The MCU Is Redeeming Its Most Controversial Move

Published Sep 25, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT

Zoë Miskelly is an editor and second in command for Screen Rant's Movies team, having covered the entertainment industry for almost 10 years now. Zoë's love of superheroes and all things Marvel & DC started out in childhood, and has blossomed into a career getting to talk about some of the biggest and best movies and shows of all time, having previously focused on comics while working at WhatCulture.

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The MCU is officially making up for what for many is the franchise's most controversial move to date with its plans for a promising future release. The world of the MCU timeline has been carefully crafted over the course of almost two decades now in a way that has been unprecedented for superhero franchises up until the building of this costumed empire, which has meant a fair amount of experimentation.

This has lead to some of the biggest success stories ever seen when it comes to cinematic universes - or movies in general, given Avengers: Endgame is one of the highest grossing films of all time - but has also meant some moves that haven't landed quite as well with fans as these lofty heights overall.

However, the blessing of a long-term franchise like the MCU is that any potential misstep has plenty of chances to be altered or course corrected when it comes to the universe's big picture. The latest reports regarding the MCU's plans regarding its upcoming releases appear to be just that for the franchise when it comes to one previous installment that proved controversial with fans for a range of reasons.

The MCU's Controversial Decisions With Secret Invasion Means Its Next Spy Show Can Redeem Its History

Secret Invasion has lastingly been the MCU's most controversial release, both because of how its story was received, and because of what this avoided for the wider franchise.

The show's initial subpar reception came about because of perceived flaws in the way Secret Invasion told its story, with the most fascinating implications of Nick Fury's history with the Skrull being somewhat pushed to one side in lieu of action scenes and exposition.

This raised further issues in that the scale and scope of Secret Invasion would benefit from being its own major crossover event rather than a largely self-contained show - much in the way the comic event the series aimed to adapt itself was. Moreover, the negative reception to Secret Invasion appears to have sabotaged an otherwise promising subsection of the franchise, since the MCU has had no shows or movies centered around spy stories in this same way since the 2023 release came to an end.

However, this is now set to change going forward, as reports have emerged that a new spy series is on the horizon for the MCU (as per The Hollywood Reporter), currently going by the name of Zodiac. Given the broad batch of spy characters and stories in Marvel's comic world that have remained untapped in the MCU for the course of its run thus far, there's a lot of promise in the franchise once again delving down these lines, and making up for the proverbial lost time Secret Invasion appears to have resulted in for this story avenue.

The MCU's Spy Show Can Set The Franchise Up For More Spy Movies

The MCU's prior forays into the world of spy and espionage-focused narratives have proved the potential of this story format for the world of the franchise's shows and movies - and hopefully, Zodiac can further establish the unique possibilities opened up by delving into this kind of field.

This is perhaps best evidenced with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is as much a movie about espionage as it is about superheroes to some degree, since its storyline of a brainwashed kidnapped assassin does seem intentionally like something right out of a spy novel or film.

With this backdrop in mind, Zodiac building a new path forward for the MCU's more spy-focused releases - thus counteracting some of the negative impacts Secret Invasion appears to have had for this area of the franchise - seems like a promising prospect, and one that could allow the MCU to expand out into some fruitful territory in the years to come.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a long-running multimedia franchise drawn from the heroes, villains, and narratives of Marvel Comics. The MCU formally began with 2008's Iron Man, with other successes forming the basis for the contemporary path from comic page to screen, including over 30 films and 20 TV shows.