Ahead of tomorrow's eagerly-awatied series premiere of Marvel Studios' Secret Invasion, we were able to sit down with British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir (Peaky Blinders; One Night in Miami...) and get all the intel on his scene-stealing performance as the villainous Skrull leader Gravik, who may also be hiding a very Super secret.
While he understandly couldn't get into any Super Skrull talk, despite the big reveal in the most recent trailer, he did tell me a lot more about Gravik's mindset throughout the six-episode miniseries and why he's so hellbent on getting revenge against Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn).
Plus, he reveals whether Gravik actually trusts anyone besides himself and teases whether he thinks the absolutely brutal villain could actually be redeemed or if he's beyond saving, especially after his actions in tomorrow's series premiere...
Watch our full video interview below or keep scrolling for the full text, and please remember to SUBSCRIBE to my channel!
ROHAN: When you first read for the part, who did you see Gravik as? How would you describe his feelings toward Nick Fury? Does he feel abandoned? Or is it something else?
KINGSLEY: I think hypocrisy was a big word. I don't think it was a word that was in the script, but it was definitely a word that I would mention to myself. It was the hypocrisy of Nick and Talos that enraged him, that the rage was coming from that hypocrisy. I felt like it was something I can easily identify with, as like that's where this guy is driving him. Yeah, he feels let down. Abandoned, let down, he's lost all trust in leadership, and yeah, it was sort of building around that.
ROHAN: On the other side, you also have a developing dynamic with Gi'ah - does Gravik actually trust her? Or, is he at the point where he no longer trusts anyone outside of himself?
KINGSLEY: I don't think he trusts anyone. I don’t think he likes any of those people in Skrullos.
ROHAN: With the show having such a serious tone, what was it like on set working opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Emilia Clarke?
KINGSLEY: Yeah, it was great fun. We had great fun on set. Despite the dark tone, like it was, you know, just a lot of good people, and yeah, we had some great, we had some great material to work with. We really had stuff that we could act and some great dialogue that Brian Tucker wrote, and yeah, a really specific history that allows you, as an actor, to lean into something real.
ROHAN: Gravik is easily one of the most brutal Marvel villains we've seen. As an actor, did you find it more liberating being able to play the villain and what layers did you find yourself unpacking through shooting?
KINGSLEY: Yeah, well, I just felt like whatever creative ways - whatever the best idea was to make him as dangerous as possible, felt like the best thing to do, to create a character that really was in huge opposition with Sam's role and to to give him a good fight, something where the audience felt like oh, he might be in trouble here. He's not an antihero, he was always a villain and that became more important as we went along as you understand where he's coming from, but his behavior is certainly not justified, especially when you start killing innocent people. Yeah, there's a darkness to that. That was interesting.
ROHAN: The trailers have teased Gravik's path and likely transformation into a Super Skrull - do you think there's any part of him that could potentially be redeemed by the end of the series? Or, do you think he's too far gone?
KINGSLEY: I think he's possibly too far gone. I think he wants to inflict pain and become as powerful as possible in order to inflict more pain, you know, to become untouchable. But, I don't know, I think he's crossed the line. Maybe you could bring him back, but I don't know how long that would take. You’d certainly have to lock him up.
In Marvel Studios’ new series “Secret Invasion,” set in the present day MCU, Nick Fury learns of a clandestine invasion of Earth by a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls. Fury joins his allies, including Everett Ross, Maria Hill and the Skrull Talos, who has made a life for himself on Earth. Together they race against time to thwart an imminent Skrull invasion and save humanity.