Secret Invasion director says he doesn’t ‘feel bad’ about mixed reviews from ‘rabid’ Marvel fans
Disney+ series currently holds the record for lowest-rated Marvel title on Rotten Tomatoes
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Secret Invasion director Ali Selim has reacted to the latest Marvel series’ mixed reviews.
The Disney+ series, which focused on the Kree-Skrull war storyline that was first introduced in 2019’s Captain Marvel, came to an end on Wednesday (26 July).
Following its finale, the show broke an unfortunate Rotten Tomatoes record, earning a dismal critics’ score of just 10 per cent, making it the lowest-rated Marvel title of all time.
Over the course of its six-episode run, Secret Invasion frustrated fans by “cruelly” killing off a popular character and by revealing that one character was actually a shape-shifting alien – a twist that could change the way fans view certain scenes from past Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films.
In a new interview with Variety, Selim – who also served as an executive producer – was asked how he felt about the show’s reception.
“Oh, I don’t read reviews,” he answered. “With all due respect. For me, I view all the storytelling work I do as a dialogue with an audience.
“When the show is finished and put up on the screen, that’s my half of the dialogue. And the audience then starts their half of the response to it.”
He continued: “I don’t feel bad about mixed reviews. If you had unanimously good reviews, every movie would gross $10 billion, trillion dollars, right? [Projects] resonate with different people at different times for different reasons, and Marvel has a very devoted – even rabid – fan base who have expectations and when their expectations aren’t fulfilled, they move in the other direction; they give it a thumbs down.
“I don’t know – is it our job to fulfill their expectations? Or to tell the story that we’re telling? So, it’s a tricky thing. I would love it if everybody loved it, but I also don’t have that expectation myself, so I feel great about the response to it.”
There were some saving graces for the series; fans of Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) were left feeling vindicated following a groundbreaking moment involving her character, G’iah.
Secret Invasion is led by Samuel L Jackson, who returns as Nick Fury, alongside Cobie Smulders, Don Cheadle, Ben Mendelsohn, Olivia Colman and Kingsley Ben-Adir.
Next on the MCU docket are Loki season two (6 October) and Echo (29 November), with Captain Marvel follow-up The Marvels set to be the final MCU film release of the year (10 November).
Next year’s releases, including Deadpool 3 and the Anthony Mackie-led Captain America: Brave New World, will most likely be delayed due to the ongoing actors’ and writers’ strike in Hollywood.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments