Secret Invasion released its sixth and final episode today, closing out the latest chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this one featuring Nick Fury and the Skrulls. And while you can read all about the episode itself in io9’s recap, I wanted to add a little more about something I can’t quite shake. And that’s G’iah.
Skrull character G’iah, played by Game of Thrones and Solo: A Star Wars Story star Emilia Clarke, is the daughter of Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), who at first rebels against her father by siding with the evil Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), but then comes around, teaming up with Dad and Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). In the season finale though, something happens to her that is, well, potentially very significant. Let’s dive into spoilers.
In last week’s penultimate episode, we learned that this whole time Gravik has been after something called the Harvest—apparently the DNA of every Avenger that fought in the Battle of Earth, which we saw in Avengers: Endgame. Everyone from Hulk and Thor to Carol Danvers herself, Captain Marvel. Nick Fury recruited Skrulls to literally collect their blood from the battlefield so he’d have it and Gravik was among those who did the collecting, which is how he knows about it. We can only assume the Avengers don’t know about it because there’s no way they’d be okay with Fury doing this. In fact, it’s pretty villainous, but the show glosses over this fact and we will too, for now.
Gravik wants the Harvest so he can use his Super Skrull machine to give himself the power of all the Avengers. And Fury, who just strolled onto the Skrull base where everyone is dead, just gives it to Gravik. He then uses it, and indeed becomes a being with the powers of every Avenger (and, it appears, some villains too) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That would’ve made him unstoppable if he didn’t realize the big twist: the Fury who walked onto the base with the Harvest was actually G’iah in disguise. And since she was in the machine with him, now she too has the powers of literally every single Avenger in the MCU.
The two fight, using all their powers, and G’iah kills Gravik. During the fight, we see that these powers manifest by the body parts of specific Avengers morphing onto their Skrull bodies. So G’iah gets Hulk’s hand, Drax’s arm, Mantis’ head, etc. And at the end of the show, G’iah is still out there, apparently teaming up with Olivia Colman’s powerful, Fury-esque character Sonya Falsworth.
So let’s step back for a minute. We now know there’s a being in the MCU that has the combined powers of every single person who fought in Avengers: Endgame, all in one body. And, we’re supposed to just be okay with this? How can the MCU go on if G’iah is not, all of a sudden, the leader of the Avengers or their greatest threat? Sure, she might remain in hiding, doing the bidding of Falsworth, but on a list of big, dangling, plot threads that these Disney+ shows have opened up, this one takes the cake.
We’ve already discussed how Phase Four of the MCU has left dozens and dozens of characters, plot points, and storylines open for exploration. Everything from Shang-Chi’s rings to Moon Knight’s existence to a Celestial in the sea from Eternals. And with Phase Five stories like Secret Invasion, you would’ve hoped to see some of those things pay off. Oh, sure, we got to see Black Widow character Rick Mason (O-T Fagbenle) in an episode of Secret Invasion and The Marvels is bringing back Disney+ stars Kamala Kahn and Monica Rambeau. But none of those characters have all of the powers of all of the Avengers rolled into one, thanks to Nick Fury basically betraying everyone he loves. It’s just a very big, mostly unwelcome addition.
Do we actually think G’iah is going to pay off in a future Marvel show or movie? Or will she be unceremoniously killed off like Gravik or, worse, her father, Talos? Because make no mistake, after appearing in multiple movies and being the best part of Secret Invasion, Talos was killed with very little fanfare and it was not cool. But I digress.
At least now, if you ever have an argument with your friends about who would defeat who in a battle between superheroes, we all have an ace up our sleeves. Because G’iah would beat every single one of them as she has all of their powers and all of the powers of everyone else.
The finale of Secret Invasion is now on Disney+ and we’ll see Nick Fury back in The Marvels, out November 10.
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