Secret Invasion arrived on Disney+ on June 21 and is quite a bit grittier than Marvel’s previous TV series. The series sees a weathered Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and a small group of allies banding together to try to get a Skrull invasion under control. In the first episode, “Resurrection,” viewers learn that a band of extremist Skrulls has nefarious plans to reignite the dormant Cold War conflict between Russia and the United States. Similar to the Flag-Smashers in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, they’re willing to resort to violence and terrorism when it comes to getting what they believe they are owed—the home planet they were once promised by Fury.
The Avengers won’t be showing up in this series to take over the situation. It’s up to a few human heroes to use whatever means necessary to combat this threat. This means we get a more human perspective on the extraterrestrial issues plaguing the Marvel universe. However, it also means that we get some casualties because these humans aren’t invincible, and neither are the Skrulls. With the Skrulls seeming to want nothing short of war with their rebellion and infiltration of Earth, the body count of Secret Invasion is expected to get pretty high. Here’s everyone who dies in Secret Invasion.
Spoilers for Secret Invasion ahead!
Episode 1
Maria Hill
The biggest death in Secret Invasion episode 1 is that of Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill. Her death was quite shocking, considering her MCU career spanned 11 years, four TV shows, and six films. She was handpicked by Fury for her skills and leadership and grew to become one of his greatest allies, rising through the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D. to become the organization’s Deputy Director. In Secret Invasion, Talos reaches out to Hill to inform her of the Skrull invasion while Fury is off Earth. When Fury returns, their reunion is sadly short-lived. Amid the rebel Skrull group’s attack on Vossoyedineniye Square, Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) shapeshifts into Fury and shoots and kills Hill. While death is always questionable in the MCU, Hill’s demise did seem very real and final.
Agent Prescod
Secret Invasion opens up with Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) being approached by Agent Prescod (Richard Dormer). Prescod is a CIA agent who is among the first to uncover the Skrull invasion. While relating his findings to Ross, he realizes that Ross is a Skrull in disguise. This leads to a fight between the two, which ends in Prescod being killed by the Ross-impersonator Skrull.
Vasily Poprishchin
One of Gravik’s rebel Skrulls assumed the identity of an art gallery owner and former Chechen rebel named Vasily Poprishchin (Uriel Emil). Fury and Talos go to visit Poprishchin, hoping to get information out of him to stop the bomb attack. However, when he realizes Talos is a fellow Skrull, the two get into a fight. Despite Talos’ protests, Fury intervenes, shooting and killing the Poprishchin Skrull.
Episode 2
Brogan
Secret Invasion episode 2, “Promises,” doesn’t have any major character deaths. However, a member of the rebel Skrulls is killed in the episode. Brogan (Ben Peele), a Skrull who took on the likeness of Martin Wallace, is abducted by Sonya (Olivia Colman) and tortured for information on Gravik and the rebellion. Unfortunately, his day doesn’t get any better once he is “rescued” by Gravik and the rebels. Gravik quickly realizes that Brogan gave up sensitive information to Sonya and promptly has him killed. It’s a very callous execution that proves just how brutal Gravik is, even to his own people.
Episode 3
Commodore Robert Fairbanks impersonator
In Secret Invasion episode 3, “Betrayed,” Fury and Talos race to stop Gravik’s planned attack on the Royal Navy. This brings them to Commodore Robert Fairbanks, who has been replaced by a Skrull and is commanding the missile attack from the Fairbanks residence. Fury and Talos try to force him to abort the missile, but he refuses, eventually antagonizing Talos into killing him. While the Fairbanks impersonator died, it seems the real Fairbanks is still alive and being kept by the rebels.
G’iah (not really)
“Betrayed” ends with Talos’ daughter G’iah (Emilia Clarke) seemingly being shot dead by Gravik. Viewers were suspicious of her death, but it came across as fairly realistic. Gravik caught on to her betrayal of the rebels to assist her father and seemingly left her for dead. She even transitioned back to her Skrull form, as happens when a Skrull in disguise is killed. However, in the next episode, it is revealed that she used some of Gravik’s Extremis on herself, giving her healing abilities and allowing her to recover fully from what otherwise would’ve been a fatal gunshot wound.
