Synopsis
Secret Invasion was Marvel's major crossover event of the summer of 2008. It revolved around the infiltration of Earth's superhuman community by new genetically-altered super-Skrulls. Similar to the Super-Skrull Kl'rt, who mimicked the abilities of the Fantastic Four, each of these Super-Skrulls mimicked the abilities of an individual or group, or different combinations of their powers.
Prelude to the Invasion
- "My war with you began before it was declared!" - A Skrull Combat match viewed by Agent Brand.
Located on interstellar crossroads, Earth was viewed as prime territory by many alien cultures. One of these cultures was the Skrulls. Due to the large number of superhumans on Earth, all invasion attempts were thwarted every time. The Skrulls, despite their previous inability to conquer the planet, still viewed Earth as rightfully theirs.
After the Kree-Skrull War, several heroes traveled to the Skrull throne planet to inform them not to involve Earth in their struggles again. Upon arrival, however, the heroes were captured and experimented upon before they were able to escape.
Their initial homeworld, Tarnax IV was destroyed by Galactus and in the recent Annihilation Wave, much of the rest of the empire was decimated, destroyed, or overrun by the forces of Annihilus. With no home and a long-standing grudge against the super-human populace of Earth, the Skrulls found themselves pushed to the edge. Having slowly infiltrated the planet Earth, their time for vengeance had come.
After experimenting on the Illuminati, the Skrulls replaced various super-humans since before the events of House of M, beginning with Spider-Woman (replaced by a fake attempt by the Skrulls to restore her powers), Hank Pym, Black Bolt (replaced when the Illuminati attacked the Skrulls), Elektra, various agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Edwin Jarvis, Dum Dum Dugan, etc. After the Civil War, the Skrulls intended on implanting a Skrull in every 50-state superhero team. It is unknown if that had actually occurred or how far they got with their insurgents.
The events of the House of M are unconfirmed to have been independent of the Skrull invasion, but the registration act and the Hulk's return were allowed to play out to "do their work for [the Skrulls]". With the Scarlet Witch and Thor out of the way, they had plans for the Sentry and Dr. Strange, threats to their invasion. Reducing the mutant threat, the Skrulls believed that the mutant population could not be combated against by the Skrulls, allowing the House of M incident to occur successfully accomplished their goal. The next target was the superhuman population.
Lyja was successfully recruited back into the Skrull ranks to take out the Baxter building and the Fantastic Four headquarters.
Dum Dum Dugan also met with de Fontaine around the time of Captain America's death. She asked Dugan about Nick Fury's whereabouts and if he had had contact with Fury. Dugan denied any knowledge and the Contessa stabbed Dugan with claws similar to Wolverine's, revealing herself to be a Skrull. The Skrull then assumed Dugan's form and left him to die.[3]
Who do you trust?
After the events of Secret War, Nick Fury went into hiding. He learned that Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was plotting to extract S.H.I.E.L.D. pass-codes from him and kill him. Fury killed her first, after which she reverted to her true Skrull form. Fury came to the realization that an alien invasion was taking place. He recruited Spider-Woman to be a mole inside both Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D., while secretly reporting to him, and to keep an eye on anything suspicious.[4]
Fury meanwhile assembled a new team, a team he believed to not have been targets of the Skrull insurgency. He began with Daisy Johnson, former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Alex (Code name Phobos, Son of Ares), Yo Yo Rodriguez, daughter of Johnny Horton (The Griffin), the grandson of the original Ghost Rider, Dr. Druid and his son, Jerry Sledge, and various other unknown super-humans.
Ironically, he attempted to recruit Layla Miller, but she was expecting Agent Johnson. Miller claimed that if she joined Johnson's/Fury's team, "it wouldn't work" but without her, they wouldn't fail. She wished to stay with the mutants because they would need her. She stated Johnson would live through this, but was going to lose a lot.
In the Savage Land, the Skrulls also planted a fake S.H.I.E.L.D. team that eventually engaged the Avengers, but they successfully escaped. Ka-zar and his people witnessed this, believing that there was something odd happening, but realizing that the Skrulls had infiltrated Earth, while also causing disgruntlement between the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D.
Once Elektra was discovered however, it was far too late as the Skrulls had clearly crippled Earth's main planetary defenses: the mutant population had been cut to only a few hundred, super-humans had been registered, on the run, killed or replaced. Every team, the Avengers, new and secret, the Illuminati, the Inhumans, S.H.I.E.L.D., Wakanda's government, the mutants, the Initiative, even the Avengers' staff; had all been infiltrated by Skrulls. Earth was ready for the taking.
History
The Infiltration
Some time after the Superhuman Registration Act, a battle broke out between the New Avengers and the Hand over the fate of Echo. During the fight, Echo was freed from the Hand's influence, and stabs the Hand's leader Elektra. Moments after her death, Elektra was revealed to be a Skrull. Tensions rose amongst the New Avengers, as no-one was able to detect Elektra's true nature, they surmised any one of them could also be a Skrull. Spider-Woman suggested that they hand over the Skrull corpse to Iron Man, but she was rebuked by Luke Cage, who believed Iron Man to be a Skrull as well. During a fight, Spider-Woman knocked out Wolverine and stole the corpse to bring to Iron Man.[5]
Spider-Woman informed Tony Stark of what had happened in Japan, including the suspicion by his former teammates that he was a Skrull himself. A disturbed Stark accepted this, claimed that his possession and DNA restructuring by Ultron verified his authenticity, then demanded to know where Nick Fury was, because he would know what to do. Jessica didn't know. Stark agreed with Wolverine's opinion that this was just the beginning of an invasion, and convinced her to join the Mighty Avengers, even though she still absolutely refused to register her abilities under the Superhuman Registration Act, since it would throw the Skrull off guard. Stark assumed that one of the Mighty Avengers was a Skrull sent to kill him, and with Spider-Woman on the team the Skrull would know that the Avengers were now aware of the Skrull threat. Spider-Woman convinced the others that she merely wanted to get back to doing something useful, and did not tell them what happened in Japan.[6]
Iron Man was shocked by the Skrull corpse, realizing it to be a repercussion of the Illuminati's attack years prior. He reassembled the group for the first time since they splintered shortly before the Civil War, and they debated over whether this meant an invasion had taken place. The group was caught off guard, however, when Black Bolt voiced his opinion. It was revealed that he was in fact a Skrull as well, and fought the others over the body. This Skrull showed to not only have Black Bolt's powers, but to have the combined powers of all the members of the Illuminati. After Namor managed to kill him, the Illuminati were attacked by two more Skrulls:
- A Skrull that had Cyclops' optic blasts, Nightcrawler's prehensile tail, and Colossus' metallic skin.
- A Skrull that wielded a technological copy of Thor's hammer Mjolnir.
