Marvel Makes The MCU's First New Phase 5 Supervillain Worse Than Thanos

 Thanos was the most formidable villain in the MCU's Infinity Saga, but Marvel Studios has introduced an even more powerful foe in the MCU's Phase 5.

Marvel Studios has introduced a villain even more powerful than Thanos in Phase 5's Secret Invasion. Samuel L. Jackson returned as Nick Fury in Secret Invasion on Disney+, returning to Earth to deal with a Skrull uprising led by Kingsley Ben-Adir's Gravik. Since Fury and Carol Danvers have failed to keep their promise of finding the Skrulls a new home, Gravik and his rebel forces plan to eradicate humanity and claim Earth as their own. The Skrulls' ability to shape-shift into any living being makes this a terrifyingly easy prospect, and Secret Invasion continues to prove just how far the Skrull rebels will go in order to achieve their goals.

Secret Invasion episode 4, "Beloved," released on July 12, 2023, revealing more about Fury's personal life and relationship with Charlayne Woodard's Priscilla, but also seeing Gravik advance his plans, leading a charge to assassinate the United States' President Ritson. "Beloved" showed off more of Gravik's new superpowers, after he had been enhanced by his "Super Skrull" machine, imbued with the powers of Groot, Thor: The Dark World's Frost Beast, Cull Obsidian, and Iron Man 3's Extremis. Combined, these abilities make him an incredibly powerful enemy to Fury and Ben Mendelsohn's Talos, and his destructive plan makes him even more dangerous than the Infinity Saga's primary villain, the Mad Titan Thanos.

After the inclusion of Extremis was teased in Secret Invasion episode 2, episode 3, "Betrayed," proved how valuable it can be, as Gravik used Extremis to heal his hand after a heated discussion with Talos left him wounded. Extremis was introduced to the MCU during 2013's Iron Man 3, but had been all but forgotten until an Extremis-enhanced assassin appeared briefly in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Now, however, Extremis plays a huge role in Gravik's plans for global annihilation, and Secret Invasion episode 4 showcased the fact that Extremis has allowed Gravik to become an almost-indestructible villain.

Secret Invasion episode 4's ending saw battle break out between the President's security detail and Gravik's Skrulls posing as Russian soldiers, wherein Gravik ends up killing Talos. In retaliation, Fury shoots Gravik in the chest and then in the face, but the rebel Skrull General heals almost instantly thanks to Extremis. The fact that Gravik seemingly can't be killed makes him an even more formidable enemy, and starts to bring him close to matching the power of Thanos in the MCU, who was also incredibly difficult to even slightly harm. Extremis soldiers have previously been killed in the MCU, so there is still hope for Gravik to be taken down - but it won't be by conventional means.

Gravik has proven himself to be a steadfast and lethal warrior throughout Secret Invasion. At the end of episode 1, Gravik assumed the identity of Nick Fury himself and killed Cobie Smulders' Maria Hill in a shocking and unexpected turn of events. He later proceeded to seemingly kill Emilia Clarke's G'iah in Secret Invasion episode 3, and finally took down Talos in episode 4's final battle. Gravik has been shown to be an incredibly deadly villain with no qualms about taking out prominent heroes without hesitation. This is in stark contrast to Thanos, who tried to avoid needlessly killing the MCU's heroes unless he was left with no other option.

Not only has Gravik taken out several important characters in the MCU's Secret Invasion, but episode 4 also revealed that Don Cheadle's James "Rhodey" Rhodes, the Avenger known as War Machine, is in fact a Skrull in disguise. This confirmed theories that arose following the ambiguous ending to Secret Invasion episode 3. It's unclear exactly how long Rhodey has been a Skrull, though it's possible he could have been working within the Avengers for years, meaning Gravik will know crucial information that would have otherwise been impossible to come by. This was a monumental revelation for Secret Invasion, and will surely have a major impact on the MCU going forward.

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Gravik's huge level of power in Secret Invasion has already proven that he is perhaps as strong as the Mad Titan Thanos, but there is one key detail that sets these two supervillains apart. During the MCU's Infinity Saga, particularly in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos wanted to collect the six Infinity Stones and wipe out half the population of the universe in order to spare resources and save the other half. Conversely, Gravik doesn't want to spare any humans in his quest for a new home, but would rather see the entire species obliterated so that the Skrulls would be free to claim Earth as their new home.

This fact makes Gravik even more terrifying than Thanos, as at least the Mad Titan had a shred of compassion for the people that would be left behind, and hoped that they would prosper in the wake of his snap in Infinity War. Gravik doesn't share this motivation, only wanting to see humanity destroyed out of revenge, and selfishly wanting to transform the Earth into the Skrulls' own world, without any desire to negotiate or compromise. Gravik has shown himself to be a truly terrifying villain in Secret Invasion, and since he continues to demonstrate his power by killing Fury's allies, it's hard to imagine how Fury might stop him.