Marvel's 'Secret Invasion' Series Brings Two Directors On Board
Marvel Studios' Secret Invasion streaming series has found two directors.
Thomas Bezucha and Ali Selim will helm the upcoming superhero show on Disney+, which will feature Samuel L. Jackson reprising his role as secret agent Nick Fury, Ben Mendelsohn reprising his role of Talos the shapeshifting Skrull, and Marvel Cinematic Universe newcomers Olivia Colman (The Favourite), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), and Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami) also coming along for the ride.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bezucha and Selim have been hired to direct the new series, which is being written and executive produced by Kyle Bradstreet (Mr Robot). Just don't call him the showrunner – Marvel calls them "head writers," and some folks in the industry are not thrilled about the implications of that decision. In Marvel Comics, Secret Invasion was a massive crossover event which tracked the slow invasion of the shapeshifting Skrulls onto Earth, with many of them posing as Avengers for years and planting the seeds for epic betrayals and shocking reveals. We're not sure exactly how closely Marvel Studios will be sticking to that storyline in this adaptation, but considering how the company has tweaked elements of its source material in the past, don't expect a direct 1:1 adaptation.
Bezucha, who started out in the world of fashion design, has directed movies like the ensemble rom-com The Family Stone, the teen vacation romance Monte Carlo, and last year's Kevin Costner/Diane Lane neo-western thriller Let Him Go. Selim has directed episodes of In Treatment, Criminal Minds, Condor, Manhunt, and The Looming Tower, among other things.
While Marvel hired Matt Shakman to direct every episode of WandaVision, Kari Skogland to direct The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Kate Herron to tackle Loki, lately they've been bringing on multiple directors to split the work on upcoming shows. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and Meera Menon will direct Ms. Marvel, Rhys Thomas and Bert & Bertie will direct Hawkeye, Mohamed Diab and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead will direct Moon Knight, and Kat Coiro and Anu Valia are set to direct She-Hulk.
THR's sources say the breakdown of who is directing how many episodes of Secret Invasion could either be an even split with three apiece, or one person could direct four episodes while the other handles the remaining two. Production is supposed to get underway later this year in Europe.