‘Secret Invasion’ Director Appears To Admit Series Was Cobbled Together In The Editing Room Even As They Were Releasing New Episodes

John F. Trent |

Jul 27, 2023

Emilia Clarke as G'iah in Secret Invasion (2023), Marvel Studios

Secret Invasion director Ali Selim appeared to admit that the entire series was being cobbled together in the editing room even as they were releasing new episodes every week.

In an interview with Olivia Singh at Insider, Selim was asked, “From what other Marvel directors and actors have said, sometimes things in the scripts change at the last minute or the day of filming. What was your experience like for Secret Invasion? How closely did it follow all the scripts and how much room was there for improvisation or adjustments?”

Selim responded, “I don’t wanna play semantic games, but I think of it as an evolution. As you hunt down story, everything is constantly evolving. And it’s a fascinating process.”

He went on to elaborate, “I guess there are moments of improv, like between Sam and Don, between Sam and Ben. There are really rich moments of improv. There are actors who rely more on the script.”

Next, Selim appeared to reveal that the later episodes and the entire story of the series was being put together as they released the first episode, “And I think as we are editing, we’re still finding the story. We were finding the story on episode six up until episode one had already aired.”

He added, “That’s part of the beauty of it, is that Marvel just keeps hunting it down and using the resources they have to come up with the best story possible, and that quest never ends.”

Elsewhere throughout the interview, Selim punted on numerous questions about story decisions, noting much of that was above him and his main role was directing the episodes rather than making major story decisions that affect the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

For example when asked about Maria Hill’s death, he said, “Why she’s killed is another question for the MCU. I just did the best I could making it feel truthful and emotional, and I am grateful that I have not yet received death threats for killing off Maria Hill.”

When asked about how the series might tie in to The Marvels, he said, “My participation in that was to make sure that Nick Fury goes up at the end of this series, so I made sure that he went up. And where they capture him in the next, it’s entirely up to them.”

Similarly when asked if he specifically knew how long James Rhodes had been a Skrull, Selim answered, “No. I think that’s a question for the MCU at large, probably for Kevin Feige himself.”

He added, “What was presented to me was a lot of fun, and I think we made a lot of fun out of it. But for those definitive answers, I defer to Kevin Feige or I defer to the fans.”

In fact when he was asked if he had a favorite episode or a scene that he was most proud of, he answered, “I’m proud of the whole damn thing, the six hours. I’m proud that I’ve survived. I’m proud that people are enjoying it. I love the scale and scope of it, the fact that I got to work on cars flipping over and explosions.”

“But ultimately for me, it boils down to the emotional truth that’s passing between two characters, the electricity passing between two characters. And so Don and Sam in the bar when Rhodey fires Fury, I love that. Olivia Colman and Sam Jackson in the library in episode one. I love that,” he said.

He continued, “So I’m not gonna come up with the exciting scenes for you, but the scenes that really move me are the ones where it’s two people talking and finding a truth. Emilia Clarke and Sam Jackson in episode five talking about Talos’ death and where to bury him, I just love those moments.”

“And like I said, then the other stuff becomes more fun, like a relaxing moment to blow shit up and cut people’s fingers off,” he concluded.

Selim’s apparent admission that the story was being cobbled together appears to confirm James Gunn’s comments that he made back in January at a press event promoting the upcoming DC Universe slate.

As reported by Variety, Gunn said, “People have become beholden to [release] dates, to getting movies made no matter what. I’m a writer at my heart, and we’re not going to be making movies before the screenplay is finished.”

He added, “I’ve seen it happen again and again — it’s a mess. It’s the primary reason for the deterioration in quality of films today, versus 20-30 years ago. The degradation of the writer in Hollywood has been a terrible story.”

“It’s gotten much worse since I first moved here 23 years ago. Writers have been completely left out of the loop in favor of actors and directors, and making the writer more prominent and more important in this process is really important to us.”

“They make these movies where they don’t have third acts written,” Gunn said.

“And then they start writing them during [production], you know, making them up as they’re going along. And then you’re watching a bunch of people punch each other, and there’s no flow even to the action,” he concluded.

What do you make of Selim’s admission that they were still cobbling the story together in the editing room for the sixth episode even after they released the first episode?

NEXT: ‘Secret Invasion’ Continues MSheU Storytelling As Emilia Clarke’s G’iah Becomes Overpowered Super Skrull, Will Solve The Problems Men Created

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