Warning: The article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode four.
Secret Invasion has received some kudos for steering away from the CGI-heavy Phase Four and Phase Five of the MCU and giving clever reasons for the same. But after the fourth episode, it makes Nick Fury look like the most superficial and vain character in the whole vast Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It all started with the revelation that Fury, the currently de-motivated leader of the surviving Avengers, has a wife, Priscilla. The big question at the moment was whether Fury knew she was a Skrull in disguise as the scene began with Priscilla being in her Skrull form before Fury enters their house but swiftly switching to her human form as well as him calling her Priscilla, even though her real name is Varra.
But the subsequent episodes confirmed that is not the case as he is aware of his wife’s secret. So, the question is, why doesn’t “Priscilla” revert to her Skrull form when Fury is home and why doesn’t he call her Varra when they are alone?
Secret Invasion’s desire to not be over-reliant on CGI doesn’t really apply here as in the rush to end episode one on a cliffhanger, they showed us Priscilla in her Skrull form in Fury’s absence, which implies that she is comfortable being who she is in her husband’s absence, even though he knows about her.
What does that tell us about Fury? Only that he is so vain and shallow that he probably can’t digest facing the fact that he married a Skrull, that he fell in love with her human face not her, because there is no other reason for her to keep up appearances even when they are alone. Heck, he didn’t even know — and didn’t bother to know in all the years they were married — what happened to the person, the real Priscilla, whose life Varra swiped.
The man wouldn’t even call her Varra in private — at least he afforded that dignity to Talos, who roamed around wearing his former boss’ face, which is another bonkers mystery by the way).
Fury knowingly marrying a Skrull was supposed to be one sweet story, but the way their story has been portrayed, it is shaping up to be a rather toxic relationship. Given his dynamic with his wife, it is not really that surprising now to accept the heights of Gravik’s hate for him and how Fury had no qualms about having the homeless Skrulls running around, doing his dirty work.
It probably would have been better if Fury never knew Priscilla was Skrull and was fooled by her — all these very concerning highlights would have not eaten away at the man’s long-standing reputation.
Secret Invasion episodes release every Wednesday on Disney Plus.