Prior to Secret Invasion's release on Disney+, critics were given access to the show's first two episodes. Initial reviews were mostly positive, but in the following weeks, we've seen an incredibly mixed response to a series many believed would be a game-changer for the MCU.
Now, it's Marvel Studios' worst-reviewed TV show with a disappointing 56%. This past Wednesday's finale was a major contributor to that score, with critics eviscerating the episode (which has scored a mere 10% approval rating based on 10 reviews).
During an interview with Variety breaking down "Home," Secret Invasion director Ali Selim was asked about his reaction to the "mixed" reviews.
"Oh, I don’t read reviews. With all due respect. For me, I view all the storytelling work I do as a dialogue with an audience," he says. "When the show is finished and put up on the screen, that’s my half of the dialogue. And the audience then starts their half of the response to it."
"I think that’s valuable, but I don’t know. I don’t know how to answer the question. I don’t feel bad about mixed reviews. If you had unanimously good reviews, every movie would gross $10 billion, trillion dollars, right?"
"[Projects] resonate with different people at different times for different reasons," Selim continues, "and Marvel has a very devoted - even rabid - fan base who have expectations and when their expectations aren’t fulfilled, they move in the other direction; they give it a thumbs down."
The director went on to question whether it's the job of a series like this to fulfil the expectations of fans or tell the story the creative team wants, describing it as a "tricky thing." He'd add, "I would love it if everybody loved it, but I also don’t have that expectation myself, so I feel great about the response to it."
Secret Invasion leaves the door open to tell more stories, but between Disney CEO Bob Iger looking to scale back Marvel Studios' streaming output and the poor reception to the show, we're not counting on seeing more episodes.
Asked if "Home" is a series or season finale, Selim says, "Oh, yeah, I would say 'season' finale. Who knows, right? I don’t know anything about Season 2. I think there’s some great threads that could be run down. But is there a Season 2? I have no idea."
It's unclear when or where characters like Gi'ah and Sonya Falsworth will return but neither is expected to be part of The Marvels this November.