[1] The storyline involves a large-scale super-hero crossover featuring Marvel characters such as Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Daredevil, Luke Cage and Nick Fury fighting a wide array of supervillains who have received hi-tech armaments from a mysterious benefactor.

Nick Fury, Director of the international security force S.H.I.E.L.D., uncovers a secret plot by Latverian Prime Minister Lucia von Bardas to fund a group of B-List supervillains with advanced technology, presumably that of previous Latverian dictator Doctor Doom (who was trapped in Hell at the time), as a means of wreaking terror on American soil.

Fury recruits Captain America, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Black Widow, Luke Cage, Wolverine, and superhuman S.H.I.E.L.D.

A year later, a mass reprisal is unleashed across New York City, leaving Luke Cage in a coma as Fury and a cadre of NYC heroes face off against a cyborg Von Bardas and her hi-tech army.

The reprisal is revealed to be a trap for New York's superheroes when Von Bardas arms a high-tech bomb linked to the technology provided to her supervillain army.

The cyborg Von Bardas is destroyed by Daisy Johnson, the bomb is disarmed, and the supervillain army is defeated and arrested.

These profiles are presented with the five issues in the Secret War hardback and paperback collections, and include a list of heroes that Fury recommended be sent in if his stealth attack failed and a large-scale assault was required (Hawkeye, Spider-Woman, Punisher, Ms. Marvel, War Machine, the Hulk and the Sentry), and a list of heroes who Fury contemplated including in the original mission but rejected for various reasons (Cyclops relied on his team too much, Fury had doubts about Doc Samson's ability to come through in a crunch, the Falcon lacked the right kind of power, Iron Man would ask too many questions even without the issue of bringing in someone who relied that heavily on technology against the Tinkerer, the Thing was too visually distinctive, Kitty Pryde lacked the right mentality, and Fury couldn't trust Mystique or the Purple Man).