“I think what he says and what he does are two different things,” says the actor, whose previous credits include Peaky Blinders, the OAand an acclaimed performance as Malcolm X in the 2020 film One night in Miami. “I think he’s testing everyone. I don’t think he trusts anyone, and I don’t think he likes anyone. I don’t think he cares about Skrulls as much as humans. He did it before but now he doesn’t. Her feelings are just about revenge towards Nick and Talos.
In the series opener, Nick Fury is called back to Earth after spending several years on the space station SABER by Talos and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), who report that Gravik has taken over the leadership of Skrull and rallies his people to commit terrorist attacks and destabilize human geopolitics.
Although the Skrulls can infiltrate the ranks of allies and even the halls of power with their shape-shifting abilities, Fury is stunned when the US government, represented by James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle), and MI6, led by Both Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman) reject his offer of help, forcing Fury to take action on his own. This puts him on a direct collision course with Gravik, who – at least by the end of the first of the series’ six episodes – seems to have had the upper hand.
Gravik is a Marvel rarity: an original character with no direct antecedent or definite corollary in established Marvel Comics canon. “There’s a creative freedom there,” says Ben-Adir, who admits he “wasn’t a huge Marvel fan” before taking the role. “I didn’t have to worry about any of that. I guess in some ways it could have been a big help as well. But we made our own way.
Wait a second, though: there may be even more to Gravik than anyone would suspect. Although he is from Secret Invasion series, a final shot in the series’ trailer – in which Gravik abnormally extends his arm into an eerily Groot-esque nest of vine-like appendages – has sparked intense speculation that the character could become the MCU’s version of Super Skrull.
First introduced in 1963 in The Fantastic Four #18, Super-Skrull is a warrior named Kl’rt who is not only able to take the form of others, but is genetically enhanced to absorb their powers as well – taking on the abilities of all four members of Marvel’s First Family in his initial comic book appearance.