This is one of those Marvel shows that I've been the most excited for, because it adapts a very interesting comic-book storyline to the screen. However, there's also a worry in the fact that they're doing it as one show and not a big phase simply dedicated to the "Secret Invasion" storyline, actually setting up some of these pieces and making it feel a little bigger than TV. With this first episode, a lot of time is used to set those pieces in motion early. And for what it is, it really works. It's an effective opening, although I still have doubts about its direction.
For Marvel, this isn't treating new ground, necessarily. They've done this storyline when they did "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," and this is very much like a Hydra situation. In the comics, a lot of the big Marvel characters were infiltrated by Skrulls; however, it doesn't seem like they're planning to bring a lot of big players in, so it works more like an espionage thriller, which is also very interesting, but makes it feel awfully similar to what they did with Hydra. With that said, it's always nice to see Samuel L. Jackson back as this character, and he doesn't skip a beat in bringing a new older and grizzled version of Nick Fury to the screen. This has more of that serious tone that had been missing a bit from the TV landscape of Marvel lately, and the espionage tone works very well with these characters, mixing it very well with the science-fiction element of the Skrulls. And they come across as very scary and menacing. The scariest villain is someone with a goal that they'll do anything to achieve, and the ending of this episode shows that nothing is too far for Gravik, who is brought excellently to the screen by the formidable Kingsley Ben-Adir. However, something about the show does feel very small, and given that it is a TV show, that shouldn't be a surprise. The climax especially felt like TV, and it would have been interesting to see what they could have done there with a proper film budget.
"Resurrection" works as a springboard for the rest of the show, settling into its espionage thriller tone, separating itself from its comic-book counterpart very effectively. Jackson is always awesome as Fury and his development is going to be interesting to explore in this format, even though I'm still convinced a film would have worked better.
For Marvel, this isn't treating new ground, necessarily. They've done this storyline when they did "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," and this is very much like a Hydra situation. In the comics, a lot of the big Marvel characters were infiltrated by Skrulls; however, it doesn't seem like they're planning to bring a lot of big players in, so it works more like an espionage thriller, which is also very interesting, but makes it feel awfully similar to what they did with Hydra. With that said, it's always nice to see Samuel L. Jackson back as this character, and he doesn't skip a beat in bringing a new older and grizzled version of Nick Fury to the screen. This has more of that serious tone that had been missing a bit from the TV landscape of Marvel lately, and the espionage tone works very well with these characters, mixing it very well with the science-fiction element of the Skrulls. And they come across as very scary and menacing. The scariest villain is someone with a goal that they'll do anything to achieve, and the ending of this episode shows that nothing is too far for Gravik, who is brought excellently to the screen by the formidable Kingsley Ben-Adir. However, something about the show does feel very small, and given that it is a TV show, that shouldn't be a surprise. The climax especially felt like TV, and it would have been interesting to see what they could have done there with a proper film budget.
"Resurrection" works as a springboard for the rest of the show, settling into its espionage thriller tone, separating itself from its comic-book counterpart very effectively. Jackson is always awesome as Fury and his development is going to be interesting to explore in this format, even though I'm still convinced a film would have worked better.