These Skrulls were killed by Iron Man who detonated a small nuclear bomb with his armor. Namor reminded them that any of them could also be a Skrull, and that no one was to be trusted. The five then went their separate ways.[7]
The returning Captain Marvel battled the villains Cobalt Man and the original Cyclone, both supposedly deceased. He was then confronted by a group of Skrulls posing as Kree Soldiers, who attempted to kill him but were quickly defeated by Mar-Vell with the aid of Iron Man. He then went on to confront Ms. Marvel over her identity, and then shared with her his experiences fighting both Cobalt Man and Cyclone. Shortly thereafter, Mar-Vell went to interrogate Cobalt Man, who revealed himself to be a Skrull and stated "You are not Captain Marvel". Meanwhile, Brother McNally, a member of the recently formed Church of Hala (established after the return of Captain Marvel), was revealed to be a Skrull as well.[8] Iron Man was suspicious of Mar-Vell's true identity and sent men to Titan to investigate his grave. The Skrull impersonating Cobalt Man revealed to Captain Marvel that he was in fact a Skrull sleeper agent named Khn'nr created to pose as the real Captain Marvel. However, despite his status, Marvel decided to fight against the invading Skrulls.[9]
Iron Man told S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent David Sum, a member of Ms. Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. strike force Operation Lightning Storm, about the coming invasion and stated that he believed Ms. Marvel was actually a Skrull agent.[10]. A Skrull named Rl'nnd was found by Ms. Marvel in what she believed was an A.I.M. lair and attacked her, only to escape. Afterward, Ms. Marvel found the body of William Wagner, a man she had been dating. Agent Sum and the rest of Lightning Storm tried to capture Ms. Marvel under the impression that she was William's murderer.[11] Eventually both Ms. Marvel and the Skrull impostor were captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. with Rl'nnd following in disguise. After Rl'nnd revealed himself, the Skrull Ms. Marvel told Ms. Marvel that Wagner was a Kree. She also had disguised herself as him to convince Ms. Marvel he was dead, and that he was still alive.[12]
A Skrull posing as Daredevil met Echo outside of Matt Murdock's office. Echo saw through its disguise since the Skrull's weren't aware of Daredevil's current activities. With Wolverine's help, Echo repelled the Skrull.[13]
The Invasion Begins...
Iron Man called in two of the brightest minds on Earth: Doctor Reed Richards and Doctor Henry Pym to examine the body of the Elektra-Skrull that Spider-Woman brought to him. He knew it was just the beginning of an invasion.
Meanwhile, The Peak, S.W.O.R.D.'s headquarters, hosted a meeting between various world security agencies. As Commander Dugan arrived, a Skrull ship entered Earth's atmosphere and crashed in the Savage Land. Tony Stark got called in by Agent Brand, leaving Reed and Hank to examine the Skrull.
Iron Man ordered the Avengers to assemble, but only Spider-Woman was currently available. She contacted the Secret Avengers and told them about the crashed Skrull ship.
The two Avenger teams met up in the Savage Land near the crashed ship, each side ready to fight. As Luke Cage pried open the Skrull ship, S.W.O.R.D. was receiving live video feeds from Iron Man's armor. Both Commander Dugan and Edwin Jarvis, the Avenger Tower butler, upon seeing Cage pry open the ship, decided to take "action".
Commander Dugan set off an explosion that destroyed S.W.O.R.D. headquarters, saying "He Loves You" just before the blast. Jarvis had uploaded a virus into the Stark computer mainframe, saying "He Loves You" causing Iron Man's armor to malfunction and disable Tony Stark and infecting the entire Stark computer network with an alien virus from satellites to defense systems. Ms. Marvel called the Helicarrier, but no one responded. Commander Hill ordered everyone to abandon ship as the Helicarrier had lost all power and control, falling down toward a city.
The Raft, Ryker's Maximum-Maximum Security prison lost power, freeing every single villain that was being held there like Armadillo, Answer, Doctor Doom, Mandrill, and Shockwave. Similar events happened at The Cube, where the master Noh-Varr decided it was time to go. The Thunderbolts headquarters, Thunderbolt Mountain, was simultaneously attacked by Mar-Vell himself.
Meanwhile at the Baxter Building, a Skrull disguised as a tourist changed into Susan Storm, entered the lab, and opened a gateway to the Negative Zone, again saying "He loves You", and creating a massive vacuum within the Baxter Building that began to engulf the building and the surroundings.
In the Savage Land, Iron Man slipped into a seizure as the Skrull ship opened, revealing its cargo: Beast, Thor, Spider-Man, Phoenix, Iron Man, Wonder Man, Scarlet Witch, Susan Storm, Captain America, Wolverine, Mockingbird, Power Man, Hawkeye, Emma Frost, and Jewel, claiming that they had made it back to Earth. "Wolverine", who emerged from the ship, asked the gathered Avengers who exactly they were.
In orbit, Agent Brand and her team were safe in stasis gel. She called for help only to realize that a massive Skrull invasion fleet had just arrived on Earth's doorstep.
Pym is a skrull
At the lab, Reed realized how the Skrulls became undetectable and turned to tell Hank. Pym pulled out a laser weapon and shot Richards which destabilized him. As Hank transformed into a Skrull, he said "He Even Loves You".
Despite the urging of Ares that their confrontation was merely a distraction from the true battle, the assembled heroes from the ship and their counterparts on Earth began fighting, both sides convinced that their opponents were the Skrulls. In the ensuing battle, the Spider-Man and Hawkeye from the ship were both killed and reverted into Skrulls, while Mockingbird insisted she was not an impostor, as she and the real Clint Barton made a tearful reunion. Mockingbird also stated that the Captain America from the ship may, in fact, be the genuine article. While Spider-Woman disappeared into the jungle and Earth's Ms. Marvel headed back to the States, Earth's Iron Man (still suffering from the Skrull virus) started to build himself a new suit from the wreckage of a nearby lab. Not being able to combat the power of the Sentry the Skrulls decided the best way to deal with him was to make Reynolds have a psychotic episode. With Sentry believing that a Skrull posing as the classic Vision told him, opted to stay out of the fight. The Void creating an equal and opposite reaction showed up battling Skrulls and saving Lindy Reynolds promising to do all that The Sentry wouldn't do. In Manhattan, meanwhile, the first wave of Super Skrull shock troops bearing the abilities of Earth's super-humans arrived, as witnessed by the Young Avengers and the Runaways.
The Invasion: Front Lines
Meanwhile, Britain was also attacked by a Skrull armada and a wave of empowered Super Skrulls. The Skrulls had infiltrated the ranks of the British government, though they were exposed by John the Skrull (a Skrull turncoat loyal to MI:13 and who had taken the form of John Lennon). The Skrulls' target was the Siege Perilous. To protect this source of magic Captain Britain attacked a Skrull missile head on, possibly sacrificing himself.[14]
Athena gathered all Earth gods to prepare a "God Squad" to fight the Skrull Gods. Hercules, Snowbird, Tecumotzin, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, and Atum the God Eater were chosen as the team. Mikaboshi later asked Hercules if his sister's eyes had always been green. This could be hinting that Athena was a Skrull and was trying to get rid of the heavy hitters.[15]
While all this happened, Spider-Man confronted Ka-Zar and Shanna, accusing them of being Skrulls. However, they were attacked by the ship's Captain America. During the battle, the natives hit the ship's Captain America with a poisonous dart that caused him to regress to a Skrull. That Skrull was killed by Shanna. They did the same for Spider-Man only to find out that he was not a Skrull. Wonder Man and the ship's Beast ended up trapped underground. They managed to get near the exit, but the ship's Beast left Wonder Man there.[16]
During the evacuation of Helicarrier, the Jarvis Impersonator confronted Ms. Hill about surrendering to the Skrulls.
In Times Square the Young Avengers tried their best to battle the invading forces. Vision realizing that communications were down suggested that Hulkling being Skrull royalty calm the situation but to no avail. After losing Wiccan and Hulkling to unconsciousness the Camp Hammond Staff and Trainees arrived. This did not change the tide of the battle (after Stature and Proton lost consciousness and Vision got destroyed) until Nick Fury and his new Howling Commandos arrived.
