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Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for Secret Invasion episode 5
Aside from Samuel L. Jackson’s natural comedic melody as Nick Fury, Olivia Colman has also provided relief every week from the high stakes and shocking deaths inMarvel’s Secret Invasion, and the full force of her M16 position is yet to come.
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During the penultimate episode of the miniseries, Colman assumed a new role by default after confronting her boss, and even though we’re still not sure about Colonel Rhodes’ official title, we now know Sonya is calling the shots. Here’s everything you need to know about the SIS.
Secret Invasion Episode 5 Recap
We catch up with Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman) in London, who pays a visit to the MI6 director Derrik Weatherby (Tony Curran), who’s watching Rhodey’s (Don Cheadle) leaked footage of Nick Fury (who’s actually Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir)) shooting Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) on a British news channel and reports of a suspected alien invasion on the Skrulls part.
Weatherby informs his assistant that he’s busy to stop Sonya from entering, but she proceeds to enter his office anyway. He asks if she’s seen the news on President Ritson’s (Dermot Mulroney) attack, and she lies making out she hasn’t. Weatherby then asks Sonya if she believes Skrulls could be among them, and she tells him that she thinks they’re “bloody everywhere.”
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In a surprising twist, Sonya then holds a gun to Weatherby’s head and asks the director to give her the location ofDr. Rosa Dalton(Katie Finneran)—the scientist working on Gravik’s Super Skrull machine. After asking if Sonya’s lost her mind, she shoots Weatherby through the hand and leg which prompts his security to enter the room. Sonya then reveals that Weatherby has been a Skrull all along since the gunshot wound forced him to show his “true colors.”
Sonya informs Weatherby that the SIS has no policy on killing Skrulls, therefore, it’s assumed the director is taken into custody. We later see Sonya meet up with Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in Finland and inform him that she’s the new head of SIS by default because of her former superior’s infiltration.
What Is The SIS?
SIS stands for Secret Intelligence Service, and it’s simply another name for M16—Military Intelligence, Section 6, and the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe previously mentioned the presence of M16 during World War II, when Chester Phillips asked Peggy Carter to analyze the SSR’s work with M16 so that they could find the location of HYDRA’s base. The television series,Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., revealed that Rosalind Price worked for MI6 before becoming the head of the Advances Threat Containment, and Ant-Man and the Wasp saw former M16 member, Uzman, hired by black market dealer Sonny Burch. Before becoming Sonny’s enforcer, Uzman developed a unique sedative that once taken made people very suggestible.
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A deleted scene from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also introduced Clive Reston as an MI6 agent, who blew Agent Everett Ross’ cover in Tehran, Iran. Reston investigatedSpymasterduring the time and was close to gaining information from the NSA, but was later abducted by Agent Ross who impersonated him to get into the building himself.
Does The SIS Exist In The Real World?
Yes, the SIS is a real organization in Britain, also operating under the common name MI6, and the service’s members are known to work in secret around the world in order to safeguard the United Kingdom by using cutting-edge technology and espionage skills—real James Bond territory.
Founded in 1909, and established as a foreign section of the Secret Service Bureau, the service saw tremendous growth during World War I and gained its current name in 1920. The MI6 title was adopted during World War II as a label of convenience within the military since the SIS went by many names before. It wasn’t until 1994 that the SIS was officially acknowledged by Parliament, and the Intelligence Services Act was introduced, and the SIS Building can be found in London’s South Bank today.
The SIS deals primarily with collecting and analyzing human intelligence from around the world in order to fortify the United Kingdom’s national security. Specific roles of the SIS include counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, managing instability and conflict overseas, and maintaining cybersecurity, with their website stating the three goals: “stopping terrorism, disrupting the activity of hostile states, and giving the UK a cyber advantage.”
Working vigilantly with sister services, Security Service (MI5), Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), HM Armed Forces, and local law enforcement, SIS’s actions are overseen by Parliament and independent judges, and its members accumulate agents from “all walks of life, with different skills, interests, and backgrounds.”
