This article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode 4
We’ve known for a few weeks that a key component of Gravik’s plan to take over the Earth is to boost his comrades’ powers. This will turn them into “Super Skrulls”, with last week’s Secret Invasion showing off the regenerative Extremis power-set from Iron Man 3 and this week’s plant-based powers no doubt “borrowed” from Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Groot.
Courtesy of G’iah’s snooping in the second episode, we know that Gravik has also been infused with DNA from the Frost Beast from Thor: The Dark World and Cull Obsidian from Avengers: Infinity War. So, now that we know roughly how the Super-Skrull powers manifest in the MCU, what can we expect him to be able to do in the final two episodes?
The Frost Beast
The Frost Beasts in Thor: The Dark World hail from Jotunheim and we saw one of them wreak havoc in London before Thor put an end to it in gruesome fashion by using Mjolnir to propel himself through its open jaws and out the back of its head. However, the post-credits sequence indicated that another made it through the portal to Earth.
We don’t know from which Frost Beast the DNA that Skrulls are using is from, but if Gravik is infused with it he’d likely gain the abilities to cling to walls and ceilings, move at incredible speeds, and be extremely resilient to cold. We may also see Gravik being able to shape-shift into a more bestial and bulky form, perhaps featuring some of the Frost Beast’s facial tusks and tail.
Cull Obsidian
Groot, the Frost Beast and Extremis are all nice power sets to have, though we suspect Cull Obsidian’s DNA is by far the most valuable to the Skrulls. We met Obsidian during Avengers: Infinity War as part of Thanos’ Black Order. During the initial battle in New York, Obsidian’s arm was severed by one of Doctor Strange’s portals, and from his arm, his DNA has been appropriated by the Skrulls.
Notable factors are Obsidians’s S-tier superhuman strength, which let him fight Iron Man and Spider-Man at the same time, and overpower Tony Stark’s Hulkbuster armor, which was designed to subdue the Hulk himself. Obsidian was also blasted by every armament Iron Man could throw at him to no effect, even taking a fully charged blast of Black Panther’s kinetic energy without harm.
On top of that, he also has a regenerative ability. If the Super Skrulls can tap into that on top of Extremis, they may turn out to be nigh invincible.
A path to victory?
Fortunately, there are some obvious dangling story threads that could spell doom for Gravik. One is that overloading a body with this many powers runs the risk of burnout, with Extremis being particularly deadly if it’s not carefully regulated.
Another is that as of episode four, Emilia Clarke’s G’iah seems to have received the same Super Skrull treatment, so perhaps she’ll go toe-to-toe with Gravik in the final episode (and she now has a major grudge against him).
Secret Invasion has been a low-key and personal show so far, but once these Super Skrull powers arrive, we suspect the action is going to ramp up fast.
Secret Invasion airs Wednesdays on Disney Plus.
Published: Jul 12, 2023 05:11 am