Los Angeles: Actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, who plays the role of the Skrull villain Gravik in ‘Secret Invasion’, has detailed his motivations and personality, saying that ultimately Gravik is someone who’s had too much of Nick Fury and his empty promises and now he trusts no one but himself.
Deception and manipulation are key points in spy-thrillers, and with no longer sure of who to trust anymore when amid massive chaos and looming destruction, Marvel Studios’, new series ‘Secret Invasion’ packs in a darker and more grounded approach to its storytelling.
Describing Gravik’s motivations, Ben-Adir said, “Gravik thinks that thirty years is a long time to be promised something and that the Skrulls are never going to get home. He’s definitely of the belief that nothing was going to change and that Fury’s full of it. He’s not buying any of it anymore. So, he goes off to make things right in his own way.”
Gravik is a Skrull rebel who now wants total hegemonic domination of Earth to make it a new home for the shape changing alien species by first wiping out all of humanity. Gravik is also someone who apart from being a ruthless military commander is someone who harbours a soldier’s mentality and dedicates everything to his cause, which is to find a home for the Skrulls.
Talking about the theme of the series, Ben-Adir said, “If someone can change into anyone at any moment and anyone can be anyone, who can you trust is a fitting tagline. And also, I think it links beautifully with the idea that Gravik doesn’t trust anyone, apart from himself. So, it makes sense.”
Due to Nick Fury unable to keep his promise, Gravik has come to despise humanity claiming that they are worse than the lowest animals, as animals do not lie while lying runs in humanity’s very veins. As such while very loyal to the Skrull cause, he feels no remorse for killing humans, but at the end of the day, he is just someone who has felt betrayed by people he once greatly trusted, making him much more than your standard villain.
‘Secret Invasion’ apart from themes of deception also deals with the emotional weight of fighting your own as Talos is now forced to fight Gravik though he has no desire to do so. Another theme of the show is growing old and rusty, which is central to Nick Fury’s character, because after returning from the Blip caused by Thanos which was later cured by the Avengers, Nick Fury is no longer the same person.
Despite his years of experience and fearsome reputation, Nick Fury has grown old, rusty and even weak as he is someone who has now seen too much and has been called only a shadow of his old self. So one of the focal points of the show is Nick Fury grappling with his growing age while facing off a threat which will lead to humanity’s extinction.
Directed by Ali Selim and with Kyle Bradstreet as the head writer, the series stars Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury along with Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Don Cheadle as Colonel James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes and Martin Freeman as Agent Everett Ross along with newcomers Emilia Clarke as G’iah, Talos’ daughter and Olivia Colman as MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth and Kingsley Ben-Adir as Gravik.
‘Secret Invasion’ is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar with a weekly episodic drop, and is available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu & Malayalam.
–IANS