According to Secret Invasion star Martin Freeman, the upcoming Disney+ series may be a bit different from what fans have come to expect from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
"It feels pretty different to stuff I've seen," Freeman said of Secret Invasion during an interview with Digital Spy. "It does feel like a little departure. Yeah, it does -- in ways that I wouldn't be that able to describe. Again, I've not seen it. I've not even read all of it."
The actor continued, "The bits I've read do feel different, I guess: Because of the nature of television, you can luxuriate in things a little bit more. That storytelling process is just elongated. So you have got more time to get those knotty problems out, which is the beauty of television at the moment."
As for the Marvel Studios show's tone, Freeman described Secret Invasion as being "pretty dark", both "figuratively and literally." "It was a bit murky, actually. A bit murky," he explained. "Quite labyrinthine in terms of storytelling, and the amount of people crossing over with each other."
The MCU's Everett K. Ross Is Keeping Busy
Secret Invasion will mark Freeman's fourth time playing Everett K. Ross in the MCU. The Hobbit alum previously portrayed the Marvel character in three feature films: 2016's Captain America: Civil War, 2018's Black Panther and the newly-released Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. "I go wherever they tell me to go," the actor told Digital Spy regarding what it was like to bring the character from the big screen to Disney+.
"You know what I mean? I'm a bit like Ross in that way. I'm just an agent who goes over there or over there," he continued. "I just like playing him. I like playing him in whatever kind of situations they want to put him in because he does bits of action and bits of espionage and bits of thinky-talky things, but also bits of running around." Regarding Ross' allegiances, Freeman concluded, "He's generally, we hope, on the side of good, but it’s always quite ambiguous. It’s ambiguous. And I enjoy that because I think life is ambiguous."
Secret Invasion Premieres in 2023
Secret Invasion is slated to premiere in spring 2023 as part of Phase Five of the MCU. In fact, it will be Marvel Studios' first Disney+ original series to be released as part of Phase Five. In addition to Freeman, the upcoming show features such returning MCU stars as Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders and Don Cheadle. It also features a number of franchise newcomers, including Kingsley Ben-Adir, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman and more.
Secret Invasion is based on Marvel Comics' 2008 crossover storyline of the same name, the core limited series of which was written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu. The original Secret Invasion revolved around the shape-shifting alien race known as the Skrulls (introduced to the MCU in Captain Marvel), who were revealed to have secretly replaced a number of prominent figures across the Marvel Universe.
Marvel Studios' Secret Invasion premieres on Disney+ in spring 2023.
Source: Digital Spy