Secret Invasion has been giving away little about its plot despite a number of photos and videos being leaked from the set, but it seems that Samuel L. Jackson has been happy to share one piece of casting knowledge that has so far remained uncertain. According to Secret Invasion’s lead, Martin Freeman will be returning to the MCU in the new Marvel series as CIA agent Everett Ross which will directly tie the series to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which will also star Freeman in the role.
Secret Invasion has been filming for over a month now, and while it was known that along with Jackson, returnees would include Ben Mendelsohn as Skrull Talos and Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, but now Jackson has confirmed that along with franchise newcomers Christopher McDonalf, Olivia Colman and Emilia Clarke, Martin Freeman will me making his first appearance since 2018’s Black Panther.
While speaking in New York in a talk called "Samuel L. Jackson In Conversation With Josh Horowitz", the actor was listening to Horowitz reel off names of the actors who will be appearing with him in the new series, when he cut in to add Freeman’s name to the list. Whether Jackson was unaware that this is the first time Martin Freeman’s involvement in Secret Invasion has been mentioned is unclear, but whether he meant to let the cat out of the bag or not, it is just another small piece of the puzzle that can now be added to the very little that is known about the show.
Secret Invasion Could Release As Early As This Year, But At The Moment Marvel Are Staying Quiet
At the beginning of the year an update on Marvel’s Japanese site seemed to suggest that Secret Invasion would arrive on Disney+ sometime in the Fall, but considering it has now been all but confirmed that She-Hulk will be coming late summer, it seems unlikely that a follow-up show would be dropping almost immediately afterwards. As well as that, the series is currently still filming, and it would be a very quick turnaround to have the whole series completed by then. It is more likely that Secret Invasion will now arrive early in 2023, which would put it after the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in November this year.
With Freeman now confirmed to appear in both projects, the timing of the releases could be crucial to keeping the narrative in order. During the Covid pandemic Marvel managed to keep the intended timeline mostly in check, despite having some of their Disney+ series premiere before they could release movies again in cinemas after the 2020 shutdown. Martin Freeman many not be the most pivotal character in the MCU, but it is fair to say that at some time everyone plays their part, and there could be some moments in the series that will link to his character’s Black Panther sequel role and vice-versa. What these links are, is something we still have quite a wait to discover, unless of course there is anything else that Samuel L. Jackson would like to get off his chest.