Marvel’s strangest cameo means Gravik’s ‘Secret Invasion’ masterplan could go disastrously wrong

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode 5.

Ever since Secret Invasion episode 2, it’s seemed like there’s been little mystery to Gravik’s ultimate evil plan — to turn himself into a Super-Skrull (check!), to stir up hostilities between the U.S. and Russia (check!), and to start World War 3 (pending). However, episode five just added a whole new wrinkle to his scheme. One which, on paper, could make him the MCU’s most dangerous villain yet. But it could also turn him into its most laughable.

In the show’s penultimate episode, we learn that Gravik’s previous Super-Skrull treatment is just a temporary measure and he really wants to get his hands on something called “The Harvest,” a vial containing the DNA of every Avenger, as collected in the aftermath of the battle against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame.

As folks discussing the episode on Reddit pointed out, practically every hero in the MCU turned up for that fight so Gravik would be a terrifying threat with all those powers under his belt.

Just look at that list — Thor, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Howard the Duck… Wait, what? Yup, in case you’d forgotten, Seth Green’s Guardians of the Galaxy character could be glimpsed among the horde battling Thanos’ forces in Endgame, although we’re not really sure what use he was, other than maybe making sarcastic comments at Chitauri and Outriders while sipping on a martini.

Needless to say, all this effort could blow up in Gravik’s face if his Super-Skrull upgrade goes wrong. Like one hilarious comment put it, “Imagine stepping into the Skrull Machine all hype to become a super hero and ending up with Howard the Duck’s DNA.”

Considering how (largely) grounded Secret Invasion has been so far, having the finale center around Nick Fury and allies battling an evil Howard the Duck lookalike would be a heck of a bold move, one that might finally dislodge the sight of M.O.D.O.K.’s rear end as the most unlikely moment in a Marvel production in 2023. Anyone else kinda want it to happen now?