Marvel Studios' upcoming Secret Invasion on Disney+ is all about secrecy and covert agents working undercover, and recent casting decisions suggest the series is diving deep into the world of espionage in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Olivia Colman and Emilia Clarke are reportedly playing the roles of spies in Secret Invasion, according to Murphy's Multiverse, with at least three other spy-related characters being featured in the show. Colman won an Oscar for her performance as Queen Anne in 2018's The Favourite, and Clarke has received multiple Emmy nominations for her role in HBO's Game of Thrones.
Colman and Clarke's roles are not yet known, but they could be among the group of shape-shifting Skrulls who infiltrate Earth's populace and superhero community in the series. The alien race was featured in 2019's Captain Marvel, and Nick Fury, Samuel L. Jackson's long-established character, was revealed to be a Skrull in the post-credits scene in 2019's Spider-Man: Far from Home.
The actors could also play known spies in the Marvel Universe, but the list of available characters is growing short. Russian-born Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, has long been played by Scarlett Johansson in the MCU -- and her character died in 2019's Avengers: Endgame. Sharon Carter is already portrayed by Emily VanCamp and was recently seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+. And Bobbi Morse -- aka Mockingbird, played by Adrianne Palicki -- was featured on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., although whether that series is even still canon is uncertain.
The shape-changing mutant Mystique has taken on an espionage role in the comics, but the character, most recently played by Jennifer Lawrence in the latest X-Men films, currently resides outside of MCU continuity, along with the other X-Men characters. Rumors abound regarding a potential merging of these universes, but such a consolidation has yet to take place.
Secret Invasion is loosely based on the 2008 comic series bearing the same name by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu. The series spanned across the Marvel Universe and revealed several superheroes had secretly been replaced by Skrull infiltrators in advance of an outright invasion.
Secret Invasion stars Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, with Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Christopher McDonald in undisclosed roles. The series has yet to receive a premiere date.
Source: Murphy's Multiverse