Secret Invasion got off to a great start only to somewhat decline in quality as the series progressed. There was something about those later episodes which didn't quite click, with that bizarre CG-heavy final battle a prime example of Marvel Studios taking a tried and tested route rather than surprising viewers.
Prior to the show hitting Disney+, we'd heard about somewhat extensive reshoots taking place over a four-month period. Now, we have details on what those entailed courtesy of concept art shared by Jeffrey Read.
"Had the pleasure of working on Marvel Secret Invasion with Frank Walsh (PD)," he says. "It was the reshoot leg though so deadlines were tight. Usually 1/2 day or 1-day deadlines, so everything is fairly loose."
"We went through a range of redesigns for the Fracking Pods. The early designs were much more high-tech and Alien but it was deemed too high-tech for what the [Skrulls] had at their disposal so we went in the low-fi DIY direction which came out really well on screen."
Based on what we see below, everything from Nick Fury and Sonya Falsworth's visit to his grave to Everett Ross' "death," the flashback with Nick Fury recruiting the Skruls to S.H.I.E.L.D., and Talos' early meeting with his daughter were added after principal photography concluded.
That's actually a little mind-blowing, especially when they were all pretty major sequences. It's unclear whether Secret Invasion suffered from creative issues behind the scenes, but something tells us this was another story Marvel Studios struggled to get where it needed to be.
You can check out some of Read's work below, though a full gallery can be found by visiting his ArtStation page.
In Secret Invasion, set in the present-day MCU, Nick Fury learns of a clandestine invasion of Earth by a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls. Fury joins his allies, including Everett Ross, Maria Hill and the Skrull Talos, who has made a life for himself on Earth. Together they race against time to thwart an imminent Skrull invasion and save humanity.
The show stars Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders, Martin Freeman, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Charlayne Woodard, Killian Scott, Samuel Adewunmi, Dermot Mulroney, Christopher McDonald, Katie Finneran, with Emilia Clarke and Olivia Colman, and Don Cheadle.
Ali Selim directs the series and executive-produces, along with fellow executive producers Kevin Feige, Jonathan Schwartz, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Samuel L. Jackson, Ali Selim, Kyle Bradstreet, and Brian Tucker. Bradstreet is also the Head Writer.
All episodes of Secret Invasion are now streaming on Disney+.