The following contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode 5.On Disney Plus, Secret Invasion is barreling toward its conclusion, and it’s doing so with plenty of Easter eggs for Marvel Cinematic Universe fans. Episode 5 of Secret Invasion features more of Gravik’s plan for the Skrulls being revealed alongside a little bit more backstory for Nick Fury. Those plans and backstory also pave the way for a handful of MCU Easter eggs.
Like most of the Secret Invasion episodes so far, the episode doesn’t employ comic book Easter eggs. Instead, episode 5 provides a lot of references to previous chapters of the MCU. Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow in particular are the MCU chapters that see the most Easter eggs in this episode.
Avengers DNA Is Hidden
The title of this episode is “The Harvest,” and it’s a direct point of reference to the DNA of the Avengers. Since the first episode of Secret Invasion, Fury has made a point that the Avengers can’t help against the Skrulls because he doesn’t want the Skrulls pretending to be Avengers. It’s also made clear that Gravik wants the DNA of the Avengers, but hasn’t been able to get it.
The episode eventually reveals that the reason Gravik hasn’t been able to get the superpowered DNA he wants for Super Skrulls is that Fury thought ahead and hid it from him. He did so, however, after Gravik already knew the codename for retrieving the DNA from the “battle for Earth.” That battle is the one in which the Avengers and their allies fought Thanos and his forces. Fury had Skrulls slip into the battlefield and retrieve spilled blood. Gravik was one of those Skrulls.
Fury makes the point that the DNA includes that of Captain Marvel. With her long life and ability to harness energy, it stands to reason that it’s really her DNA, not all the Avengers, that Gravik is really after.
Cull Obsidian And Flora Colossus
When Fury questions G’iah about the DNA that Gravik has obtained, Cull Obsidian and Flora Colossus (Groot) are the only two she mentions. Fury obviously already knows about the Extremis being in Gravik and G’iah’s systems because Talos told him how G’iah was able to survive. Both of the abilities from these bits of DNA are seen in action in this episode. Gravik uses Cull Obsidian’s strength and Groot’s tree branch limbs against other Skrulls when they try to overthrow him.
Curiously, G’iah doesn’t mention Frost Beast DNA, which is one of the samples seen on the computer screen in Secret Invasion episode 2. It’s also the only known sample the audience hasn’t seen Gravik put to use yet.
Rick Mason Helps Fury
When Fury needs to get to Finland in a hurry, he has a little help. Pilot Rick Mason appears with a plane and some supplies, and he trades a few quips with Fury. MCU audience members will remember Mason as an ally of Natasha Romanoff in Black Widow. It appears he’s kept in touch with Fury after her death.
They both also mention the hellicarrier, the flying ship that first appeared in the MCU in The Avengers. They were used by SHIELD, but the hellicarrier that Fury used to use is in storage with “moth balls” as Mason informs him.
The Widow’s Veil
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Natasha Romanoff uses a screen over her face to disguise herself as someone else. Those screens haven’t been named in the MCU until now, but they have been seen in other movies and series. Most notably, Natasha and Melina Vostokoff use them to pretend to be one another to infiltrate the Red Room in the Black Widow movie.
With it being known as a Widow’s Veil (and Fury and Sonya discussing that there is an upgraded version of them), it’s clear that this piece of technology actually originated in the Red Room, and not with SHIELD as fans might have originally thought.
Nick Fury’s Grave
When the trailer for Secret Invasion released, fans wondered why the headstone shown for Nick Fury looked different from the one in Captain America: The Winter Solider. Episode 5 of Secret Invasion provides the answer: there’s more than one grave for Nick Fury. Since Nick Fury is a spy who has repeatedly faked his own death, that makes sense for him.
Fury hiding an important object in his grave also has precedence in the Marvel world. Though Agents of SHIELD's place in the MCU timeline is debatable, the series used a similar tactic. Files about Phil Coulson’s death and “resurrection” were actually hidden in his empty coffin in the TV series.
New episodes of Secret Invasion are available Wednesdays on Disney Plus.