For the new MCU show Secret Invasion, Marvel brought in director Ali Selim not to helm an episode or two but the entire six-episode series. Collider’s Perri Nemiroff talks with Selim about making a series that feels like a film, bucking traditional MCU vibes and leaning towards film noir, and loads more.

Secret Invasion covers Samuel L. Jackson’s mysterious reentry into the present-day MCU as Nick Fury. Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) has been holding down the fort by posing as Fury using his Skrull shapeshifting abilities, but it’s actually those same powers that now have Talos and others on high alert. A Skrull rebellion threatens the world’s safety, and given they can pose as anyone, it’s impossible for Fury and co. to know who to trust. The Secret Invasion cast also includes Martin Freeman as Everett Ross, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, and Don Cheadle as Rhodey, but are they really who they seem to be?
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During the interview, Selim tells Perri he was “drawn to the themes of trust and suspicion,” and shares a few influences that informed specific scenes of the show. As for how he managed to make an MCU show for fans and newcomers, Selim tells Perri his family actually played a huge role in that regard. Check out the full interview in the video above or in the transcript below!

PERRI NEMIROFF: With a new Marvel show or movie I always feel like one of the hardest things to do is to make it feel like it fits the MCU but also has your own stamp on it. Can you tell me one specific thing you did to make sure it feels like the MCU we know and love, but then also something you did on Secret Invasion to make it feel like your own?

ALI SELIM: I think this is a very different show from the MCU in that it shows us a new Nick Fury. It delves into a human story about a man with his feet on the ground rather than a story about people flying in the air, and yet, Nick Fury is an anchor in the MCU and we know him, so I think any focus on Nick Fury makes it part of the MCU.

I was really drawn to the themes of trust and suspicion and paranoia and identity. And for me, coming from a spy background and CIA stuff and the work I’ve done in the past, I immediately wanted to take this in the direction of film noir. Things like, we studied The Third Man, and we studied [Francis Ford] Coppola’s The Conversation, and in some instances, we stole from them and put it right in these episodes. It’s a balance of how do you shepherd what fans love about the MCU and yet keep them surprised?

No stealing. You’re inspired and use it to make something else even better.

SELIM: Well, there are a couple of shots in Episode 5, you’ll be like, “Oh, I know what that’s from!”

I can’t wait to look out for that!

So you made those two references, what about past MCU films or shows? Was there any specific one that maybe you looked at to work into the style of your show more so than anything else in the franchise?

SELIM: I think less about the style and more about the storytelling. I had to watch Captain Marvel because that was the beginning of this relationship between Talos and Fury, and a lot of references to [Captain America] The Winter Soldier. But I also went back and watched a lot of the Marvel world because I had to understand the relationships and where they came from, and where they started. But not necessarily visual references because I think we wanted this to be darker and more noir-y than a typical MCU.

Image via Disney+

I am curious about how you all came to the decision for you to direct all the episodes of this show because when it comes to MCU series, we’ve seen some with one director for all episodes, but others where the duties are split up. What was it about the Secret Invasion story that made you all think that it is best to leave this all in one person’s hands as director?

SELIM: Well, I wasn’t in on those conversations. Clearly, I had said something that resonated, and a series of circumstances led me here. I come from a filmmaking background, so I’m really grateful to have sort of helped create this as a film, or one big story, whether you want to call it a film or episodic TV. But the decisions that were made, that’s something else above my pay grade.

This feels a little unfair because it feels like I’m asking you to pick a favorite child, but going into filming Secret Invasion, which Marvel character were you most excited to get to work with, but then also, on the other hand, which character proved more creatively fulfilling than you ever could have imagined to explore with the actor?

SELIM: I don’t know if I think about it that way. I mean, it’s a good question, but it’s such a great cast. I was excited to work with every last one of them. I was excited for pairings; [Samuel L.] Jackson and Olivia Colman, Sam Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn, Ben Mendelsohn and Emilia Clarke, Sam Jackson and Cobie Smulders. Those are the things because when I come into it, it’s less about this person and it’s more about the scene, and what the scene means and how the scene is shaped, and to have people like that, it just excited me.

To get a little more specific with that, I know we’re not allowed to talk spoilers, but in the earlier episodes, is there any particular scene that people can look out for that transformed in a way while you were filming that you didn’t expect, where what the actors brought to the scene inspired you to pivot or more deeply explore something that wasn’t originally in the plan?

SELIM: I don’t know. I don’t know that I can say it wasn’t in the original plan because these things evolve constantly, and there’s not one turning point that says, “Oh, now it’s this.” But I do think the scene with Martin Freeman and Richard Dormer in the very beginning really sets the tone for the theme and the look and the feel and the octane, and I love that scene.

Image via Disney+

The tension in that scene is palpable. I love it.

Another thing that I’ve heard you say that I’m curious about because I feel like this is one of the most challenging things to do with the continuing franchise is to make a new installment that appeals to longtime fans but also functions as an on-ramp for newcomers. Can you maybe pinpoint something that was a top priority for you to do to appease the Marvel fandom, but then also something you were able to do so that even if someone didn’t know all the history and the lore, they still had that on-ramp to jump in and make this starting point for them?

SELIM: Well, I would first say that it’s not appeasing the audience, it’s delivering for them, right?

I like your term better.

SELIM: And I will say, this is maybe not the answer you’re looking for, but my wife, Robin, is not such an MCU fan. With the kids we’ve seen, but she’s not such a fan. My son-in-law, Ryan, is the greatest fan in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and so we would apply the Robin Rule and the Ryan Rule to every decision we made, which is, can we make a self-contained story that Robin will understand, and can we make a self-contained story that Ryan will accept? And they both got to meet Kevin Feige last night, so he met the Robin Rule and the Ryan Rule.

I have to know, have Robin and Ryan reviewed the first two episodes of Secret Invasion? What do they think?

SELIM: Well, I’ll give you their number, and you can call them. Ryan would love to talk to you.

I could geek out about this franchise all day long!

Secret Invasion premieres on Disney+ June 30th. Find out why Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Gravik is leading the takeover in Perri’s interview below.