‘Secret Invasion’: All 10 Known Filming Locations
Secret Invasion is the newest MCU series that almost feels like a superhero James Bond spy flick. Naturally, it takes us on a journey around the world, but seeing that it’s a TV series and not a movie, it’s clear that the crew didn’t actually travel all over the world to film due to budget limitations. Instead, they had to make do with certain locations posing as other spots in the world.
But where exactly was ‘Secret Invasion’ filmed? Well, there are a ton of places that were either listed directly as filming locations or that fans of the show and the MCU recognized, both in the series itself and the trailers before the show premiered on Disney+. Here’s everything there is to know about the filming locations of ‘Secret Invasion.’
How long did it take to film Secret Invasion?
The filming of Secret Invasion was expected to begin in mid-August 2021 but actually began a little later – on September 1, 2021, in London, England. Samuel L. Jackson was already in London at the time, filming his scenes for the MCU movie, ‘The Marvels,’ and then began shooting his scenes for ‘Secret Invasion’ in October 2021.
Filming continued in numerous locations and was initially wrapped by April 25, 2022. However, reshoots were necessary and done with Jackson first around July 2022 and then also with Emilia Clarke in late September 2022.
That means, if you include the reshoots in your calculations, the filming of ‘Secret Invasion’ lasted for almost exactly a year, if not a few weeks longer.
Where was Secret Invasion filmed?
‘Secret Invasion’ is a show about an alien invasion on Earth – the Skrull species, to be exact – not just the US but the entire planet. Hence, scenes had to be included from all over the world, but it would be too expensive to go all over the world and shoot a handful of scenes. Therefore, many locations where the show was filmed doubled down as other locations around the world.
While we haven’t seen the entire show yet – only the pilot episode is out as we speak – we don’t know all the locations we could see in the show. However, we do know a lot already, either from official listings, the trailers, or the show itself. Let’s dive right into it!
Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Halifax is a small yet well-known town in West Yorkshire, England, that also serves as the Headquarters of Calderdale Council. It’s a town of rich history, as Halifax was the center of the English woolen industry dating back to the 15th century. The most notable sights in Halifax are The Gibbet and Shibden Hall, Halifax Bank, and above all, the Halifax Piece Hall.
Interestingly, the Piece Hall was used to film an incredibly important scene for the first episode of Secret Invasion. Piece Hall doubled as Moscow’s Vossoyedineniye Square – in the final scenes of the episode. Of course, some CGI was used to make the location look more ‘Soviet-Russian,’ but the location remained.
The filming in the Piece Hall took about a week due to the complexity of the scene and was done from January 24 to 31, 2022.
Also, in several shots of the first episode, you can see the Dean Clough Mills in the background, an old mill factory in Halifax that served as a set piece to depict a part of Moscow in the show because, obviously, they couldn’t actually film the series in Russia.
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
Another small town that served a great purpose in the series was Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. It’s a small garden city with a population a little below 50 000, best known for its picturesque landscape located only 20 miles from London.
While not much of the city itself was used in the show, the Shredded Wheat Factory in Welwyn Garden City serves as the headquarters of the New Skrullos City. In ‘Secret Invasion,’ New Skrullos City is supposedly somewhere southwest of Moscow, but the factory is actually in England.
Some features were added to the factory via CGI, like the large nuclear plant chimney, to make the location look more Soviet for the show.
Hatfield House Library, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Another Hertfordshire location used for filming is the famous Hatfield House – specifically, the library inside the mansion. The location was used in numerous blockbuster shows, such as Bridgerton, Taboo, and The Great, due to its unparalleled beauty. It looks and feels as if you’ve entered a time capsule.
In ‘Secret Invasion,’ Hatfield House was used for a couple of scenes where Olivia Colman’s character, Sonya Falsworth, meets with Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Nick Fury, to have a chat about the events currently in motion regarding the invasion.
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, UK
‘Secret Invasion’ was also filmed in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, UK. As we continue, you’ll notice numerous locations around West Yorkshire, as it’s actually where most of the filming took place (alongside London, UK). The shooting in Huddersfield, according to some sources, took place on January 24, 2022, but it likely took more than a single day to shoot.
Huddersfield is a small, beautiful market town in the Kirklees county in West Yorkshire, England. It’s famous for being the administrative center of the county but also for its rich industrial history, historic villages, and, most notably, the beautiful Castle Hill locality.
London, Greater London, England, UK
Naturally, when filming a big show in the United Kingdom, London will most likely be a huge part of the filming locations. ‘Secret Invasion’ was no different, as numerous sites in and around London were used for the filming of the show.
For instance, there’s a scene where fans recognize Queen Anne’s Alcove, a sight built as a historic landmark in 1705, located at the heart of Kensington Garden in London. The sight was used at the beginning of the Unity Day sequence in the first episode of the show.
Some fans quickly recognized a location from the show’s trailer when Nick Fury meets James Rhodes in a tavern. That tavern is a real place – the Berners Tavern in London. Of course, the space was remodeled a bit for the purposes of the show, but the location is there.
There are a couple of scenes seemingly shot at Liverpool Street Station in London, while cast and crew members were seen in Brixton Village, London, England, as well. I’m not sure if they actually shot some scenes or just enjoyed some nice Oxtail Stew, but they were there.
Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Leeds is a picturesque, big, historic city in West Yorkshire, England, and a location where a lot of filming for ‘Secret Invasion’ took place. We don’t know for how long the crew was there exactly, but we do know that Emilia Clarke and Samuel L. Jackson were there filming on January 22, 2023.
There’s a scene where we can see Clarke’s character, G’iah, supposedly in Moscow, but it was actually a location in Leeds, right between Greek Street and Bond Court, near the Dakota Hotel.
Longcross Studios, Surrey, England, UK
Several sources, including the show’s IMDb page, listed Longcross Studios in Surrey, England, Uk as one of the studios used for the filming of ‘Secret Invasion.’ Longcross has been home to many blockbusters, even among other MCU projects, such as ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ (2014), ‘Doctor Strange’ (2016, ‘The Marvels’ (2023) and others.
Other amazing films and shows were shot in Longcross Studios, like ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ (2017), ‘The Gentlemen’ (2019), and the upcoming ‘Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ (2023) & ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two’ (2024).
Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, UK
Another amazing, famous studio was used to film ‘Secret Invasion’ – the historic Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, UK. The studio has been home to countless films and TV shows since the 1930s, and is still as active as ever in 2023.
A fraction of their work from the 20th century includes ‘Dr. No’ (1962), ‘Superman’ (1978), ”Alien ‘(1979), ‘Mission: Impossible’ (1996), and’ Eyes Wide Shut’ (1999), whereas from 2000 onward, they produced ‘The Da Vinci Code’ (2006), ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008), ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ (2011), ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ (2014), and so much more.
For this particular show – ‘Secret Invasion’ – seven sound stages were used in the filming.
Los Angeles, California, USA
LA is also listed as one of the filming locations for ‘Secret Invasion.’ As always, I reckon that some additional shooting was likely done in an LA studio, or some outdoor scenes to set the location.
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
As with many other MCU projects, some scenes were filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as its metropolitan area. Numerous film studios are located there, as well as countless picturesque locations that are quite malleable – meaning, they can easily be modified so as to play the part of a different location in the world.
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