Warning: Spoilers for Secret Invasion to follow.
To say that the first episode of Secret Invasion refused to pull any punches is perhaps the biggest understatement one could make about the MCU as a whole right now. Beyond the fact that not even 10 minutes passed before Everett K. Ross was revealed to be a Skrull, which comes with a whole codex of implications, the closing moments of the show’s inaugural chapter saw Maria Hill, longtime prominent MCU hero, seemingly meet her fate at the hands of Gravik.
Needless to say, people weren’t terribly happy to see Cobie Smulders’ certified legend succumb to her injuries (or so they want us to think; I don’t buy it for a second), but with five episodes to go, it’s safe to say that Secret Invasion isn’t quite done making mincemeat of our heartstrings, and some of the folks at r/marvelstudios have taken to musing on one particular way the show could devastate us, and it involves a man by the name of Ben Mendelsohn.
Indeed, Maria Hill’s death was unnerving enough, but if Talos, Nick Fury’s closest (and as far as we know, only) ally who’s already proving to be a top-notch scene-stealer after just one episode, ends up biting the dust, the following misery just might be a bit too much to handle. And with G’iah looking to be in for an intense character arc, who’s to say that he won’t end up being a casualty of it?
If the clock does happen to be ticking for Talos, we can probably afford to breathe easy for tomorrow’s episode at least. Mendelsohn, who portrays the character, is the second name on the cast list for Secret Invasion, so it wouldn’t make much sense to kill off who’s effectively your co-lead when you’re not even halfway through the series. Nevertheless, we’ll all be crossing our fingers extra hard for Talos’ safety in the coming weeks; we don’t want that Mendelsohn charm dipping out of the MCU anytime soon.
Secret Invasion is streaming on Disney Plus. Additional episodes will release every Wednesday until the show’s conclusion on July 26.