This time tomorrow, Secret Invasion will have beamed itself into our Disney Plus queues, kicking off the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s 2023 television slate and bringing a brand new, delectably complex edge to the franchise as Nick Fury navigates some volatile politics in his fight against even more volatile shapeshifters.
Stripped of his S.H.I.E.L.D. resources, including any contact with the Avengers, it seems the only thing Fury can lean on entirely this time around is his unwavering grit; indeed, with the reality of the Skrull invasion throwing doubt into just about everyone’s identity, cards will have to be held close to one’s chest around even the most trustworthy faces, which is unfortunate given the foe that Fury’s finding himself up against.
That foe is none other than Gravik, the leader of a sect of hostile Skrulls who’s trying to pull many a dangerous string on Earth to scratch a rather vengeful itch. But, he didn’t just wake up one day and decide to lay waste to the planet’s inner workings; it’s the result of having plunged into a rather disturbing headspace over the course of quite a few years.
In an interview with Collider, Gravik actor Kingsley Ben-Adir divulged some of the villain’s psychological make-up, outlining how he not only had a despairing outlook on trust, but has managed to rid himself of that perceived burden entirely. The result, as one can imagine, sounds like a villain worthy of Secret Invasion‘s darker overtones.
No, I think he thinks the ultimate weakness is trust in other people or believing that there is any good in anyone. So, the only weakness he might have felt he had, he’s dismissed. It’s no one. You’re gonna understand. By the end, you’ll know exactly where he’s coming from and how he’s got there, and why he feels the way he does, but whether you think that’s right or wrong, it’s kind of up to the person.
And Gravik is just one, albeit very big, player in a sea of gray figures fighting for personal stability in a grossly unstable world, so it will be infinitely interesting to see how each character’s gameplan ends up bending and shifting with respect to the context that other players will bring to the table.
The first episode of Secret Invasion will release to Disney Plus on June 21, with additional episodes releasing on a weekly basis until the series finale on July 26.