Spider-Woman then attacked and knocked out Echo all but solidifying that Ms. Drew had been replaced. After the scuffle the impostor found Stark and congratulated him calling him her lover Kr’Ali and confirming that she was the Skrull Queen.[17]
During the battle in New York, the Runaways returned from their trip to 1907 to land in the middle of the fight. Xavin, the team's Skrull, knocked out the team and appeared to betray them. After realizing that Hulkling was going to be executed by the Skrulls, Xavin intervened and saved him.[18]
Khn'nr fought and defeated most of the Thunderbolts. Norman Osborn offered him a chance to explain himself, speaking with him in private.[19]
Longshot met up with Darwin some time after the events of Messiah Complex and attempted to lead him to Professor Xavier, due to the fact that Darwin wished to help the Professor. During that time, Longshot stated that his powers were failing him recently, and proceeded to test them and himself on some people, causing those people to turn on Darwin. After Darwin escaped, the crowd attacked Longshot, but he managed to mysteriously get away. He reappeared in an alleyway, unaware he was being tracked by Jazinda. He then revealed himself to be a Skrull named Nogor and went to meet up with Darwin as they moved through Detroit. Later, they were attacked by Jazinda and She-Hulk.[20] Darwin "evolved" to the point where he recognized Nogor as a Skrull and defeated him. Nogor was later taken into custody by She-Hulk and Jazinda.[21]
Delroy Garrett, the 3-D Man, arrived in Hawaii and was greeted by Point Men team members Star Sign and Paydirt. He encountered Devil-Slayer on the way to the base, who stated that he had sensed portents of doom all day. When he met the final team member Magnitude, the goggles Delroy obtained from the original 3-D Man allowed him to identify Magnitude as a Skrull impostor. The Skrull attacked and severely wounded Star Sign and Paydirt, but Delroy killed the Skrull with a sword magically summoned by Devil-Slayer. Devil Slayer used his Shadow Cloak to teleport Delroy to Camp Hammond, where he announced to everyone assembled that the Initiative had been infiltrated by Skrulls. Crusader (fearing that he would be exposed as a Skrull) used the Freedom Ring. This caused 3-D Man's goggles to make him see everyone surrounding him as a Skrull. Crusader told Delroy Garrett to take his leave. However, Delroy's Quinjet was affected by the same computer virus and it crashed in New Mexico.[22]
Whilst all of this was happening, Reed Richards was revealed to be held by Skrull forces up in Earth's orbit on an unidentified armada ship, stretched to his physical limits and surrounded by a crowd of Skrull watchers and scientists, helpless against the threats and torture. Agent Abigail Brand of S.W.O.R.D. managed to break through the exterior of another ship and made it into one of the central control rooms, seeing the images of the invasion, death, and destruction the Skrulls were making on Earth, as well as the torture of Mr. Fantastic. A Skrull guard and a youngster found and pointed a gun at her. The Sentry was up in orbit, still being tormented by the false words of the Skrull Void impostor and refusing to help.
Down in the chaotic battle in Manhattan, Nick Fury and the new Howling Commandos showed promises of turning the tide; Ms. Marvel, after being heavily blasted by a group of Skrull soldiers ended up rising in the middle of Fury and his group in Times Square as they fought, shocked by the return of the ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. leader. As they quickly headed into the fray, Yo-Yo, the team's mutant speedster, managed to rescue all the downed Young Avengers and Initiative cadets before further execution and casualties. Ms. Marvel proceeded to help, but soon after was shot by Fury, whom was unconvinced she was the real Carol Danvers. After being shot back into another street, the Skrull onlookers quickly overran her, with the Skrull Henry Pym looking down at her with a smirk on his face. Fury then called his men to retreat so that they could plan their next move.
Watching the battle via news broadcast on live television, the Hood decided to take his rebuilt empire of the New York City criminal roster and battle the Skrulls, as "no more Earth is bad for business". In the Bermuda Triangle, Jarvis tried to get Maria Hill to surrender, but Maria refused and said it was still her ship, but the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents turned into Skrulls. Back in the Savage Land, Spider-Woman continued to persuade Tony into believing he was a Skrull sleeper agent named Kl'Riki Dulu, and that she would find a way to turn him back to his original form and praised him as the greatest Skrull Warrior to ever live. Natasha Romanoff (the Black Widow) was revealed to be watching the conversation, and proceeded to enter and shoot Spider-Woman. She was temporarily distracted by the Beast and Phoenix heroes from the Skrull ship, who she in turn, opened fire on and seemingly killed. Spider-Woman had enough time to escape, and Natasha injected Tony with a dose of adrenaline to keep him going. She convinced him to continue the fight, despite the words of the Skrull Spider-Woman and the possibility of him being a sleeper. Wolverine entered (after being shot by Black Widow and being forced to confirm his true identity through the codeword, "Carrot Sticks") and the trio concluded that Tony had to rebuild the armor quick, and return to New York as soon as possible.
After Fury and his Commandos moved on, the view shifted to innocent civilians evading Skrull forces in Central Park. As they were about to be killed by some Skrull soldiers, a blast of lightning struck and killed one. As the civilians look through the light and destruction, the shadowy figure of what appeared to be Thor in the New York City sky was seen. Another mysterious figure was shown watching the event from another location with a pair of binoculars; the figure then proceeded to move from his position, and suddenly the shield and costume of Captain America was seen.
Meanwhile, after the God Squad was forced to experience their worse fears by Nightmare, Snowbird and Hercules made love after she confessed to him that she didn't want to be alone anymore. Later, it was discovered that the Skrull in the group was Kirby the Coyote Pup (who had been with them since the end of World War Hulk) revealed itself and was quickly dispatched by Atum. The issue ended with an impending battle between gods Hercules and Kly'bn, the one in the sentence "He loves you". However, Hercules won the battle after stabbing Kly'bn, giving the Skrulls a huge upset in their war campaign.
Resistance
As the Skrulls comfortably settled in Portland, Oregon, enslaving the population, the Skrulls repeatedly announced that any attempt at resistance would be met with extreme force. Gorilla Man and M-11, disguised as slaves, attacked the Skrulls, freaking Namora who had been captured. The trio captured the regional Skrull commander, taking only his head, bringing it to their underwater saucer where Bob Grayson and Venus were waiting. They extracted military secrets from the severed head just as they were attacked. The odd team repelled the attack, liberated Portland, set a course for Seattle to secure that city, then intended on securing the country before moving to Japan, but they questioned who they could trust.[23]
Norman Osborn talked the Skrull-Captain Marvel out of destroying the Thunderbolts, sending him away in anguish. He then declared to U.S. troops that they were at war.
Nick Fury arrived with the Initiative cadets, his new Howling Commandos, and the Young Avengers at his new command post. The Vision survived his attempted murder by the Skrulls, but remained rather disfigured/damaged. He awaited with his team for the Skrulls to announced their plans for Earth and they did. Using generated images of various leaders and famous stars including Magneto, the Pope, Barack Obama, Tom Cruise, John McCain, Eric Cartman, Tony Stark, Namor, Oprah, Doctor Doom, Kim Jong il, and others, the Skrulls announced that they intended on assimilating all humans into their culture and way of life, declaring Earth part of the Skrull empire. The only way for the human race to save their planet was to assimilate.
Meanwhile in space, Agent Brand successfully infiltrated the Skrull ship holding Mr. Fantastic captive where she battled the Skrulls experimenting on them, either killing or disabling them and freeing Dr. Richards. Frustrated, she decompressed the ship, throwing every Skrull out into space. Richards panicked, threatening Brand, demanding the location of his family, believing that she was to be a Skrull. He revealed that the Skrulls needed him alive to assist in the invasion. Richards tested Brand to prove she was not a Skrull as the ship they had commandeered came under attack. Out of nowhere, Captain Marvel, with a new sense of purpose, engaged and destroyed a large portion of the Skrull fleet. Brand then took the ship and Richards to the Savage Land.
Back on the Shield Helicarrier, Director Hill revealing to "Jarvis" and the Skrull insurgents that she was using a life model decoy as Fury had suggested to her many months ago. The Skrulls killed the duplicate and Hill on a jet-pack, opened fire on the Skrulls and then self-destructed the carrier.
