Who Are the Skrulls? Exploring the Villains of Marvel’s Secret Invasion
With Marvel announcing its upcoming series Secret Invasion in December 2020, many fans were excited to see Nick Fury at the front and center of the adaptation.
Highlighting Nick’s alliance with the Skrulls and how the latter has infiltrated many aspects of planet Earth, Secret Invasion seems to be a potential link to Marvel’s many projects in the future!
However, the main villain in Secret Invasion is no longer a gigantic Titan or a multiverse master! The Skrulls will be the main antagonist in this series, especially a group of rebelling Skrulls.
Note: In the comic books, the Skrulls appeared for the first time in the second volume of Fantastic Four. However, in the MCU adaptation, the Skrulls were mentioned for the first time in Guardians of the Galaxy and made their first appearance in Captain Marvel.
Now, with the many supernatural and outer-space beings in MCU, it’s understandable that even the most hardcore Marvel fans often struggle to identify all of them. I mean, remembering the Skrulls, the Kree, the Deviants, and stuff… It’s not unlike revising for exams, honestly.
Well, at least you don’t have to worry, as in this article, we’re going to walk you through the complete guidebook of the Skrulls! Grab a toast (make sure not to cut it diagonally) and read on!
Who Are the Skrulls? The Ultimate Guide
Starting with a fictional history lesson, the Skrulls were created by the Celestials, the supreme cosmic beings in the MCU.
According to IGN, at first, there were three variants of the Skrull: the Prime, the Deviants, and the Eternals. And yes, we’re talking about the same Deviants and Eternals portrayed by Gemma Chan and friends in Eternals.
Now, the Deviants have become the superior variant since they possess shape-shifting abilities. The Deviants’ leader eventually married Kly’bn, the sole survivor of the Skrull Eternals. Their descendants are the Skrulls, now the focus of Nick Fury’s operation.
Fun Fact: One of the most known Deviants and Eternals descendants was, you guessed it, Thanos! The Mad Titan has proven to be a nearly impossible force to beat, but what if he also possessed the shape-shifting ability and has yet to be defeated? (We honestly will flip because what about Iron Man?!)
Although the present-day Skrulls are pictured to be an aggressive civilization, this was formed after the Kree invasion of Skrulls’ home planet! Before the war, the Skrulls were known to be advanced specimens and even managed to develop long-distance space travel.
With their identity reframed, the Skrulls continuously being involved in the subsequent wars, including starting the Second Kree-Skrull War and breaking the peace treaty that caused the Skrull-Xandarian War.
Now, here’s where the Skrulls appeared in the MCU movies. Timeline-wise, they first appeared in Captain Marvel when one of the Skrull impersonated Sun-Val, a Kree pilot. The remaining Skrulls kidnapped Carol Danvers, but a fight made them crash in California. If you’re wondering, it’s our California, not some random planet with the same name.
At the end of Captain Marvel, Carol eventually sides with the Skrulls and even helps to protect the Skrull refugees from Ronan the Accusers’ army. Just to make sure you didn’t forget, Ronan was a radical warlord who also happened to be the main villain in Guardians of the Galaxy!
Anyways, the Skrulls’ newly-formed alliance wasn’t only with Carol but also with Nick Fury! As a matter of fact, Nick sent a Skrull to recruit Monica Rambeau, as shown in the last episode of WandaVision. Furthermore, Talos and Soren also impersonated Nick and Maria Hill in Spider-Man: Far from Home.
Despite being small in numbers, there are more Skrulls than just Talos and Soren because the main villains will always need their army. Buckle up and look at some of the most potent Skrulls below!
The Members of the Skrulls: A Full List of the Villains of Secret Invasion
While some fans have been questioning how a scattered group like the Skrulls managed to be the main villains in Marvel’s upcoming series, the event told in Secret Invasion may or may not significantly impact the future of MCU. Read on for more details on the confirmed and possible villains in the upcoming series!
Talos
Of course, we must start the list with the leader and supposedly the most powerful Skrull. Talos is known to be the leader of the Skrulls’ army since the Kree-Skrull War. According to Marvel’s official website, Talos is a master in shape-shifting, making him the most valuable Skrull spy.
As far as his appearance in the MCU movies went, Talos is one of Nick Fury’s closest allies. However, their alliance can take a bitter twist in Secret Invasion! After all, we’re talking about the same company that created Captain America: Civil War, duh.
Gravik
Introducing the main villain in Secret Invasion, meet Gravik! To be honest, the announcement of this character caused quite a drift among fans. Some were disappointed that Marvel created a non-canon character for an important role instead of exploring many Skrulls from the comic books.
Nevertheless, Gravik is announced to be the leader of many rebelling Skrulls. From the brief appearance of his Skrull form in the Secret Invasion’s official trailer, many theorized that Gravik would be assuming Kl’rt’s role as Super-Skrull, albeit they’re different characters altogether.
Queen Veranke
Okay, so far, there’s no hint about any central Skrull character that will appear in Secret Invasion, or at least its first season.
However, many fans believe that Queen Veranke, the leader of the Skrull invasion of planet Earth, will make a brief cameo, at the very least (because the show is about the invasion, right?).
In the comics, Queen Veranke impersonated Spider-Woman before eventually betraying the New Avengers.
Update: Emilia Clarke is playing the role of Veranke in Secret Invasion.
Fiz
When Killian Scott was announced to be cast for an undisclosed role in Secret Invasion, you bet everyone started to theorize about his character. With IMDB already confirming (well, sort of) his role as Skrull Fiz, it opened a whole new theory about the X-Men involvement in MCU!
If the upcoming series comply with its source material, Fiz is a young Skrull mutant recruited by the one and only Professor X to help the X-Men defeat the Apocalypse.
Fiz, indeed, eventually returned to reside in space with his fellow Skrulls, so it’s interesting to see his possible role in Secret Invasion!
Hulkling
Despite his name, Hulkling isn’t Hulk’s son. He’s actually the son of Kree citizen Captain Marvel and a Skrull princess, Anelle! This made him a mixed descendant of two conflicting specimens.
While on Earth, Hulkling joined the New Avengers, assuming the OG Hulk’s role to help defeat Kang the Conqueror, the MCU heroes’ common enemy in Phase Five. In the comics, Hulkling married Wiccan or Billy Kaplan, or, you guessed it right, the son of Vision and Wanda Maximoff!
From all the MCU adaptations that have been released, Hulkling is technically the character that’s most likely to appear in Secret Invasion. I mean, we already met Kate Bishop, Cassie Lang, and Kang himself from Hawkeye and Quantumania, respectively.
Now the question is, will Hulkling remain a hero, or will he be turned into a villain?