A place for Marvel/Star Wars Disney+ shows.

It was another short episode of Secret Invasion last night, only 39 minutes, including credits, and yet it felt like it had a lit of filler. I was reminded that a lot of these MCU shows were originally conceived as movies that were turned into mini-series and I bet that's what happened with Secret Invasion.

( Spoilers behind the cut )

Secret Invasion is available on Disney+.

Imagine my surprise to find last night's new Secret Invasion was pretty good. Suddenly, the tension was real, threats to characters' lives felt dire, and even some of the humour landed. What changed? There's a new screenwriter, Roxanne Paredes, who, like most writers for Disney+ shows, has a very short and undistinguished filmography. She did write five episodes of a series called FBI: International, which seems to have prepared her for this kind of material.

( Spoilery review under the cut )

Secret Invasion is available on Disney+.

The latest MCU series premiered on Disney+ last night, Secret Invasion. Starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn, it can boast of some great acting talent, if nothing else. I'm sorry to say the episode was pretty bland.

It was written by series creator Kyle Bradstreet and co-written by Brian Tucker. Tucker's only previous credit is writing the 2013 film Broken City, which holds a 28% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Bradstreet has a little more cred, having worked in television since 2009, his most significant work being nine episodes he wrote for Mr. Robot. He wasn't the creator of Mr. Robot and he wrote only one episode in the series' first season. I've never seen Mr. Robot so, I don't know, maybe he wrote the show's best episodes. But considering how badly the Rick and Morty writers from later seasons worked out, I'm thinking this theory of apprenticeship, of supporting writers going on to be showrunners at Disney, isn't quite sound.

( Mild spoilers behind the cut )

Secret Invasion is available on Disney+.