The third episode of Marvel's Secret Invasion is now streaming on Disney+, and along with a major Skrull imposter reveal(?) and another shocking character death (more here), "Betrayal" included a seemingly immaterial, but potentially intriguing Black Widow Easter Egg.
In the opening scene, we flash back to a 1998 meeting between Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his future wife, Varra (Charlayne Woodard), who passes him a piece of paper and says, "This should put Dreykov's men on their heels."
As you'll likely recall, Dreykov (Ray Winstone) was the villain of the Black Widow movie, and had been using brainwashed Red Room assassins to further his goal of taking control of the world's governments until Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johansson) took him down.
Clearly, Dreykov's actions had gained S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention long before Fury recruited Natasha. This would also seem to confirm that Talos and his people were instrumental in helping S.H.I.E.L.D. take down multiple targets over the years, and allowing Fury to rise through the ranks as the ultimate spy with eyes and ears everywhere.
Talos clearly wasn't exaggerating when he alluded to how much Fury owed him during their scene in the car!
Did you recognize Dreykov's name while watching the ep? Drop us a comment down below.
"In Marvel Studios’ new series 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 series 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, Olivia Colman, and Don Cheadle.
Ali Selim directs 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. Kyle Bradstreet is also the head writer, and Jennifer L. Booth, Allana Williams and Brant Englestein serve as co-executive producers.