An MCU star who debuted in Captain Marvel revealed his feelings about his death in Disney+’s Secret Invasion and the ongoing Skrull conflict.
Secret Invasion has served, in many ways, as a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, bringing back many of its main cast along with others from across the MCU.
The series has not been shy about killing off key characters, with Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill and Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos already meeting their demise at the hands of Gravik, and Sharon Blynn’s Soren falling victim to him off-screen.
Ben Mendelsohn Responds to Talos’ Secret Invasion Death
During an interview with The New York Times, Secret Invasion and Captain Marvel‘s Talos actor Ben Mendelsohn broke his silence on his recent MCU death with Episode 4 of the Disney+ series.
Talos was killed by his fellow Skrull Gravik, who stabbed him while posing as a US soldier as Nick Fury was forced to retreat to protect President Ritson.
Warning – The rest of this article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion Episode 5.
His funeral later took place in Episode 5 as his daughter, Emilia Clarke’s G’iah, and Nick Fury’s wife Priscilla, aka Vara, gave him a Skrull funeral.
As Emilia Clarke’s G’iah has already seen a fakeout death, the interviewer questioned whether Talos may see something similar, to which Mendelsohn played somewhat coy but called his MCU death “a turning point:”
“Well to answer that would be to be an enemy of what I do. My greatest loyalty is always to the audience, and I try not to undermine that in any way, shape, or form. But I can definitely tell you Talos’s death is a turning point.”
Touching on why the Skrull narrative is important to the MCU, the Talos actor explained how the shape-shifters “present an ever-present threat” and how “you can’t un-have” an event such as Secret Invasion:
“Ever since they’ve been introduced and utilized well, they do present an ever-present threat. Because how do you know? That’s one of the great things about ‘Secret Invasion.’ ‘Civil War’ also has that flavor. It’s just like, Who is who here? The great strength of the studio is that they play what-if for real; they don’t play what-if as an entertaining byline. They play it for real and keep integrating it. Once they have an event for ‘Secret Invasion,’ you can’t un-have it.”
Mendelsohn also explained how Talos’ perspective on humans and Skrulls coexisting is “really the only one that stands,” essentially debunking the thought processes of G’iah and Gravik:
“If you keep boiling the argument down, Talos’s argument is really the only one that stands. Because if you take the Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) kind of perspective and you go for domination, there is one thing that Talos correctly surmises: You will not beat them. It’s their spot, and they have already shown that they can be incredibly effective at wiping out enormous numbers of beings. And so while you can look at what G’iah (Emilia Clarke) is going through and understand Gravik’s frustration, it’s similar to the frustrations that we’ve seen play out locally elsewhere.”
While the actor noted Talos’ thoughts may appear “idealistic,” the Skrull is the only character with “genuine experience and genuine ability to call it:”
“And you might well say, “OK, yeah that’s right. Go for it and go for it now.” But it’s reckless, destructive. And it’s immature both ideologically and in a realpolitik sense. So as idealistic as Talos may appear to be, he is really the only one with the genuine experience and genuine ability to call it. This is not a zero-sum game for humans and Skrull.”
What Talos’ Death Means for the MCU
Obviously, Ben Mendelsohn didn’t outright dismiss the notion of a restriction for Talos, likely out of fear of spoiling a twist or shutting down fan theories. But his words certainly seem to indicate his death was final and a “turning point” in the story, which the follow-up episode certainly seemed to solidify.
Talos’ murder will undeniably be a major motivator for both Nick Fury and G’iah to bring down Gravik and his Skrull invasion once and for all.
Many will find it unfortunate to bid an MCU farewell to Ben Mendelson and Talos only four years and three appearances after his Captain Marvel introduction. The tragic death also seems to debunk any chances of Talos appearing in November’s The Marvels, which many speculated he may sneak his way into.
Between Maria Hill, Talos, and Soren, Secret Invasion has already racked up an impressive body count which could grow even higher in the finale.
Fans already know the incumbent US President Ritson will be replaced by Harrison Ford’s General Ross in next year’s Captain America: Brave New World, leaving him prime to meet his end or have his presidency fall apart in another way.
The first five episodes of Secret Invasion are streaming now on Disney+.
