LOS ANGELES - Alien conspiracies, Oscar winners and hardly a superhero in sight: Marvel is taking its record-breaking franchise in a new direction with "Secret Invasion," a spy thriller starring Samuel L Jackson, Olivia Colman and Emilia Clarke.
The series, out next Wednesday on Disney+, marks Jackson's 14th Marvel film or television series, but the first time his character Nick Fury is the undisputed star.
The series finds US spy chief Fury battling shapeshifting, reptilian humanoids known as Skrulls -- introduced in previous Marvel films -- who live among us, and are intent on fomenting war between Moscow and Washington.
Fury must also contend with British spook Sonya Falsworth, played by Olivia Colman, who appears to relish her character's loose morality, including at least one shocking torture scene.
They are joined by "Game of Thrones" star Emilia Clarke, as a conflicted Skrull rebel, along with returning regulars such as Don Cheadle, Martin Freeman and Ben Mendelsohn.
But "Secret Invasion" arrives at an uncertain moment for Marvel.
Since the gargantuan success of "Avengers: Endgame," which in 2019 briefly became the highest-grossing blockbuster of all time, parent company Disney has churned out a whopping 18 new Marvel films and television shows.
It has not all gone to plan.
Recent movies such as "Eternals," "Thor: Love and Thunder" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" have received the franchise's worst-ever reviews.
A major new villain named Kang was introduced, played by Jonathan Majors -- only for the actor to be arrested and charged with assault and harassment in March.