Secret Invasion is a surprising departure from the punch-pulling efforts of Marvel’s Phase 4, and the closest the franchise has come to “prestige” in a long time.

It’s not quite the MCU’s Andor — it stumbles a bit in the beginning, possibly because it’s working so hard to reestablish Captain Marvel’s conflict. But once things click into place, it becomes a satisfying slow burn with a lot to say about our world.

Secret Invasion is an adaptation of one of the most fan-beloved comic events: the secret invasion of the Skrulls into the comic heroes’ ranks. But that whole conceit is a lot harder to set up after Captain Marvel established Skrulls as sympathetic refugees taking shelter on Earth. How did director Ali Selim’s navigate this obstacle while staying loyal to the beloved comic book arc? Simple: he didn’t.

“I was told on the first day, don't even bother reading them,” Selim tells Inverse. “It has nothing to do with this series.”

The six-episode Disney+ miniseries isn’t really an adaptation of the comics as much as it is a showcase of some of the best characters — and actors — the franchise has ever seen. “The series really was born out of the energy that Marvel witnessed when they saw Sam Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn on screen in Captain Marvel,” Selim says. “And they said, ‘We have to continue this. It's just too electric.’”

Inverse spoke to Selim about the Nick Fury character, how the series is almost a Western, and his hopes for the future.