The Skrulls are taking center-stage in the newest Disney+ series, Secret Invasion, and you’re probably wondering, are Skrulls allies or foes in the MCU? Well, luckily for you, this article has the answer to the question in mind. So read on to find out!
WARNING: This article contains MINOR SPOILERS for Secret Invasion, be sure to READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
What Are Skrulls, Anyway ?
The Skrulls were first introduced in 2019’s Captain Marvel movie as the ‘enemies’ of the titular hero. When Carol Danvers joined the Kree, she sides with the team that trained her to become the hero she is today.
Joining the Kree meant she had to rid the Earth of Skrulls to stop them from taking over the planet for their own selfish gains.
These green-colored creatures are a ‘technologically advanced race of reptilian humanoids, native to the destroyed planet, Skrullos' (Marvel Wiki).
Their shapeshifting abilities are what allow them to secretly invade any other planet they aim to take over, as described by Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) in the Captain Marvel film.
Are Skrulls Canonically Good?
Let’s face it – the act of deceiving people through the use of shapeshifting doesn’t sound like what a good person would do, especially since aliens have long been portrayed as the enemy of human race.
However, when Carol Danvers was taught that Skrulls were the enemy against the Kree, she eventually learned in the Captain Marvel movie how she was tricked by the Kree.
As it turned out, not all Skrulls were villains. Most of them were refugees seeking a new home after the Kree destroyed their home planet, Skrullos.
Of course, since not everybody knew the whole true story, this led to misunderstandings and stereotypes amongst their species.
In Secret Invasion’s first episode, while Talos was fighting with one of the Skrulls following the terrorism attacks, he specifically told Nick Fury to not interrupt his fight.
Talos was trying to render his fellow unconscious, enough to get their answers, but evidently not to kill them.
However, seeing as Fury has had his patience run out, he shot the Skrull dead. Although he extended his hand to Talos so they could continue their mission, Talos looked him in the eyes and said, “I said no.”
He was grieving the death of one of his fellows as Nick Fury fled the scene.
Secret Invasion Episode 2 reveals a drastic turn of events. Talos had actually known at a longer time that millions of Skrulls had already infiltrated the planet, assuming their own identity.
But do not mistake this as a form of retaliation against Fury in spite of their allegiance. In fact, Talos admitted that the reason behind keeping their identities hidden is because of his hope of humans and Skrulls co-existing with one another in one planet.
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Are Skrulls Canonically Bad?
Carol Danvers was initially led to believe by the Kree that Skrulls are terrorists whose only goal was to infiltrate any planet they deem worthy of occupying.
The Skrulls are shapeshifters, which could easily deceive people so long as they scan the DNA of the people they wish to impersonate.
In Secret Invasion, the Skrulls are revealed to be planning to conquer earth and make the planet their own home.
But the Skrulls in this one are not the same creatures we met in Captain Marvel and the ones revealed to be in disguise of Nick Fury and Maria Hill in the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
In the Marvel Comics, however, Skrulls are completely bad news. The MCU just happened to have divided the good ones from the bad ones.
But in the comics, they are described as a ‘villainous race of imperialistic aliens’ who have regularly been featured and portrayed as antagonists in Fantastic Four and in their prolonged war with the Kree.
Secret Invasion Episode 2 shows Gravik's side of things in the infiltration of earth plan. As it turned out, he, too, surrendered himself to help Fury in exchange of wanting a better home for the Skrulls by residing on earth.
However, his speech scrapes the surface of what Fury had failed to keep on his end of the deal:
"Fury promised us all. We were there, we all heard it. 'You keep your word, I'll keep mine.' But that never happened. No. Fury abandoned us. the humans cast us aside. I promise you. Earth will be our home. Because I will take it. I think it's a war. And unlike the last war each one of us around this table fought in, I'm not gonna lose this one. Humans are doomed to self-destruction. Long before we arrived on this planet, they were destined to consume themselves."
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So, Are Skrulls Good or Bad?
Well, in the MCU, the Captain Marvel film revealed the true story behind the Skrull-Kree war. When Carol had long been led to believe that Skrulls are terrorists, Talos explained that his people had always been on the wrong side of an unjust war.
As it turned out, the Kree had been hunting the Skrulls down for resisting the Kree rule, leading the Kree to destroy their planet, Skrullos.
Considering that in the Captain Marvel film, the Skrulls were the misunderstood species in the MCU, Secret Invasion has a lot more to unpack in saving the reputation of their race.
Now that G’iah (the daughter of Talos and Seron) has become a part of the ‘new’ Skrullos, which aims to terrorize humans on Earth to achieve their goal, Talos attempted to get her to his side again, seeing as she was his family.
Although we do see her meet up with her father after she had learned her mother passed away, the plan failed, leading Talos, Nick Fury, and Maria Hill to believe they had been led into a trap.
Pretty much similar to how humans work, the Skrulls are divided and entitled to their own side of things. While Talos is in favor of Skrulls working together with humans so long as they co-exist with one another, Gravik wants to take Earth for their own species to inhabit.
As more episodes begin to unravel Secret Invasion, we’ll have to keep an eye out on where this leads the species of the Skrulls in the MCU.
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