The various superheroes, Savage Land leaders, and Skrull (or not) impersonators clashed again, about ready to fight. Each one declaring who they were or who they believed themselves to be. Emma Frost stated she could detect who was a Skrull and who was not, accusing Spider-Man of being an impostor. Susan Storm stated she would keep everyone in place with a force field until all was settled. Richards fired into the center of the crowd of super heroes with an odd weapon. When tech dust and brightness receded, the Skrulls and humans were revealed and a battle ensued. Ronin discovered his Mockingbird was a Skrull, grabbed one of Black Widow's guns, and killed her in anger. The Skrull impostors were surprised when their skin turned green and became surprised and disoriented, making them easier to take down by the real super heroes. Ronin, angry and frustrated at the realization his wife was an impostor, declared that every last Skrull must be killed.[24]
The invasion reached San Francisco, new home of the X-Men. Believing the city to be virtually defenseless except for local police, they launched a small scale attack to cause enough damage to instill fear. However, their ground teams encountered unexpected superhuman resistance: each and everyone of the X-Men that were still active. The X-Men launched a counter strike, defending civilians and evacuating badly attacked buildings. The Skrulls were shocked to find the X-Men in San Francisco especially when they took over their command shuttle. As the X-men made a successful gain, the Skrulls launched their super soldiers into the city from an orbiting ship.[25]
While in Wakanda, Brother Voodoo revealed himself to be a Skrull when he attempted to kill Cannibal, whom he deemed to be a threat. However, the two killed each other in the struggle and the discovery of 'Brother Voodoo's' true form revealed the Skrull invasion to Black Panther, allowing him time to prepare.[26] As many Wakandan warriors died, Black Panther successfully fought off a very intimidating Super-Skrull only to be temporarily defeated by two Skrull subversives within his ranks.[27] The Skrulls tortured a captured Black Panther and Storm only to figure out they were really the Skrull subversives made to look like King T'Challa and Queen Ororo. Just as the real Black Panther and Storm killed Commander K'vvvr, he sent the entire ship loaded with the corpses of the entire Skrull invasion force back to the Skrull homeworld with a message written in blood saying "This is what happens when you invade Wakanda".[28]
Trapped in the Negative Zone, Johnny Storm, The Thing, Franklin and Valerie Richards, and Lyja turned to the prison population to rebuild the destroyed portal generator in order to return to Earth and help repel the invasion. The one they turned to was Phineas Mason, known as the Tinkerer. He told the Fantastic Four that he was forcefully taken even after retiring from super-villain work, revealing that the unregistered super-humans did not receive a fair trial. The Tinkerer then refused to help, but after Franklin pleaded with the man, Tinkerer complied at the child's desire to return to his family. They successfully returned back to New York City, Lyja staying behind, to the battleground that was New York City.[29]
On Attilan, Medusa received news that Black Bolt had been replaced by a Skrull. She tried to get Maximus to take action against the Skrulls, but he refused.[30] When Ahura was revealed to be a Skrull, Maximus defeated him as the Skrulls began their invasion upon Attilan.[31] Medusa headed into space to try and get Ronan the Accuser to help find the Skrull ship that had Black Bolt on it. Ronan agreed under the condition that Crystal became his bride.[32]
At New Asgard, Thor had just rescued Beta Ray Bill (who was lacking his Stormbreaker) after he escaped from the Skrulls. With the featured Asgardians thinking Beta Ray Bill was a Skrull, they plotted to attack while he was recuperating only to be stopped by Thor. Thor proved Beta Ray Bill wasn't a Skrull by throwing Mjolnir at Beta Ray Bill who caught it, proving he was not a Skrull by being able to lift Mjolnir. Beta Ray Bill, healed by holding Mjolnir, joined Thor in his fight against the Skrulls as some of them attacked Asgard.[33] During the fight with the invading Skrulls, Beta Ray Bill encountered a specially-bred Super-Skrull called Godkiller who was wielding Stormbreaker.[34] After tricking the Godkiller, Beta Ray Bill reclaimed Stormbreaker (which was quickly reassembled after breaking) and assisted Thor by tricking the Godkiller into going under Asgard. Thor and Beta Ray Bill then killed Godkiller by dropping Asgard on her.[35]
3-D Man, sabotaged into a crash in the Quinjet after all Starktech went offline, was discovered by She-Thing, a member of the Initiative. 3-D Man instantly saw she was a Skrull, but before she could strike a blow, she was killed by the Skrull Kill Krew. The Skrull Kill Krew then recruited Delroy and approached Arizona's Desert Stars, determining Blacksmith to be an impostor. After a brief battle, the Krew planed on going to Las Vegas.[36] The Shadow Initiative stayed at Camp Hammond while most others at Camp Hammond went to fight the Skrulls in New York. Later the Skrull used Camp Hammond as base which Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady) found out because he stayed behind. Then with the help of Ant-Man, the Shadow Initiative tried to eliminate the Skrull Queen Veranke, but they lost the fight against the Skrulls and were all captured (except Ant-Man).[37]
Norman Osborn and his Thunderbolts launched a counter-attack on the force invading Washington DC. There, Songbird was attacked by a Super-Skrull combining the powers of Atlas and herself. Mac Gargan and Bullseye went rogue, Norman and Robbie Baldwin went crazy, and Moonstone betrayed the team by shooting Swordman and bargained her allegiance to the Skrulls.[38] They managed to vanquish their Skrull opponents.[39]
The New Warriors were enjoying a day off when the Skrull's Invasion occurred. Back at their headquarters, Donyell suspected that the Night Thrasher who was killed in Stamford was really a Skrull and wanted to find proof about the remains of his brother Dwayne. Donyell decided to go on his own; but his teammates secretly followed him and later confronted him to find out what going on, when the former New Warriors who were now known as Counter Force, also wanted to know what was the reason the Warriors reformed without some of the founding members. After Donyell revealed his true identity and his reasons to both the former and current Warriors, Vance led all of them to a SHIELD Helicarrier where their teammates remains were stored. Both teams were attacked by the Skrulls and the Warriors fought off a Super-Skrull possessing the founding Warriors' powers.[40] During the battle; Donyell confirmed that the remains were authenticated and had them removed from the carrier for burial.[41]
At the DB, Jackpot was slandered by Dexter Bennett. When she arrived at the DB, along with a PR supplied by the Initiative, she was attacked by a Super-Skrull in Spider-Man's form searching for the wall-crawler. After her refusal, the Skrull changed from Spider-Man form to a composite form showing the powers and the abilities of Lizard, Rhino, Electro, Hydro-Man, Sandman, and Venom.[42] Jackpot battled her Skrull opponent long enough for Betty Brant, Dexter Bennett, Robbie Robertson and Vin Gonzales to escape the building. While Robbie drove, Jackpot battled the Super-Skrull on the roof of the car until she was attacked by Menace who killed one of the invading Skrulls and considered Jackpot to be "Spider-Man's Girlfriend."[43] Their fight took him into the path of one of the Skrulls, with Menace's glider exploding on contact. Menace survived, though badly injured, and limped away from the scene. Jackpot killed the Sinister Six-Skrull by trapping it in a freezer where it froze to death.[44]
As Hood's syndicate was attacking the Skulls, there was a flashback when Skrull agents tried to replace Madame Masque but failed. When advised to use his magic to scan the villains present, Hood discovered that Slug had been replaced by a Skrull and killed it.[45]
Punisher got involved in the fight against the Skrulls and easily killed them.[46] In the midst of the invasion, Stuart Clarke learned that the Punisher killed his girlfriend and the Punisher learned that Stuart Clarke killed a cop. This led to Punisher and Stuart Clarke battling each other. The battle was concluded by both being trapped in a room where the Skrulls fired a rocket into, leaving Stuart heavily scarred (in a manner similar to Jigsaw) and vowing revenge on Frank Castle.[47]
While flying away, Noh-Varr came across a damaged Skrull ship. He landed to check it out when Captain Marvel stumbled out. Before he died, Captain Marvel begged Noh-Varr to stop the invasion but Noh-Varr said this wasn't his world. Captain Marvel said it didn't matter and he was here for a reason. He had learned so much from Earth's people and the Skrulls had no honor like the humans or the Kree. Elsewhere, the Skrulls restored the global communication systems and announced their plans. Using the restored systems, they explained the Skrull Invasion with the following talking points:
- They only wanted to improve Earth's culture and add to it, not kill anyone.
