Crowned as the worst-reviewed MCU property ever, Secret Invasion has not done many things right. But at least it backs up Hulk’s at-the-time aptly labeled “dramatic” choice in She-HUlk: Attorney at Law, while also underlining the fact that the green beast is not so “smart” after all.
After mindlessly meandering through a big chunk of its initial episodes, it was towards the end that Secret Invasion coughed up The Harvest — a vial containing the DNA of every superbeing present at the Battle of Earth (thus we are still trying to fathom how it contains Abomination and Ghost’s DNA as well).
This MacGuffin entered the scenario out of the blue – with very stuffed-at-the-last-moment-during-reshoots vibes – and only served to reinforce three points
- Fury is one sneaky opportunist who pushed his PTSD aside to collect blood samples post the battle with Thanos.
- Secret Invasion writers seriously need to do a crash course on what ‘good, engaging writing’ means.
- Hulk was right.
In the previous Disney Plus series, i.e., She-Hulk, Bruce Banner is seen taking Jennifer’s blood and testing it after she becomes She-Hulk. After he is done testing it, he uses laser beams to destroy the samples to ensure no one gets a hand on her DNA and uses it to create another Hulk, invoking Jen’s mocking assessment that he is being “dramatic.” At the time, it sure seemed like he was exaggerating the whole process in his attempt to convince his cousin that he knows best.
But seeing how that’s exactly what happens in Secret Invasion, we have to accept Hulk was right on money… but not exactly careful in keeping track of where he sheds his blood. Battle of Earth is hardly the only place Bruce incurred injuries – he has lost blood in many fights. And yet, the man is only worried about someone breaking into his secure lab to steal his DNA while paying no attention to the numerous times he gave others the chance to get the same without any hard work.
At least, Secret Invasion manages to one-up the equally disappointing sister series in some way after the latter’s green queen dealt already punctured the former’s biggest ace.