How ZeroZeroZero Informed Kingsley Ben-Adir's Gravik Performance In Secret Invasion [Exclusive]

The next big event in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is upon us in the form of "Secret Invasion." The Disney+ series sees the return of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury — who, for the first time, gets to lead the way in a story based on the fan-favorite comic of the same name. The shape-shifting Skrulls have made their way to Earth and nobody can be trusted. Leading the Skull invasion is Kingsley Ben-Adir as the deadly Gravik. As for where the actor got the inspiration for his character? A miniseries that may have slipped under your radar in 2020 called "ZeroZeroZero."

Ben-Adir recently spoke with /Film's own Ethan Anderton about "Secret Invasion" in honor of the show's debut. You can check out the full interview here, but during the conversation, the actor discussed how he crafted Gravik and referenced "ZeroZeroZero," which was produced by Sky Atlantic in Italy and was distributed in the U.S. on Prime Video. The series provided Ben-Adir with the inspiration he needed to become the MCU's next big villain. In his own words:

"There was a character in that who was kind of completely desensitized to violence and was a leader of a group who inflicted a lot of pain and mass murder with such ease. I just happened to be watching that show at the time. I think I'd seen it before I signed up to this, and then I watched it again, and I watched it again. I watched it a few times as we were filming as well. Yeah, there were just some parallels between him and Gravik, or at least I saw things in that character that I felt related to Gravik in a big way, and I just had a lot of respect for the actor who played that role and what he did with that part."

"ZeroZeroZero" focuses on a cocaine deal that goes awry, traversing multiple countries along the way. It shines a light on the horrors of the drug war, which is a reality of the world we live in. While shape-shifting aliens are not actually something we need to worry about in real-life (so far as we know), "Secret Invasion" is returning to the gritty, somewhat more grounded espionage vibe for the MCU, harkening back to "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Using a violent drug kingpin to inspire a comic book villain only serves to add another grounded element to the proceedings.

For Kingsley Ben-Adir, he realized that Gravik needed to be a layered character. He is very much against not only Nick Fury, but Ben Mendelsohn's Talos as well, who is a member of his own race. What would cause him to turn on his own people? That was what the actor needed to answer:

"There was such an ease with which he took the space. Every room he went into, he kind of sucked the air out of it, and you felt his presence without him saying very much at all. But then when he did speak, there was something else going on underneath, and I was like, 'Oh, Gravik really needs to have multiple layers.' For me, it was about trying to figure out where that was coming from with him. What was it about Talos and Fury that had caused him to want to do this, to create so much harm?"

"Secret Invasion" is streaming on Disney+, with new episodes dropping on Wednesdays.