Secret Invasion's Director Did The One Thing Marvel Told Him NOT To Do
Comic book readers know where many of the storylines in superhero movies are going, and they've seen some surprises in terms of how the Marvel Cinematic Universe deviates from the comics. The makers of "Captain America: Civil War" and "Thor: Ragnarok" had to alter the stories to fit into the wider MCU, and "Secret Invasion" looks to be getting the same treatment as director Ali Selim was instructed not to read the comics before shooting. Although, he did it anyway.
Speaking to Uproxx, Selim explained how familiar he was with the story in the comics, sharing a bit of shocking advice from the studio. "Honestly, not at all," the director confessed. "When I started working on this 28 months ago, I was told, 'Don't read the comics.'" It's interesting to note that a studio would ask a director not to familiarize themselves with the source material. But Selim admitted that he didn't exactly follow the advice.
"Oh, I didn't say I didn't read it," the director said. "I said I was told not to read it." Thanks to his rebellious actions, we may just get the perfect combination of adherence to the comic storyline and a fresh take on "Secret Invasion."
Secret Invasion has a different purpose from the comics
When trying to understand why a studio would tell the director not to read the source material they are adapting, it brings up more questions than answers. Why would you not want to adhere to a storyline that already has a built-in fanbase? Even if you are deviating, wouldn't you want to include elements of the storyline so it doesn't feel like a borrowed title intended for a bait-and-switch? Luckily for us, Ali Selim cleared the air on the purpose of "Secret Invasion" in the MCU.
"This show comes out of energy created by Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn," Selim explained. "And Marvel said, 'We have to keep going with that energy.' So it really started as more of a buddy cop movie put back together, and then telling a story that presumably and undeniably expands on what's in the comic books, but the comic books are not a foundation for this." At the end of the day, it seemed to come down to using elements of the comic book storyline but focusing more on what the MCU has already built with the characters and fitting within the wider universe.
Selim went on to say that his purpose for reading the storyline, even after being told not to, was simply his desire to stay informed and then understand why the studio didn't want him to read it. Hopefully, after seeing the series in completion, fans will understand the purpose of the deviations as well.
Things we can expect to translate over to the screen
Watching the trailers give us an idea of what we can expect from the series, and even though it may be drastically different in some ways, there are some things we can see being translated to the screen. While "Secret Invasion" doesn't seem to include the wide array of characters that the comic does, even mentioning in the trailer that the Avengers are nowhere to be found, we can see two significant things they kept intact.
Paranoia looks to be running deep in every aspect of the series. When anyone can be one of the shapeshifting aliens, then you can't know who you can trust. Even the tagline of the series asks viewers, "Who do you trust?" This also lends a little more explanation as to why Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) claims that this is a war he must fight alone. He doesn't know if he can trust anyone around him. Whether it is large-scale political paranoia causing nation upon nation to go to the brink of war, or an individual alienating themselves due to mistrust, paranoia will play a big role as it did in the comics.
Skrulls aren't all bad. Just like in the comics, there are good Skrulls that just want a place to live out their lives in anonymous safety, and there are bad Skrulls that want to establish dominance and take over the world for themselves. With the good Skrulls and the bad Skrulls going head to head on Earth, Fury and the rest of humanity are caught in the middle.