- They had attacked organizations like the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Fantastic Four because they stood in the way of their progress as a society.
- They were part of their problems and they wished to change that.
Queen Veranke arrived at Camp Hammond while the Avengers headed to New York only to find it burning. Down on the street a group of people wanted to welcome the Skrulls, but were caught between the battle between the Skrulls and Nick Fury and his troops. The Hood and his syndicate of criminals decided to finally help out. Thor made his presence known and met up with the new Captain America. The New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Nick Fury & his commandos, the Young Avengers, the Initiative, the Hood's crew, Thor, the new Captain America, Howard the Duck and the Thunderbolts all assembled. Queen Veranke revealed that "He" was God, and it was an all out war between the Skrulls and the super-humans of Earth.[48]
The Skrulls moved quickly to take Nova out of the equation before he could return home and help defend his own planet. Luring Nova into an ambush on a remote planet under the ruse of an isolated Phalanx infestation, a group of Super-Skrulls launched an ambush. In the battle, one of the Super-Skrulls turned on his fellows, revealing himself to be Kl'rt, Nova's ally from the Annihilation War. Together, Nova and the original Super-Skrull defeated the attackers and traveled by stargate directly to Earth where Nova intended to assist in repelling the invasion. Upon their arrival, however, Kl'rt attacked Rider declaring his loyalties to the Skrull Empire. His attack on Nova revealed to be a charade, as Kl'rt shielded Nova from the view of the Skrull invasion fleet, allowing Rider to return to his home world undetected.[49] However where his true loyalties lie remains to be seen as while he helped Nova, he later targeted his own daughter Jazinda and fought She-Hulk at the same time. Yet while he defeated both women, he found he couldn't kill Jazinda and left.[50]
The Skrull Kill Krew and their Initiative allies moved on to other Initiative bases, killing the Skrull impostors. Delroy Garret's goggles also identified Equinox as a Skrull who was then killed by Cloud 9 and adding Cloud 9 and Gravity to their group. The Skrull then sent a broadcast throughout the world, telling their sleeper agents to activate themselves, which sowed even more distrust among the remaining heroes. While in Philadelphia, the Revolutionary was revealed as a Skrull and defeated by Gravity and Hope. When they came across a fight between Thor Girl and Ultra Girl, Delroy's goggles identified Thor Girl as a Skrull. With help from Gravity, Delroy used Thor Girl's own hammer to kill the Skrull impostor. Ant-Man managed to escape the Skrulls on the back of a Shock Trooper, and revealed to the Kill Crew the Skrulls' last resort plan; to use all the Initiative bases to create a massive Negative Zone portal that would take the entire country. With six bases left, the Crew split up, and used the still-living heads of Moonstomp, Catwalk and Dice to help point out Skrulls. Devil-Slayer teleported them to the bases, but collapsed under the strain.[51]
Despite the vast number of super-humans involved in the fight, briefly reunited under a single purpose again, the battle was still locked in a stand-still, until Uatu appeared, signaling that an event of cosmic relevance was unfolding, and the resolution of the obstacles was near. As Tony Stark was forced to retire because of damages received on his rebuilt armor, Jessica Jones and Noh-Varr took his place on the battlefield. The presence of Noh-Varr, claiming his victory in name of Mar-Vell and the Kree, was enough to give the assembled heroes back their resolve. Clint Barton, using the bow and the trick arrows of the wounded Kate Bishop, slayed several Super-Skrulls before hitting a clear shot on Queen Veranke. Criti Noll got up long enough to activate the new growth serum in the Wasp which he had given her when she still thought he was Hank Pym, turning her into an explosive trap. The Skrull Jarvis while holding Jessica's and Luke Cage's child, watched from Avengers Tower as the energy washed over hero, villain and Skrull alike, commenting to the child that it didn't matter if the Skrulls won or lost, so long as "God's" will was done.[52]
The Initiative members combated their Skrull opponents who had received their mission to activate themselves to start distrust amongst the teams. At the Batallion's HQ, Tigra, Ryder, and Cloud 9 fought a Skrull posing as Razorback. Hardball and Moonstomp helped Action Pack fight a Skrull posing as Frog-Man. Gravity and Catwalk helped the Great Lakes Avengers fight a Skrull posing as Grasshopper. Komodo and Riot helped the Command fight a Skrull posing as Conquistador (who transformed into a Skrull version of Devil Dinosaur). Dice and Jocosta fought their way through activists to get to the Skrull posing as Skyhawk who succeeded in his part of the mission. Delroy Garrett and Ant-Man joined the Rangers in fighting a Skrull that posed as Red Wolf's wolf companion Lobo. After it was shot by Shooting Star, a crowd uprising occurred when Delroy's goggles identified some of the crowd members as Skrulls. Delroy's goggles were hit by a thrown rock giving Delroy's allies a hard time figuring out who was a Skrull and who wasn't. During the struggle, Delroy discovered that he could see who was a Skrull without his goggles. This turned the tides against those Skrulls disguised as crowd members. During the fights across the USA, Spinner and Whiz-Kid both apparently died in various fights. At the final fight at Camp Hammond, Crusader killed Criti Noll and then 3-D Man shot Crusader (who hid his Skrull heritage from the others), but was fighting for Earth. Before he disappeared, Crusader stated that it could have ended differently[53].
As the Wasp began to explode, Thor was able to minimize the damage caused by Wasp by turning the energy she was exerting on herself; promising to avenge her. Queen Veranke was revealed to be alive and as the heroes went to attack her, Norman Osborn blew her head off. This event was seen around the world. All super-humans with the power of flight took out what was left of the Skrull armada and Tony Stark, who had returned from Stark tower after donning an earlier version of his armor, found the ship containing the heroes and humans that had been replaced. It was later established that the Skrulls needed the original abductees alive because they were the original source material for the Skrulls genetic disguises. Among those present in the ship were Elektra, Spider-Woman, Dum Dum Dugan, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Henry Pym, several agents of both S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA, and Mockingbird (whose appearance suggested that she may have been the first hero replaced as this obviously occurred before her "death", but after she started her relationship with Hawkeye). Iron Man rejoined Thor and Captain America, only to find that the deep-seeded resentment from previous conflicts was still inherent; the blame for the Invasion was placed squarely upon the shoulders of Tony Stark. A Skrull revealed to Hulkling, Wiccan and Hawkeye that taking over the Earth was the last chance they had since all their planets had been destroyed. By order of the President, S.H.I.E.L.D. was shut down and anything included in S.H.I.E.L.D., including all Stark Tech, was replaced with the Thunderbolts Initiative. Meanwhile, the Skrull-Jarvis disappeared with Luke Cage and Jessica Jones' daughter, leaving Jessica desperate. At the end of the issue the Dark Illuminati group appeared, consisting of Norman Osborn, Doctor Doom, the female version of Loki, Emma Frost, Namor, and the Hood[54].
Comic Books with Secret Invasion Tie-Ins
- Avengers: The Initiative #14-19
- Black Panther (Vol. 4) #39-41
- Captain Britain and MI-13 #1-4
- Deadpool (Vol. 4) #1-3
- Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2) #4-6
- Incredible Hercules #117-120
- Iron Man (Vol. 4) #33-35
- Secret Invasion Saga #1
- Mighty Avengers #12-20
- Ms. Marvel (Vol. 2) #28-30
- New Avengers #40-47
- New Avengers Illuminati (Vol. 2) #1-4
- New Warriors (Vol. 4) #14-15
- Nova (Vol. 4) #16-18
- Punisher War Journal (Vol. 2) #24-25
- Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man #1-3
- Secret Invasion Aftermath: Beta Ray Bill - The Green of Eden #1
- Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1
- Secret Invasion Fantastic Four #1-3
- Secret Invasion: Front Line #1-5
- Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1-4
- Secret Invasion: Requiem #1
- Secret Invasion Runaways Young Avengers #1-3
- Secret Invasion: Thor #1-3
- Lua error in Module:StandardizedName at line 317: attempt to index field 'link' (a nil value).
