Marvel Studios
"Welcome to the MCU. You're joining at a bit of a low point," says the Merc with the Mouth aka Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) in "Deadpool & Wolverine." He's not wrong. Most would agree the Marvel Cinematic Universe suffered a drop-off in quality in the aftermath of "Avengers: Endgame," with some of the franchise's Disney+ series, in particular, being met with immense criticism. Admittedly, some of that stemmed from a toxic fandom that just couldn't abide by, say, the visual of Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany) twerking with Megan Thee Stallion in "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law." However, the lowest rated MCU Disney+ show on Rotten Tomatoes is one that just about everyone agrees would be better forgotten.
Yep, despite having the star power of Samuel L. Jackson, Emilia Clarke, and British national treasure, Olivia Colman, "Secret Invasion" wound up becoming the worst-reviewed MCU series released thus far. (And before you ask: infamously poorly-reviewed shows from the now-defunct Marvel Television like "Inhumans" and "Helstrom" aren't strictly considered canon to the MCU.) Earning a measly 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, critics agreed that this limp spy and Skrull story didn't bring the kind of tension and espionage action that was promised, and served as a woeful exit for key characters in the franchise like Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn). A lot went wrong with "Secret Invasion," but perhaps its biggest sin was ending on a brain-breaking note when it came to setting up the future of a part-time Avenger in the MCU.
Secret Invasion did a lot of MCU characters dirty, Rhodey included
Marvel Studios
At the end of "Secret invasion," it was revealed that Tony Stark's BFF in a metal suit, James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Don Cheadle), was one of many important figures who'd been replaced by a Skrull, raising a whole lot of questions about exactly when this switcheroo took place. Just how long Rhodey has been a Skrull in the MCU is still up for debate even now, with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealing in an interview with Marvel.com that this reveal was mainly intended to stir the pot. "We needed to have a character that one would not expect to be a Skrull," Feige explained, suggesting that this story beat was included mainly to generate shock and awe (though all it really did was cause confusion and annoyance).
The Rhodey twist was also one of many drastic choices that "Secret Invasion" made without really fully assessing the ramifications it would have. One can only hope the Rhodey-led "Armor Wars," an upcoming project that began as a TV series before evolving into a movie after being deemed too big for streaming, will address these issues and ultimately help redeem one of the MCU's most disliked chapters so far. After all, if "Endgame" can redeem "Thor: The Dark World," than just about anything is possible.
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