Biggest Differences Between the Comics and the Secret Invasion Show

The Big Picture

The Secret Invasion show sympathetically portrays the Skrulls' motives for infiltrating Earth, emphasizing their displacement and betrayal by Nick Fury.
The show introduces a Super Skrull seeking the Avengers' DNA to become unstoppable, essentially painting Fury as an unintentional enabler of the Skrulls' plan to conquer Earth.
Unlike in the comics, Fury's group of allies fighting against the Skrull invasion is different in the show, with Maria Hill and Talos being part of his team instead of the Secret Warriors.

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Secret Invasion.Marvel's latest Disney+ series, Secret Invasion, has been a rather interesting experience. On the one hand, it's continued a trend of fleshing out characters within the Marvel Cinematic Universe - in this case, stalwart spy Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). On the other hand it's had its fair share of problems - namely when it comes to the treatment of its female characters. Whatever one thinks of the show, one thing is for certain: it's more or less adapted the main plot of the Brian Michael Bendis and Lenil Francis Yu comic miniseries, at least in broad strokes. Here are all the ways that the Secret Invasion show paid homage to - as well as diverged from - its source material.

The Skrulls' Mission Takes On A More Sympathetic Edge

In both versions of Secret Invasion, the shape shifting Skrulls manage to infiltrate every level of society on Earth, with the goal of overthrowing the human race. In both versions, they also have a good reason for doing so; the comic reveals that the Skrulls were refugees after the planet-eater Galactus devoured their home world while Captain Marvel set up the events of the TV show as the Skrulls had been forced from their home by their lifelong enemies, the Kree.

The Secret Invasion show managed to make the Skrulls' plight seem even more sympathetic; Fury had promised to find them a home world but failed to do so. Post Avengers: Endgame, he absconded to space, more or less leaving the Skrulls to fend for themselves. This is in sharp contrast to the original comic, which saw the Skrulls attempting to take over Earth due to religious dogma. By grounding the anger of Skrull general Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) in a deep sense of betrayal over Fury's promises, this helped to create a more sympathetic antagonist.

The Origin of the Super Skrulls Is Due to Fury's Machinations

A major advantage the Skrulls have in their invasion in the original comics was the fact that they created multiple Super-Skrulls that possessed the powers of Marvel's biggest heroes. One Skrull might have the sonic scream of Black Bolt and the metal skin of Colossus, while another would have Wolverine's Adamantium claws and the Human Torch's fire-slinging powers. The Secret Invasion show does feature a Super Skrull in the form of Gravik, who's altered his DNA with powers from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe including the Extremis healing from Iron Man 3 and the plant-based powers that Guardian of the Galaxy Groot possesses. However, he seeks more power in the form of the Harvest - a collection of the Avengers' DNA that will make him nigh-unstoppable. The Harvest came about when Fury sent out his network of Skrull spies to collect the blood of Earth's heroes after the final battle of Avengers: Endgame.

Not only does plot development not only ups the stakes, but it also highlights how much of the plot is set into motion by Fury's actions. For a good chunk of his adult life, he's performed clandestine actions to protect the Earth - including using Phil Coulson's death to push the Avengers into forming together. However, with the Harvest he hands the Skrulls the means to conquer the Earth. Eventually, it falls to G'iah (Emilia Clarke) to stop Gravik; disguised as Fury, she tricks Gravik into utilizing the Harvest to empower both of them and defeats him in a final battle.

The Identity of the Skrull Posing as a Hero Is Radically Different

In the lead-up to Secret Invasion, a team of Avengers led by Luke Cage discovered the Skrull invasion when they learned that the assassin Elektra Natchios was secretly a Skrull. Soon other heroes, including Hank Pym, unveiled their Skrull nature and sent a chain of events that left the Earth crippled and waiting for invasion. The biggest reveal surrounded the Skrull Queen Veranke, who had taken the form of Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman. The Secret Invasion television series is no different, as it reveals that Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Don Cheadle) - better known as the armored hero War Machine - was secretly one of Gravik's Skrull radicals. Using his position of power, the Skrull-Rhodey was able to manipulate events to set Fury on the run as well as maneuver the United States into striking against Skrull targets.

The real Rhodey is rescued by G'iah, though it's implied that he's been held captive for a while. If he was being held all this time, it raises questions: what other machinations did his Skrull counterpart set in motion? Are there other heroes who might have been replaced by Skrulls? Audiences may see the answers in the upcoming Armor Wars, which will also see Rhodey deal with his late friend Tony Stark's technology falling into the wrong hands. Either way, both versions of Secret Invasion deliver revelations that send shockwaves through their respective canon.

Fury Had a Different Group of Allies Backing Him Up in the Comics

Unlike the television show, Fury knew that an invasion of Skrulls was imminent in the comics, and took measures to combat it. To that end, he formed a black-ops team known as the Secret Warriors, whose membership consisted of super-powered youth. Among their membership was Daisy Johnson, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with the ability to generate seismic waves - hence her nickname Quake. The Secret Warriors were instrumental in staving off the Skrull invasion and would continue to help Fury on missions including taking down the terrorist organization HYDRA. The show features some of Fury's more stalwart allies throughout the MCU including Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Talos (Ben Mendelshon), but the Secret Warriors did appear in another Marvel-based show: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. In fact, Daisy Johnson was a pivotal character, with Chloe Bennet bringing the seismic superheroine to life. Though reception to Secret Invasion has been muted at best, it did manage to take the DNA of the original comic series and spin its own tale in the process.

All episodes of Secret Invasion are now available to stream on Disney+.