More photos have leaked from the set of the Secret Invasion series, and everything we see only gets us more hyped!
While recent leaks have showed Emilia Clarke’s character meeting with a villainous member of the Skrulls, these new images seem to indicate that Don Cheadle might have joined the series as well, reprising his role as War Machine. Check out the images below, and let’s break them down!
The Secret Invasion leaks come to us from Instagram user @the_insta_phils , who captured the shots in London near Liverpool Station two days ago. The photos give us a look at what seems to be the site of an action or disaster scene, with busted up cars lining the road and debris strewn throughout the streets. We can also see what looks like a black-tentacled-squid-alien-thing lying dead in the road…and it looks to be from a species that we’ve never seen before in the MCU. What is it? Your guess is as good as ours.
In addition to the squid, we also see a poster for Rogers: The Musical, the in-universe musical about Captain America that was depicted in Hawkeye (the same poster showed up in several shots of Spider-Man: No Way Home).
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But perhaps the most interesting photo is of a newspaper article titled “President Ritson in London for Emergency Talks.” The image shows Don Cheadle, AKA, Colonel James Rhodes, shaking hands with a new actor that we haven’t seen before in the MCU…a man that we can presume will be playing the new American president in Secret Invasion.
The subtext of the newspaper article reads:
“Ritson will arrive after the British Prime Minister brokered an emergency summit amid unprecedented tensions.”
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR SECRET INVASION
While Don Cheadle hasn’t been officially confirmed to be staring in the Secret Invasion series, his appearance would come as a welcome surprise to fans looking to see more of War Machine. The last time we saw him was in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where he attended a ceremony that put Captain America’s shield in a museum (only to be taken out later by an increasingly shady government). There, he exchanged a few words with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) about the pressures of taking on the mantle of a hero.
While Cheadle didn’t show up again in that series, this set leak is a good indication that he will be appearing in Secret Invasion in some capacity.
The mention of President Ritson is also a welcome surprise, as he is a brand new character that we’ve never seen before. The last president we saw in the MCU was Matthew Ellis, who was played by William Sadler in Iron-Man 3, Agents of Shield, and the WHIH Newsfront webseries. Plenty of time has past since these appearances, so it would make sense that a new U.S. president has been appointed in the current timeline of the MCU…we just haven’t seen him before.
THE POLITICAL TENSIONS IN THE MCU
The inclusion of a U.S. president in Secret Invasion seems to point towards an increasingly political plotline for this show. Set photos revealed that we will be visiting several key locations across the European continent in the series, with the sets showing a very real-world that an invading alien race would have on the world. The feel of the series seems surprisingly similar to Winter Soldier or Civil War, which I for one am incredibly excited for.
This series will certainly be looking to rock the MCU in a similar way to those films…changing the landscape and sending ripples throughout the entire franchise.
The Secret Invasion comic was all about shattered trusts and paranoia amongst the superhero community, and it looks like this show is set to follow in those same footsteps. The story revolved around the shapeshifting Skrulls invading Earth and taking on the appearance of many of our favorite heroes, making it impossible to know who to trust, and without spoilers, there were several key characters who were revealed to be Skrull imposters all along. We expect that this will be the case for the show as well.
So which of our heroes will be revealed as Skrull imposters? Maria Hill? Sharon Carter? Nick Fury? James Rhodes??!! Let us know your theories by mentioning @The_Illuminerdi on Twitter.
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Source: Comic Book Movie