Episode 4
Talos
Although G’iah is brought back in Secret Invasion episode 4, “Beloved,” another major character is killed off for good. The episode sees Fury and Talos rushing to save U.S. President Ritson (Dermot Mulroney) after they witness Gravik and his forces attack the president’s convoy in an attempt to assassinate him. Fury and Talos jump into action to extract Ritson from the situation. However, Talos is shot while trying to break a window open to pull Ritson from a crashed car. Afterward, Gravik disguises himself as one of the British soldiers sent as reinforcements and stabs an already weakened Talos, killing him. Unfortunately, his death was final, and there wasn’t a resurrection for him as there was for G’iah.
Episode 5
Pagon
Pagon (Killian Scott) was Gravik’s second-in-command for the majority of Secret Invasion, but in episode 5, “Harvest,” Gravik turns on him. He had been Gravik’s most loyal follower, but after the failure to assassinate Ritson, tensions are high, with Gravik and Pagon tossing blame at one another. Things escalate when Pagon begins scrutinizing all the poor choices Gravik made and demanding he provide answers to his rebel followers. This leads to Gravik suddenly whipping out a tree-like limb (due to his enhancements with Groot’s DNA) and impaling Pagon, killing him on the spot for daring to question his authority.
Beto
Beto (Samuel Adewunmi) is the refugee Skrull who joined Gravik’s rebel faction in the first episode of Secret Invasion. He seemed very young and uncertain about their methods, but he went along with their plans for the most part. However, after Pagon is murdered, Beto leads the other Skrulls in a revolt against Gravik. The Skrulls manage to jump him, but can’t compete with his DNA enhancements. To show them the cost of their disloyalty, Gravik brutally murders Beto.
Episode 6
Raava
In Secret Invasion episode 4, “Beloved,” viewers learned that Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) was being impersonated by a Skrull named Raava (Nisha Aaliya). Due to Rhodey’s high government ranking and proximity to the president, it was difficult to get close to Raava. However, at the end of Secret Invasion episode 6, “Home,” Sonya and Fury end up in a stand-off with Ritson and Raava. When Raava makes a move to disarm Sonya, Fury shoots and kills her.
Chris Stearns Skrull
Chris Stearns (Christopher McDonald) has appeared briefly in several episodes of Secret Invasion. He was the FXN news anchor who would soon report on the growing tension between Russia and the U.S. that, unbeknownst to most of the world, was being orchestrated by the Skrulls. At the end of “Home,” vigilantes are wreaking havoc and spreading violence after Ritson declares war against the Skrulls. One of their targets is Stearns, resulting in them breaking into the news studio and fatally shooting him. Once deceased, his body reverts to its Skrull form, revealing Stearns has actually been impersonated by a Skrull this whole time. It’s unclear when he was replaced with a Skrull and how the vigilantes discovered his identity, but it’s presumed the real Stearns is still alive.
Prime Minister Pamela Lawton
UK Prime Minister Pamela Lawton was among the individuals replaced by Skrulls in Secret Invasion. However, she was freed by G’iah in “Home” and was able to return to her position. Unfortunately, after Ritson’s inciting speech, vigilantes waging war on the Skrulls believed Lawton was still being impersonated by one and assassinated her. Upon being killed, though, she does not revert to Skrull form, confirming that the true Prime Minister was killed.
Gravik
In the season finale of Secret Invasion, Gravik finally gets his hands on the Harvest and quickly uses it to become a Super-Skrull. However, he doesn’t realize that G’iah—disguised as Fury—was also able to receive the powers of the Harvest. As a result, they both become Super-Skrulls with the combined powers of all the Avengers. The pair fight, with G’iah gaining the upper hand, especially when she uses Mantis (Pom Klementieff)’s powers to put him to sleep in midair, causing him to fall to the Earth. Afterward, she uses her powers to leave a substantial hole in Gravik’s torso, seemingly killing him. While he very much appears to be dead, given the immense power in his DNA, it’s hard to tell whether he’s truly dead or will stay dead. The series ends, though, still treating Gravik as a casualty.
(featured image: Disney+)