- Secret Invasion: X-Men #1-4
- She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #31-33
- Skrulls! #1
- Thunderbolts #122-125
- X-Factor (Vol. 3) #33-34
Characteristics of the Skrulls
Who's a Skrull?
As a race, the Skrulls possessed the ability to shape shift. The super-Skrulls had additional powers granted by a genetic-engineering process that made them more powerful and gave them super-powers, usually based on those of select Earth heroes.
Skrull Impostors
These were the Skrulls that had been revealed as impostors. Most of them replaced their targets while a few had merely impersonated them. They were immune to detection by Wolverine's senses, Dr. Strange's magic, Spider-Man's Spider-sense, Professor X's telepathy or Iron Man's technology.
However, it was revealed that there were several methods of detecting a Skrull impostor aside from killing them. 3-D Man's visor could reveal a Skrull's true form, however only in person and not via video transmission. Also, the mutant known as Darwin, was capable of evolving the ability to detect Skrulls as he did when he revealed Longshot to be a Skrull. Mr. Fantastic also developed a weapon, most likely based on what he discovered with the impostor Dr. Pym, that fired a pulse forcing Skrulls to revert back to their Skrull form.
Elektra
Pagon's corpse
Siri was the first one to pose as Elektra before she was killed in battle with her. When Elektra was defeated by a Skrull using the powers of Colossus, a male Skrull named Pagon took on her form. Pagon was discovered by the New Avengers after Echo stabbed it in the chest with a sword.[55] Under the guise of Elektra, she had been using the Hand to take control of the Japanese underworld and had replaced the real Elektra shortly after she took over the Hand (in which she had been deep undercover until she teamed up with a recently de-brainwashed Wolverine to take down the Hand and Hydra). As she was an early infiltrator, she seemed to possess no superhuman ability other than Elektra's training. It was later revealed that she was the one who hired Electro to cause a breakout at the Raft.
Black Bolt
Illuminati Skrull
A Skrull impersonating Illuminati member and Inhuman Black Bolt was discovered during an Illuminati meeting while the group was discussing the discovery of the Elektra-Skrull.[7] This Super-Skrull, which had been acting as Black Bolt for an undetermined amount of time, revealed itself when it spoke his opinion in the meeting. It then attacked the other members of the Illuminati, and was killed by Namor when he forced it onto a jagged piece of rubble, impaling it.
The Illuminati-Skrull's costume resembled a collaboration of the Illuminati members' costumes.
The Illuminati-Skrull possessed the stretching ability of Mr. Fantastic, Black Bolt's sonic blasts, Namor's strength, and Professor X's telepathy, as well as some degree of magical ability, shown by his shattering of Dr. Strange's magical bindings. The Illuminati-Skrull's stretching ability was not equal to that of Mr. Fantastic, otherwise he would not have been impaled on the rubble, though it may be that he couldn’t use his abilities as a reflex, or all at once. He showed no abilities of Iron Man, who had only recently taken the Extremis virus into himself and, as was later revealed, the Skrulls were unaware.
It was revealed that Black Bolt was alive, but was still a prisoner of the Skrulls, who planned to use his destructive voice as a weapon.
Revolutionary
The Revolutionary-Skrull was a member of the 50-States Initiative team the Liberteens. He reported a mission to his superiors at Camp Hammond, where it was revealed that a part of the Skrulls' plot was to have an agent in each superhero team of the U.S. He was later killed by Gravity and Hope.[citation needed]
Cyclone
A Skrull impersonating the deceased Cyclone, Andre Gerard attacked a time-displaced Captain Marvel outside of the Louvre in one of the group of Skrulls that included the Cobalt Man-Skrull. It was killed by Captain Marvel with its remains decimated.[citation needed]
Cobalt Man
Cobalt Man, who had supposedly returned from the dead, revealed himself to be a Skrull impostor. He also revealed to Mar-Vell that his real name was Khn'nr and that he too was a Skrull. The Cobalt Man Skrull was killed by Captain Mar-Vell.
Mar-Vell/Khn'nr
Khn'nr, a Skrull brainwashed into believing he was the real, long deceased, Mar-Vell until it was exposed to a painting of Alexander the Great. Due to an error in the brainwashing process, he did not revert to his original Skrull persona and with the memories and personality of the real Mar-Vell still in place, Khn'nr betrayed his people.
Contessa de Fontaine 1
After going underground following the Secret War, Nick Fury reunited with his lover Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Months later, he grew suspicious, confronted her, and shot her, discovering she was a Skrull agent.
Contessa de Fontaine 2/Dum Dum Dugan
The Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fountaine Skrull, an old friend of both Dum Dum Dugan and Nick Fury, sought Dugan's help in finding Fury, then brutally stabbed him with claws similar to Wolverine's before assuming his form. This Skrull was presumably destroyed in a suicide bombing at S.W.O.R.D.'s Space Headquarters.
Ms. Marvel
A Skrull impersonator of Ms. Marvel was seen in the halls of Stark Tower while the real one was away. When the real Carol Danvers returned, the Skrull morphed into a type of "X-Skrull"—utilizing the powers of a number of X-Men—and attacked her. While they were fighting, the X-Skrull ordered a minor Skrull to attack and kill Ms. Marvel's lover, William Wagner, himself actually a Kree agent. This Skrull was defeated.
Daredevil
A Skrull impersonating Daredevil attacked and tried to replace New Avenger Echo. Equipped with all of Daredevil's abilities, but seemingly lacking knowledge of recent events in his life, Echo was able to see through the Skrull's disguise. After a long battle, Echo fended off the Skrull with the help of Wolverine. During the fight the Skrull also exhibited Wolverine's claws, Cyclops' optic blasts, Nightcrawler's teleportation, and flame abilities of any pyrokinetic member of the X-Men.
Edwin Jarvis
At an unspecified moment, Avengers and Tony Stark butler Edwin Jarvis was also replaced by a Skrull agent. He accessed Iron Man's files on the Sentry and devised a plan to defeat him, disabled every facility controlled by Stark technology, and shut down the Iron Man armor with a computer virus. The Jarvis Skrull was shown as one of the Skrulls in charge during numerous meetings prior to the large scale attack, and when a contention of Skrulls touched down on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier to ask for surrender it was Jarvis who spoke for the Skrull Empire.
Hank Pym/Criti Noll
Hank Pym was replaced by a Skrull agent, Super-Skrull Criti-Noll,[56] who had the powers of Pym, Black Panther, and Quicksilver as well as the phasing powers of Vision. He was called by Iron Man to examine Siri's corpse alongside Reed Richards. After Iron Man left to the Savage Land and Richards discovered how the Skrulls were capable of avoiding detection, Noll attacked him, leaving him unable to remain solid. After the Skrulls began their invasion of New York and defeated the Young Avengers, Criti Noll ordered the Initiative cadets to combat Skrulls with hopes that the Skrulls would eliminate them.
As Director of the Initiative, Pym was responsible for deciding the members of the states' teams and Noll had placed a Skrull agent in each Initiative Team.
Susan Storm/Lyja
After Susan Storm-Richards was neutralized, Lyja assumed the form of a tourist visiting the Baxter Building and then Susan's own form. She sent the upper floors of the Baxter Building, with the Thing, the Human Torch and both Richards' children (Franklin and Valeria) to the Negative Zone.
Spider-Man
Squish!
