When it comes to impact on the overarching narrative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Nick Fury can be marked as the single most important character, second only to Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. Given the fact that the veteran spymaster has acted as the string that has held together some of the most notable heroes against threats against humanity, a project based on Nick Fury was bound to be made, and in walked the Disney+ series Secret Invasion.
Despite weaving an interesting narrative about Nick Fury’s relationship with the shape-shifting alien Skrulls and using that to address the changing political scenario of the MCU in Secret Invasion, the series couldn’t measure up to the scale of the source material and at the end fell victim to the clichéd, lackluster CGI battle trope like most other MCU series. The Skrull crisis remains mostly unresolved and even more confusing than before. Nick Fury’s arc makes him as deplorable a leader as Amanda Waller, with the only major highlight of the finale being former Skrull leader Talos’ daughter G’iah becoming the ultimate Super Skrull, which raises multiple possible options to explore in her journey in the MCU.
The Ultimate Super Skrull: Has G’iah become the strongest super in the MCU?
In comics, the role of Super Skrulls was synthesized as the strongest line of Skrull defense, whose fabricated powers mimicked some of the strongest superpowered characters across the galaxy, especially the Terrans. Unlike humans, Skrull did not have a default genetic mutation or external mystical augmentation to gain superpowers, and they complemented for it by developing their shapeshifting abilities to the next level. By experimenting and bioengineering some of the chosen Skrulls, the powers of Terran heroes were imbued in them, and most of the time, a number of power sets were accorded to every individual Skrull. Kl’rt was the first Super Skrull who gained the powers of each individual member of the Fantastic Four. He made his first appearance in the sixties, and since then, several modified Super Skrulls have been introduced in Marvel comics. In the comic event Secret Invasion, the role of the Super Skrulls as the top Enforcer was significant.
The MCU counterpart of the Super Skrulls was created by extremist Skrull leader Gravik using an experimental device made by human scientist Dr. Rosa Dalton, and in Gravik’s plan of annexing the Earth from humans, the Super Skrulls were introduced as a deterrent against the team of superheroes, the Avengers. Gravik initially gained the powers of Cull Obsidian, Groot, an Extremis-afflicted patient, and a Frost Beast by using their DNA, and used them while conducting an ambush attack on President Ritson’s motorcade. However, his true goal was to gain access to the Harvest, a concoction of the DNA of every superpowered character who’d fought at the Battle of Earth (Avengers: Endgame), which he and other Skrull infiltrators had collected under Nick Fury’s command.
In the meantime, G’iah, daughter of former Skrull leader Talos, and one of Gravik’s comrades, learns about Gravik’s despicable motivations and betrays him. After knowing of her actions, Gravik shoots her, but G’iah is saved due to the fact that she had gained the Extremis endo armor powers by using Dr. Dalton’s device on herself previously. In the finale, G’iah, impersonating Nick Fury, goes to Gravik, hands him the Harvest, and ends up getting all the combined abilities of the characters whose DNA was contained in the Harvest, along with Gravik. Both of the Super Skrull battle each other using the myriad abilities they gained, and in the end, G’iah turns out to be the last Skrull standing, essentially making her the strongest character in the MCU. Her newfound powers come with a number of responsibilities as well, and in a changed world order, she will be perceived differently even by the Terran heroes from this point forward.
Last Hope For Skrulls?
In the finale, POTUS Ritson learns about the Skrull invasion and decides to deal with it with an iron fist by exterminating the Skrulls indiscriminately. Some of the Skrulls posing as leading world figures die, while the majority of the rest who didn’t take part in the heinous conspiracy still live on Earth in peril. Without a leading figure, the Skrull refugees are in their worst crisis yet, which could eventually lead to their extinction. This is where G’iah can have her chance to stand out as the leader the Skrulls desperately need. She has been exposed to both sides of the spectrum: Talos’ idealistic, benevolent approach, which depended on the goodwill of humans for coexisting, and also the radical, terrorist ideology of Gravik, which led to a near-annihilation-like situation for the alien species. She has learned to strike a balance between two antithetical perspectives and knows that being guided by emotions while dealing with humans would be the worst mistake she could make. Accordingly, she agrees to assist MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth in her missions in exchange for gaining help in protecting her species—in a professional, practical manner where both parties involved are strictly concerned about being of service. With a leader who has the means and wits to protect them, Skrulls can even consider settling matters with the Kree.
Perspective Of The Terran Heroes
Now, when it comes to human perception of the Skrulls, after knowledge of the invasion becomes public, the situation gets trickier. Sure, G’iah might have rescued the captive human leading figures by unlocking them from the fracking pods at the end, but the fact remains that she was a co-conspirator in previous acts of terrorism orchestrated by Gravik, and her change in alliance strictly due to personal stakes being involved does not change her past actions. After getting to know that Gravik-led Skrulls almost caused a third World War and their current leader has the ability of nearly all the superpowered beings ever, mass paranoia is bound to erupt. Earth’s existing defenders, the superheroes, won’t take the news kindly either, as Nick Fury’s act of collecting the DNA was not only unethical but delivering it to a terrorist like Gravik, who seeks to gain those abilities all at once, was highly irresponsible.
Adding to it the fact that Fury basically had no plan to stop Gravik except hopelessly depending on G’iah to take care of him totally diminishes any form of credibility of the former S.H.I.E.L.D. director. The supers have no reason to trust G’iah either, and she can very well be perceived as a threat until proven otherwise. It will be interesting to see how G’iah’s role will get shaped in the MCU, her relationship with the larger world, and her importance during mega-events like Avengers: Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, as Earth will need all the heavy hitters to assemble against Kang and worse threats yet to be revealed.
