’ biggest platform to shine in this franchise yet. That said, among the big questions Secret Invasion will need to address is this: how long have the Skrulls been hiding on Earth?

Like the original Secret Invasion comic book crossover event, the Secret Invasion series will explore numerous Skrulls having infiltrated all aspects of life on Earth. Along with Samuel L. Jackson reprising Nick Fury in the series, we’ll also reunite with Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill. CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell got to chat with Smulders after the Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con last month, and when he inquired about if we’ll learn that Skrulls have been hidden among humans “for a while now,” the actress responded:

Turning back to Captain Marvel (which was actually primarily set in 1995), it seemed as though Talos and Skrull compatriots all departed Earth when Carol Danvers departed to help them find a new homeworld given that Skrullos had been destroyed by the Kree. However, it seems like Cobie Smulders is inferring that some Skrulls decided to stick around Earth in the mid-‘90s and spend the next three decades embedding themselves in all walks of life on Earth. However, that brings up another question concerning Secret Invasion: are these Skrulls operating under Talos’ directive, or are they pursuing a separate agenda?

I’m thinking the latter, namely because instead of being Captain Marvel’s main antagonist, Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos was revealed to be a sympathetic figure, and when we reunited with him and his wife Soren in the Spider-Man: Far From Home end-credits scene, they were helping out Nick Fury by disguising themselves as the one-eyed spy and Maria Hill. As far as we know, Talos and Fury are still on good terms going into Secret Invasion, so that would indicate that the Skrulls causing trouble in the series are carrying out someone else’s orders. So it’ll be up to Fury, Talos and their allies to root out this Skrull faction before they can fully implement whatever scheme they’ve spent almost 30 years putting together.

Because the Maria Hill in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Secret Invasion will be our first time seeing the real Maria Hill since she cameoed at Tony Stark’s funeral in Avengers: Endgame. Along with her, Nick Fury and Talos, other familiar characters who are appearing include Don Cheadle’s James Rhodes and Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross. The Secret Invasion cast also includes Kingsley Ben-Adir, Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, Killian Scott, Christopher McDonald, Carmen Ejogo and Dermot Mulroney. Behind the scenes, Kyle Bradstreet developed the series and served as head writer and executive producer, and the episodes were directed by Thomas Bezucha and Ali Selim.

Secret Invasion will premiere sometime in early 2023 as part of Marvel’s official Phase 5 lineup. As soon as more details are revealed about the series, including when it will specifically drop on Disney+, CinemaBlend will pass them along.