During the Skrull Council meeting, one of them asks, “What if the Avengers come back?” We know Rhodey (Don Cheadle) is working for the president, so even if he doesn’t help, it’s likely he’ll continue to be involved. But where are the others?

“Secret Invasion” takes place after “Avengers: Endgame.” The Avengers are still in a place of limbo — they technically disbanded after “Endgame” when both Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) and Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) died, and Steve (Chris Evans) disappeared into the past. 

So who does that leave us with? Of the official, founding members of the team, we know Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is quasi-retired and spending time with his family while reluctantly training a new Hawkeye (Hailee Steinfeld). Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) was off on Sakaar for a while during the events of “She-Hulk,” only reappearing at the end of that show alongside his son Skaar, so he probably has a lot on his mind right now. Then there’s Thor (Chris Hemsworth), who also has entered fatherhood following the events of “Thor: Love & Thunder,” and is off having adventures in space.

But where are the rest, like Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie)? Couldn’t Fury call Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)? Those are all good ideas, but there’s one problem: Does Nick Fury even know these guys? As far as we’ve seen, they’ve never interacted, though they were all at Tony’s funeral. But even if they are acquainted, it’s likely Fury doesn’t trust them, and because those three just had big-budget movies, the in-universe rules of the MCU dictate they can’t appear in anything for a while. If you save the world, you get a holiday, especially Strange, who was involved in three back-to-back-to-back multiversal threats — which Fury probably isn’t too happy about.