Both, Secret Invasion with the Skrulls and Parasyte: The Grey with its slug-like aliens, explore the concept of body snatchers. The idea of aliens infiltrating human bodies to take over the world is one of the coolest sci-fi concepts out there. But just because it’s cool doesn’t mean it’s always executed well. Case in point: Secret Invasion — Skrulls infiltrating the Avengers to conquer Earth sounds epic. But Marvel somehow managed to turn it into a bland, uninspiring, trainwreck of a show, with its finale being the lowest-rated piece of MCU content ever!
So in this article, we’re pitting Secret Invasion against Parasyte: The Grey. They both follow the same basic premise: aliens trying to infiltrate Earth’s most powerful positions to seize control. But despite lacking the star power, the larger fanbase, and the established history of the MCU, Parasyte: The Grey beats Secret Invasion hands down, rocking a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. So, let’s break down what Parasyte: The Grey does so well and where Secret Invasion falls short.
Unlike Secret Invasion, Parasyte Was Clearly Made With a Lot of Love and Care for the Source Material
Secret Invasion was one of Marvel’s biggest, most iconic, and beloved comic events of all time. The setup for the story alone took years. The whole gist of the comic was Skrulls infiltrating the Avengers and so many of our favorite heroes being revealed as the villains. That’s what made Secret Invasion so much fun. The guessing game. The paranoia. But when it came to the TV series, guess what Marvel did? They explicitly told the showrunner Ali Selim to NOT read the comic. Now that is just outright stupid.
We could have gotten a The Thing-esque thriller in the world of the MCU! A well-done Secret Invasion could have revealed Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) as a Skrull, explaining her sudden personality shift in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, or exposed a Skrull Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt) behind his anti-hero facade. Even a Skrull Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), now in charge of Stark Industries, or a sleeper agent lurking in Wakanda — the possibilities were endless. Instead, we got a generic spy thriller with just one major Avenger in the cast. And it was painfully obvious Rhodey (Don Cheadle) was a Skrull from the get-go, robbing the series of its core intrigue. And he didn’t even suit up!
Parasyte: The Grey, on the other hand, is a clear love letter to its source material. The series faithfully adapts all the best parts of the animanga — the parasite rules, the unique types of monsters, and even that iconic hair strand rule. But it goes a step beyond. It also manages to create a fresh story with new characters around these concepts, all the while staying true to the spirit of the source material.
The Skrulls and the Parasites Have Similar Powers, Yet Parasyte’s Action Sequences are Objectively Superior
First, let’s talk about Parasyte: The Grey. The action scenes are electric. Some parasites will use tentacles to jump around, some will stretch their skin into wings to fly, and some even spool out a long tentacle with an eyeball to peek around corners. The parasites use their powers in so many new and inventive ways. And the camera work further elevates these scenes. We’ve got gun cams, body cams, car cams, Dutch angles — you name it. Plus, the CGI is terrifyingly good. If you’re into horror, especially body horror, this show hits all the beats. The way parasites warp their hosts is pure nightmare fuel. The bridge scene alone is leagues better than anything in Secret Invasion.
The majority of action scenes in Secret Invasion are just plain old shootouts. Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) gets Groot powers but still opts for guns. The camerawork is stiff. The deaths have no impact. They offed Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) like it was nothing, and Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) was cracking jokes the very next episode. It’s such a disrespect to the characters and longstanding fans who have grown with the franchise.
And then there’s that awful Gravik vs G’iah (Emilia Clarke) fight in the finale. The CGI failings threw in visual references to Hulk, Drax, Ghost, Korg, Captain Marvel, Mantis, and so many more, resulting in a confusing and unappealing disappointment. The entire sequence felt cheap and uninspired. And it was so obvious that the actors were filmed on a green screen having no clue what was going on in the scene. It could easily be marked as one of the worst MCU action scenes ever.
Secret Invasion Was No More Than a Glorified Prologue to Set Up Future MCU Projects
Secret Invasion‘s biggest sin? It felt utterly inconsequential. The series spent more time teasing future storylines than crafting a satisfying story in its own right. Take Fury, for example. The story shoehorns him into a space station ending, clearly designed to connect with The Marvels. Plus, his wife was also integral to the show. In fact, he goes to the space station with her, but she isn’t even mentioned once in The Marvels! They even shoehorned Rhodey in just to set up his legs not working for Armor Wars. His presence added nothing and the Skrull reveal contradicted so much of his character history.
Then there was the president/mayor plotline. Both the shows had the body snatchers trying to take over a prominent figure, but Parasyte: The Grey used it to remind us that we are no different from parasites, leeching off of Earth as our host. It showed us that if something more powerful and organized landed on Earth and at the top of the food chain, maybe then we’d be reminded that humanity is only one organism on a planet that contains many. Secret Invasion used that same plotline for one lackluster action scene and to set up Thunderbolt Ross’s presidency in Captain America: Brave New World.
It’s not like Parasyte: The Grey doesn’t set up anything. The finale introduces the manga’s protagonist, Shinichi (Masaki Suda), for a potential Season 2, but this reveal perfectly integrates into the final scenes. It offers a satisfying payoff for fans of the source material and subtly teases the possibility of more without sacrificing the emotional weight of the season’s conclusion. Marvel used to nail this with post-credits scenes. It’s disappointing to see the tables turned this horribly. Check out why Secret Invasion should’ve been a movie instead of a TV show.
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