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Secret Invasion is out on Disney Plus and it’s apparent that the series is very different from the comics. However, since the MCU is also working on an Avengers: Secret Wars movie, many Marvel fans are confused about its relation to Secret Invasion.
For those uninitiated, Marvel’s Secret Invasion and Secret Wars are two major crossover events in the comics. They are distinct storylines not related to each other at all and have different premises and consequences to the overall Marvel universe.
So no, Secret Invasion doesn’t lead to Secret Wars and the following breakdown reveals the key differences between the two stories.
How Secret Invasion is different from Secret Wars
Secret Invasion
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It was published by Marvel Comics in 2008-2009 as an eight-issue limited series, written by Brian Michael Bendis. In this storyline, the shape-shifting alien race known as Skrulls infiltrated Earth and replaced key individuals on the planet, including some of Marvel's superheroes, with Skrull impostors.
The storyline focused on the revelation of these secret infiltrations and the subsequent battle between the Skrulls and the heroes. After failing many times against the powerful Avengers, the Skrulls even began to copy the abilities of many heroes. A super Skrull was created having the powers of the Fantastic Four members.
Later on, several heroic characters turned out to be Skrulls. This included Elektra, Hank Pym, Spider-Woman, Black Bolt, Jarvis, Brother Voodoo, Mockingbird, Captain Mar-Vell, and S.H.I.E.L.D Agents like Dum Dum Dugan and Val.
The incident has huge ramifications for the Marvel Universe, especially in terms of character trust and status quo. The storylines following the disclosure of Skrull infiltrations were enormously impacted because of the change in relationships between several heroes due to mistrust.
Now, the MCU is telling a very different version of this story, as the Skrulls try to find a new home on planet Earth. But this series is even more grounded, as not many MCU superheroes are involved in it.
Secret Wars
There are two versions of the Secret Wars storylines in the Marvel comics. The first was published in 1984-1985, written by Jim Shooter and illustrated by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton. Unlike Secret Invasion, Secret Wars encompasses a larger scale as it took things to the cosmic level by involving the multiverse.
Its premise is that the Marvel villain known as The Beyonder brought parts of multiple alternate realities and their respective characters were brought together on a single planet called Battleworld. It included many versions of heroes and villains that may have never interacted before.
Later on, another version of the story was published by Marvel Comics in 2015 as a nine-issue limited series, written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Esad Ribić. The events leading up to this event were part of a long-running storyline, known as the "Hickman Avengers Saga." The key story arcs leading up to it include Avengers and New Avengers (2012-2015), Avengers World (2014) and Time Runs Out (2014-2015).
The culmination of these storylines led to the Secret Wars event, which also shared a similarity with the first one. After all, we did get another Battleworld scenario with multiple different versions of heroes and villains interacting with each other.
But the main villain involved was Victor Von Doom, who went on to become God Emperor Doom. Doctor Strange played a huge role in defeating him, along with several others such as Mr. Fantastic, Carol Danvers, Jane Foster’s Thor, Star-Lord, Cyclops with the Phoenix Force, and Black Panther.
Collisions of worlds known as Incursions were a key element in this story, which will also inspire MCU’s upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars movie. However, the main villain here might turn out to be a variant of Kang the Conqueror.
Overall, both versions of Secret Wars have had significant impacts as they led to a major reboot and restructuring of the comic book universe. We expect the same to happen in the MCU as well.
