One character due to appear in Thunderbolts* has made the MCU’s most powerful character even more pointless. Thunderbolts* will feature a host of MCU antiheroes and former villains teaming up, most likely under some duress. The team comprises some of the MCU’s more understated characters, whose powers aren’t typically on the same level as the likes of Thor or Doctor Strange, making their teamwork even more compelling as they will likely be underdogs in whatever mission Valentina Allegra de Fontaine assigns to them.

This is especially true if casting rumors are to be believed. Not only will Thunderbolts* see the likes of Ghost and Taskmaster swap villainous roles for heroic ones, but all signs point towards the possibility that they will be going toe-to-toe with a character so powerful they would even give Hulk a run for his money. The anticipation for Marvel’s answer to Superman, namely Sentry, is reaching fever pitch as the Thunderbolts* release date nears, mostly because it’s a character like nothing the MCU has seen thus far. That would be true, at least, were it not for Secret Invasion.

Sentry’s MCU Introduction Makes G’iah’s Story Even More Confusing

Secret Invasion was a maligned attempt to adapt the comic run of the same name, introducing the concept that Skrulls have infiltrated and imitated the denizens of Earth for several years, which ultimately amounted to very little. It also revealed that Fury had orchestrated an operation to collect DNA samples from the MCU’s super-powered characters after the Battle of Earth, dubbed “The Harvest,” which was condensed into a formula taken by two Skrulls, Gravik and G’iah.

Though Gravik died at G’iah’s hands, the series left the latter as a surviving Super-Skrull capable of deploying the powers of several MCU characters. She was then apparently recruited by Olivia Colman’s Sonya Falsworth to work on an unnamed clandestine project, widely presumed to be a British superhero team.

G’iah is now one of the MCU’s most powerful characters for this reason alone, but her ascension to that status is about to be sidelined by Sentry. Although Secret Invasion did not stick the landing, Marvel could have at least awarded it some relevance by making G’iah the overpowered enemy the Thunderbolts are tasked with subduing. Instead, that role will apparently go to Sentry.

Instead, due to the poor reception, G’iah may well be swept under the rug as the MCU forges ahead with new characters who could ostensibly wipe the floor with a litany of underdog characters like most of the Thunderbolts. There’s a chance she could return in Avengers 5 or Secret Wars, but the audience awareness of Secret Invasion being so low may make that too difficult. It feels like the only good opportunity to bring back G’iah is now gone.

Why The MCU’s Many Overpowered Characters Are Becoming A Problem

G’iah and Sentry will now be the latest characters to contribute to a power-scaling problem in the MCU. Even in its earliest days, reconciling the fact that Hawkeye and Black Widow stand shoulder to shoulder with Thor with their obvious gulf in power has been a difficult task for the MCU. The franchise has had to significantly nerf the Hulk to ensure his compatriots look just as, if not more, powerful by comparison for instance.

Since then, more and more characters like Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, and Scarlet Witch make including someone like Kate Bishop in the Avengers lineup feel almost ludicrous. Although the gulf in power between the titular team in Thunderbolts* and Sentry is bound to make for some compelling viewing, Sentry’s arrival adds yet another reason to question what role understated characters can play in a franchise so crammed with so many godlike beings. At least they will provide plenty of underdogs for audiences to root for in the coming years.