A Skrull Ship Survivor meant to impersonate Spider-Man, the Spider-Man Skrull was stepped on by a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the Savage Land.
Hawkeye
A Skrull Ship Survivor meant to impersonate Clint Barton. Killed by Clint Barton/Ronin in the Savage Land.
Spider-Woman/Queen Veranke
In order to oversee the Invasion from the front-lines, Queen Veranke herself had replaced Jessica Drew. She took Siri's body away from the New Avengers and gave it to Stark and plotted to send both Avengers teams to the Savage Land, greatly reducing the resistance against the invading Skrull Armada.
Kirby-Skrull
Following the aftermath of World War Hulk, Amadeus Cho was knocked out by Skrull agents and his coyote pup Kirby (who wasn't named at the time) was abducted and replaced by a Skrull agent. When it came to the realm of Kly'bn, The Kirby-Skrull assumed the form of Amadeus Cho and crashed the ship the God-Squad was on. The Kirby-Skrull had it's head bitten off by Atum.
Magnitude
A Skrull posed as Magnitude of the Hawaii Initiative team the Point Men. It was killed by Delroy Garrett Jr. after he discovered that the goggles given to him by Chuck Chandler, the former 3D Man, could detect Skrulls. This Skrull had the powers of Banshee, Havok, Polaris, and Sunfire.
Captain America/Pitt'o Nili
Pitt'o Nili assumed the form of Captain America and was brainwashed to believe himself to be the real Steve Rogers, captured at some point in the past and placed in a ship alongside other impostors for a suicide mission. Once on the Savage Land, he fought Ka-Zar, Shanna, Zabu and Spider-Man, only to be attacked by a group of Savage Land natives, who used poison darts to subdue him. The dart's poison caused him to revert to his true form, though he kept believing himself to be human. He was executed by Shanna for not revealing his true identity, as he had forgotten it altogether.
She-Thing
Delroy Garrett's goggles detected She-Thing as a Skrull. Before he could do anything about it, the Skrull Kill Krew killed her in one attack.
Blacksmith
Delroy's Garrett's goggles detected Blacksmith of the Desert Stars as a Skrull. He was killed by Delroy Garrett.
Ahura
Ahura was revealed to be replaced by a Skrull agent. The Skrull-Ahura was defeated by Maximus.
The real Ahura was still alive and was a prisoner of the Skrulls alongside his father.
Slug
Slug was revealed to be replaced by a Skrull agent. The Skrull-Slug was killed by Hood.
Equinox
Equinox was revealed to be replaced by a Skrull agent. Besides copying Iceman and Human Torch's powers, he also had the abilities of Spider-Man. The Skrull-Equinox was killed by Cloud 9.
Thor Girl
Delroy Garrett's goggles detected Thor Girl as a Skrull during her fight with Ultra Girl. With Gravity's help, Delroy used Thor Girl's own hammer to kill the Thor Girl-Skrull.
Razorback
Tigra, Ryder, and Cloud 9 fought a Skrull posing as Razorback.
Frog-Man
Hardball, Moonstomp, Prima Donna, and Voc fought a Skrull posing as Frog-Man.
Grasshopper
Gravity and Catwalk help the Great Lakes Avengers fought a Skrull posing as Grasshopper.
Conquistador
Komodo, Riot, and Command members Jennifer Kale and Wundarr the Aquarian fought a Skrull posing as Conquistador (who assumed a Skrull/Devil Dinosaur hybrid form).
Skyhawk
Dice and Jocasta encountered a Skrull posing as Skyhawk of Earth Force. A crowd of activists prevented them from getting close to the Skyhawk-Skrull.
Lobo
Delroy Garrett, Ant-Man III, and the Rangers fought a Skrull posing as Red Wolf's wolf companion Lobo (who assumed a Skrull/Wolf-like form). Delroy Garrett and Red Wolf restrained it enough for Shooting Star to shoot it.
Super-Skrull Variants
See also: List of Super-Skrull variants
Super-Skrulls were virtually undetectable; the Elektra-Skrull was not sensed by anyone with enhanced senses. Seemingly as a trade-off, these Skrulls reverted to their true form upon death, unlike certain past Skrulls (the Skrull that replaced Wolverine for a while, for example) who retained the appearance of the being they were impersonating.
Thor-Skrull
The Thor-Skrull appeared along with the X-Skrull after Namor slew the Illuminati-Skrull[7]. It was killed by an explosion set off by Iron Man.
The Thor-Skrull carried a hammer resembling Thor's hammer, Mjolnir.
X-Skrull
The X-Skrull appeared along with the Thor-Skrull after Namor slew the Illuminati-Skrull[7]. It was killed in an explosion set off by Iron Man.
The X-Skrull's costume resembled that of various X-Men members. For example, his boots also resembled those of Wolverine's older costumes (specifically the unique curvature of his brown costume and his second yellow and blue costume).
The X-Skrull had a prehensile tale similar to Nightcrawler's as well as metallic skin similar to that of Colossus.
It appeared that the X-Skrull was the new breed of the Skrulls and was the main Skrull type, as one named Rl'nnd recently attacked Ms. Marvel (After impersonating her).
A version of an X-Skrull that fought the New Warriors had the powers of the original X-Men.
Morbius-Skrull
One of the Skrulls attacking London possessed Michael Morbius' vampiric abilities.
Champions-Skrull
One of the Skrulls attacking London possessed the powers of those that made up the Champions.
Avengers-Skrull
One of the Skrulls attacking London had all the powers of the original Avengers.
Squadron Supreme-Skrull
One of the Skrulls attacking London possessed the powers of Hyperion and Whizzer.
Ani-Men-Skrull
One of the Skrulls attacking the New Warriors had the powers of the Ani-Men.
New Warriors-Skrull
One of the Skrulls attacking the New Warriors had the powers of the original founders of the New Warriors.
Luke Cage-Skinned Skrull
One of the Skrulls that attacked Wakanda not only had Luke Cage's skin, it also had Wolverine's claws, Iron Fist's "iron fist" move, Bullseye's aim, and the fighting styles of Captain America, Moon Knight, Shang-Chi, Daredevil, Elektra, and Black Panther.
Asgardian-Skrull
One of the Skrull's attacking Wakanda had Loki's powers and wielded technological copies of both Thor's Mjolnir and Beta Ray Bill's Stormbreaker.
Powerhouse-Skrull
One of the Skrulls attacking Wakanda had the combined strengths of Hulk, Juggernaut, and Thing.
Thunderbolts-Skrull
A Skrull that attacked Songbird not only had her powers, but also had the powers of Atlas.
Sinister Six-Skrull
A Skrull posing as Spider-Man attacked the DB in search of the real Spider-Man (who was in the Savage Land at the time) only to run afoul of Jackpot. In battle, the Skrull took on a composite form demonstrating the powers and the abilities of Lizard, Rhino, Electro, Hydro-Man, Sandman, and Venom. Its amalgam form was shown to have Rhino's head, Venom's body, and Lizard's tail.
Skrull Ship "Survivors"
Survivors
Survivors of the Skrull Ship crash claimed that they had "escaped" and had returned to Earth finally. However, many of them, simply by fact, couldn't be Skrull. Captain America was shot and killed, his body did not revert into Skrull-form had he been a Skrull. The Phoenix couldn't be a Skrull either as she had died and gone, not reverting to Skrull-form. Even if she were a Skrull, she couldn’t have duplicated the Phoenix Force. Also, Scarlet Witch transformed the entire planet on M-Day, which may have been a planned Skrull event, but it was illogical that the Skrull could create an individual with such power. If they could, Earth would already be theirs. It is possible the ship was a mix of captives and Skrull invaders to cause further strife within the human race for the upcoming invasion. At the end of Secret Invasion #2, it was revealed that definitely some of the crash survivors were in fact Skrulls while some however weren't. The Spider-Man that emerged from the ship was killed by a Tyrannosaurus and transformed back into Skrull form. The Hawkeye from the ship was also revealed to be a Skrull as it was killed by Ronin. Testing Mockingbird with confidential information, Ronin believed that Mockingbird was not a Skrull, but Wolverine and Luke Cage were wary to trust anyone. Pitt'o Nili, the Skrull that impersonated Captain America, was killed by Shanna. The Beast and Jean Grey from the ship were shot by Black Widow and reverted back to their Skrull forms. A weapon used by Mister Fantastic revealed that Mockingbird was a Skrull and she was killed by Ronin. The ship's Thor, Emma Frost, Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel, Jewel, and Susan Storm were also exposed as Skrulls and were slain by both the Mighty Avengers and the New Avengers.
