As Marvel expands its cinematic universe thanks to television series on Disney Plus, fans are in for a treat. There are tons of new characters for the MCU on the way, like Ms. Marvel and Moonknight, but there are also a lot of returning favorites. WandaVision and The Falcon And The Winter Soldier demonstrate just how much more fleshed out the streaming medium makes supporting characters. One character that's going to be getting more time on the screen thanks to the platform is Nick Fury.
Samuel L. Jackson returns to play the character in an upcoming Secret Invasion series inspired by the Marvel comic book event. Details of show are being kept under wraps. Comic book fans know the arc sees prominent Marvel characters discover shapeshifting Skrulls replaced enemies and allies alike. The MCU hasn't featured Skrulls in that particular light; they appeared as refugees in Captain Marvel. It will certainly be interesting to see how Fury's dealings with his Skrull allies may or may not change. Given just how many characters were replaced by shapeshifters in the comics, however, Secret Invasion provides a great opportunity for Marvel to bring characters from previous properties back. One character that could definitely benefit and has a connection to the comic book arc is Bobbi Morse.
Where The MCU Left Bobbi Morse
Bobbi Morse joined the Agents Of SHIELD series in the second season as one of the organization's best spies. She infiltrated Hydra and maintained contacts all over the world. Just one season later, she was burned as a SHIELD agent. An undercover operation in Russia saw her and her ex-husband Lance Hunter disavowed by SHIELD while they went on the run. While Nick Blood's Hunter appeared in the fifth season for a single episode, Morse never returned.
Initially, Marvel planned a spin-off series for the two. Marvel's Most Wanted would have followed the pair while they were on the run and allied with adventurer Dominic Fortune. Morse crossed paths with Fortune plenty in the comics. Unfortunately for fans, the pilot failed to gain a series order. That halted the story for Morse and Hunter in its tracks. All the audience knows from Hunter's final appearance in Agents Of SHIELD is that the couple maintained their relationship. Morse never even formally used her comic book codename Mockingbird on screen. A few season three episodes briefly touched on her scientific background, but never fleshed it out further.
An Easter Egg Might Tease Her Inclusion
The post-credit scenes of MCU movies often set up future storylines. That's potentially the case for a return of Bobbi Morse to the MCU. An Easter egg in Spider-Man: Far From Home's post-credits scene provides a Secret Invasion nod to Bobbi in particular. That chapter of the MCU also confirmed that Skrulls were already on Earth. Captain Marvel's Talos appeared as Nick Fury, though seemingly with the latter's permission.
When the post-credit scene opened, the camera got a very good shot of the license plate for the car in which Talos sat. The license plate read HNM 62011. While not every sequence of numbers and letters is an Easter egg, the Spider-Man movies employ a lot of number sequences that are. This particular plate references Hawkeye And Mockingbird #6 according to fan theories, which was published in 2011.
The MCU never explored the comic book love story of Hawkeye and Mockingbird much like it hasn't Black Widow and Winter Soldier. Their popularity earned them their own comic book as well. In this issue, Hawkeye isn't heavily featured. Bobbi Morse comes across Nick Fury with a dead Skrull while she's working with Dominic Fortune. She quickly deduces that this Fury is actually a Skrull as she spent three years in captivity while a Skrull impersonated her.
What Using The Character Could Mean For Secret Invasion
Agents Of SHIELD spent the bulk of its final seasons in a separate timeline from the rest of the MCU. Since Bobbi Morse wasn't part of their time-hopping adventure, there would be no continuity conflicts in bringing her back. It also would give Adrianne Palicki the chance to play a different version of the character.
Allowing a character like Bobbi Morse to return - after a Skrull kidnapping - could open the doors for several other characters to return as shapeshifters in the MCU. Fans already voiced their hope that Daredevil returns in She-Hulk. In that instance, he would still be following the continuity of the Netflix shows. Bringing back familiar faces in this new context could give the MCU the chance to rewrite some of these characters if they wanted to and delve into deeper issues. They wouldn't have to be familiar with the events of the previous years, or could deal with the consequences of Thanos' snap.
Either approach means fans get to spend more time with some of their favorites instead of introducing several new faces. It also means anyone could be a shapeshifter. That gives the characters a chance to work through suspicions and psychological issues the MCU might otherwise gloss over. The best part of a superhero franchise doesn't have to be the superheroics. What fans loved about WandaVision was its approach to grief. Fans also loved The Falcon And The Winter Soldier delving into trauma. Secret Invasion could allow for the same by exploring the effect on a character the audience already thought they knew.
It's likely fans won't know all of the characters that could be involved in the series for a long time. Secret Invasion is expected to make its way to Disney Plus in late 2022.