‘Secret Invasion’: Why Does Gravik Need the Avengers’ DNA?

One of the things that we learned during the events of episode 5 of ‘Secret Invasion’ was the fact that Gravik and the Skrulls were hellbent on trying to spark a war between the most powerful nations in the entire world so that it would be easier for them to take over the planet. Of course, that is just one part of the plan because we know that Gravik also needs the DNA of the Avengers in the form of the Harvest. So, why does Gravik need the Avengers’ DNA?

Gravik needs the Avengers’ DNA to complete the evolution of the Skrulls. We know that he has a machine that could implant the DNA of different species into the Skrulls to give them their powers and abilities. As such, the Harvest would allow Gravik and his Skrulls to have the powers of the Avengers.

As strong as Gravik and his other Skrulls have become, they know that they aren’t strong enough yet. That’s because the Skrulls still need to be the strongest species on the entire planet if they want to take Earth for themselves. Of course, the Avengers are the mightiest people on Earth, and that’s why their DNA is incredibly important to Gravik, who wants total domination over humanity and the entire planet.

The Skrulls aren’t strong enough

If there’s one thing we know about Gravik, it’s that he is willing to put everything on the line to ensure that the Skrulls have a home they can call their own. That’s why, using the powers of the Skrulls to shapeshift, he and his people have been working hard to destabilize the world’s major governments and force them into going to war with one another.

And that was the reason why Gravik wanted President Ritson dead.

Of course, this is only part one of the plan. Part two involved using force to take over the entire planet. There are around a million Skrulls on Earth, but not all can fight.

While the Skrulls were still stronger than humans, they wouldn’t be able to take on the remnants of the armies of the different nations of the planet, even if Gravik were to succeed in forcing the entire world into going to war.

This is why Gravik employed Rosa Dalton to create a machine that could give the Skrulls superhuman abilities. At this point, he has collected the DNA of Groot, Cull Obsidian, Extremis, and the Frost Beast. 

As such, we’ve seen Gravik recovering from wounds using the powers of Extremis. He could also extend his limbs to form tree-like appendages in a manner that’s similar to what Groot does. In episode 5, we even saw him having superhuman strength.

While all those creatures are powerful in their own right, Gravik understands that this might not be enough to give him and his people the advantage they need against Earth.

The armies of Earth might still be too powerful for Gravik and the Skrulls to defeat even if they had the abilities of the aforementioned creatures. Of course, Gravik knows that the numbers aren’t on their side, even if they could weaken the strongest nations in the world by forcing them to go to war with one another.

That is why Gravik still needs his people to become stronger. He has collected every DNA he could use to give them the strength and power they need to fight a war against humanity and the many different armies protecting the planet.

But Gravik understands that superhuman characters on Earth are willing to protect the planet and are strong enough to defeat entire armies. And that’s why the Harvest is important to him.

The Avengers are still too powerful

We know that the Harvest contains the DNA of the Avengers that shed blood during the Battle of Earth, which was the decisive battle between the Avengers and the armies of Thanos. Of course, while the Avengers may have been weakened with the loss of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers and by the fact that there is no clear leadership in the group, the remnants of this group are still more than powerful enough to take on the Skrulls.

Someone like Thor, who is still the protector of New Asgard, can come back to Earth at any given time and destroy an entire superpowered Skrull army all on his own, especially if the Skrulls are limited to the powers that they currently have.

We also know that the Hulk is just as strong as Thor and is more than capable of taking on an entire army of Skrulls due to his superhuman physical abilities. And let’s not even get started on Carol Danvers, who was strong enough to take on Thanos alone.

In that regard, Earth still has some of the mightiest protectors in the entire universe. A handful of Avengers would be more than enough to defeat the Skrulls as they are right now. And Gravik understands that the only way for him to defeat the Avengers is to have the powers of the Avengers.

As such, the Harvest is an important part of Gravik’s plans because he needs to have the power of all of the Avengers that spilled blood during the Battle of Earth. At this point, we don’t know whose DNA is in the Harvest, but Nick Fury did say that all of the Avengers, including Captain Marvel, spilled blood. So, if the Skrulls were to have a portion of the powers of Thor and Carol Danvers, they would be too powerful for any army to stop, including the Avengers.

In that regard, Gravik needs to have the Harvest because this would spell the difference between victory and defeat for him. It is possible that his Skrulls would be strong enough to take on the planet’s armies right now, but there is no assurance that the Skrulls, as they are right now, can be strong enough to take on several Avengers members. But having the powers of the Avengers within all of the Skrulls would give Gravik a surefire victory.

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