Targets of the Skrulls
The Illuminati
The Skrulls were attacked by these heroes after the Kree-Skrull War reached Earth, and they were captured. After several tests, in which the Skrulls got their information, they escaped. The Skrulls replaced Black Bolt with a Skrull. They were after Tony Stark and Reed Richards because they were the most intelligent men on Earth, Charles Xavier because he was the leader of the mutant community, Namor because he was the leader of Atlantis, a powerful civilization, and they decided to leave Dr. Strange, believing he would collapse eventually. During the invasion, Reed Richards was taken out and Tony Stark was infected by a virus. However, Reed was freed by Agent Brand, and he made an invention that could reveal hidden Skrulls and took it to the Savage Land, revealing all of the 1970's heroes as Skrulls.
Nick Fury
The Skrulls were after Nick Fury because they believed he was the only leader who could make a plan to stop them. Fury appeared during the battle of New York with his new Howling Commandos, but left abruptly after retrieving the Initiative cadets and the Young Avengers.
Hulkling
Hulkling, or Dorrek VIII, was the rightful heir to the Skrull Empire, so Vernake ordered his execution to keep him from fulfilling his destiny. After he and the Young Avengers were defeated, the Skrulls prepared his execution but were stopped by Xavin.
Avengers
By skillfully using the Civil War to cause mistrust between the two teams, the Skrulls had kept the Avengers from allying when the world needed them most, the Skrulls also lured them to the Savage Land during the invasion to get rid of them using their 1970's heroes. This plan failed when Reed Richards arrived and revealed the 1970's heroes as Skrulls. The Avengers then decided to join forces.
The Sentry
Believing that the Sentry was too powerful and could stop their plans to take Earth, the Skrulls formulated a plan to make the Sentry believe that he caused the invasion and that the Void had returned, which would drive him insane and he would either go insane or leave Earth. They carried this out by using the 1970's Vision. He turned into the Void and convinced Bob that he had brought this on the world as punishment for forgetting him. Bob then left the planet, ridding the Skrulls of the Sentry. Their plan backfired, however, when the Void himself returned to take Bob's place.
The Initiative
By letting the Civil War pass, the Skrulls had to adjust their plan to include getting rid of the Initiative, the superhero army that had teams in every state. The leader of the Initiative, Hank Pym, had been replaced, and set about putting a Skrull in every state. The only thing left to worry about during the invasion were the Initiative cadets themselves. Pym threw them into battle with the Skrulls, knowing that the Skrulls could take care of them. Though they were defeated, Nick Fury arrived and rescued the cadets from the Skrulls before they could be killed.
Asgard
The return of Thor and Asgard forced the Skrulls to include Asgard in their plans. It was revealed that they had captured Beta Ray Bill and tortured him, keeping his hammer, Stormbreaker. Thor was forced to give Bill his hammer while he delivered a baby. After Thor left, the Skrulls bombarded Asgard, claiming that though they came to save the human race, they would not show the same restraint for the gods.
Britain
The Skrulls invaded Britain looking for the Siege Perilous, a portal to a magical world. They found it and took the mythical city of Avalon, gaining control of its magic. Their only opposition was Captain Britain and MI:13. After Captain Britain found the sword Excalibur, he used its magic to single-handedly end the Skrull attack on Britain.
Wakanda
The Skrulls sought Wakanda for its vibranium and planned to use it to make weapons against the heroes. However, they were shocked to learn that the Black Panther had already discovered their agents and they were prepared for an invasion. The Skrulls were then promptly defeated.
Attilan
It is unknown what the Skrulls wanted with Attilan, home of the Inhumans.
Xavin
Xavin, a Super-Skrull in training, belonged to the Runaways. It was learned that Veranke had ordered the deaths of all Skrulls loyal to the previous emperor, Dorrek VII. Xavin was one of those Skrulls, and was also wanted for saving another target, Hulkling.
Nova
Longtime enemies of the Skrull empire, the Nova Corp was limited to one known member. Being the Nova Prime, a member of the race the Skrulls were invading, and one of the primary sources of extraterrestrial information for the planet made Richard Rider a prime target for the Skrull Empire. Nova was ambushed by a squadron of Super Skrulls who lured him to a remote sector of the galaxy with a fake distress signal in the wake of Ultron's Phalanx conquest. He was eventually captured his old ally K'lrt who helped stage Rider's death.
Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.
An energy research and development program which the Skrulls attacked both to cripple Earth and to gain the curious form of Quantum energy the organization had been researching. When they attacked, the facility was being guarded by former New Warriors Darkhawk and Nova. However, the quantum energy source eventually revealed itself to be a ghostlike energy form of Quasar, who held off the Skrull attackers until Nova's Worldmind summoned backup.Notes
See Also
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Secret Invasion (Event)
- 8 minor appearance(s) of Secret Invasion (Event)
- 51 mention(s) of Secret Invasion (Event)
- 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Secret Invasion (Event)
- 19 image(s) of Secret Invasion (Event)
- 143 article(s) related to Secret Invasion (Event)
Links and References
References
- ↑ A + X #13
- ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #25
- ↑ Secret Invasion Prologue #1
- ↑ Mighty Avengers #12
- ↑ New Avengers #32
- ↑ Mighty Avengers #7
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 New Avengers Illuminati (Vol. 2) #5
- ↑ Captain Marvel (Vol. 6) #3
- ↑ Captain Marvel (Vol. 6) #4–5
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 2) #24
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 2) #25
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 2) #26
- ↑ New Avengers #39
- ↑ Captain Britain and MI:13 #1
- ↑ Incredible Hercules #117
- ↑ New Avengers #42
- ↑ Secret Invasion #3
- ↑ Secret Invasion Runaways Young Avengers #1
- ↑ Thunderbolts #122
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #33
- ↑ X-Factor (Vol. 3) #34
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Avengers: The Initiative #15
- ↑ Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust #1
- ↑ Secret Invasion #5
- ↑ Secret Invasion: X-Men #1
- ↑ Black Panther (Vol. 4) #38
- ↑ Black Panther (Vol. 4) #40
- ↑ Black Panther (Vol. 4) #41
- ↑ Secret Invasion Fantastic Four #3
- ↑ Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1
- ↑ Secret Invasion: Inhumans #2
- ↑ Secret Invasion: Inhumans #3
- ↑ Secret Invasion: Thor #1
- ↑ Secret Invasion: Thor #2
- ↑ Secret Invasion: Thor #3
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 Avengers: The Initiative #16
- ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #17
- ↑ Thunderbolts #123
- ↑ Thunderbolts #124
- ↑ New Warriors (Vol. 4) #14
- ↑ New Warriors (Vol. 4) #15
- ↑ Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man #1
- ↑ Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man #2
- ↑ Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man #3
- ↑ New Avengers #46
- ↑ Punisher War Journal #24
- ↑ Punisher War Journal #25
- ↑ Secret Invasion #6
- ↑ Nova (Vol. 4) #16
- ↑ She-Hulk #32
- ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #18
- ↑ Secret Invasion #7
- ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #19
- ↑ Secret Invasion #8
- ↑ New Avengers #31
- ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #14
- ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 4) #33