Secret Invasion

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Contents 1 Event Synopsis 2 Prelude to the Invasion 3 History 3.1 The Infiltration 3.2 The Invasion Begins... 3.3 The Invasion: Front Lines 3.4 Resistance 4 Characteristics 5 Skrull Imposters 5.1 Elektra 5.2 Black Bolt 5.3 Revolutionary 5.4 Cyclone 5.5 Cobalt Man 5.6 Mar-Vell/Khn'nr 5.7 Contessa de Fontaine 1 5.8 Contessa de Fontaine 2/Dum Dum Dugan 5.9 Ms. Marvel 5.10 Daredevil 5.11 Edwin Jarvis 5.12 Hank Pym/Criti Noll 5.13 Susan Storm/Lyja 5.14 Spider-Man 5.15 Hawkeye 5.16 Spider-Woman/Queen Veranke 5.17 Kirby-Skrull 5.18 Magnitude 5.19 Captain America/Pitt'o Nili 5.20 She-Thing 5.21 Blacksmith 5.22 Ahura 5.23 Slug 5.24 Equinox 5.25 Thor Girl 6 Super-Skrull Variants 6.1 Thor-Skrull 6.2 X-Skrull 6.3 Morbius-Skrull 6.4 Champions-Skrull 6.5 Avengers-Skrull 6.6 Squadron Supreme-Skrull 6.7 Spider-Skrull #2 7 Skrull Ship "Survivors" 8 Targets of the Skrulls 8.1 The Illuminati 8.2 Nick Fury 8.3 Hulkling 8.4 Avengers 8.5 The Sentry 8.6 The Initiative 8.7 Asgard 8.8 Britain 8.9 Wakanda 8.10 Attilan 8.11 Xavin 9 Notes 10 Trivia 11 See Also 12 Links and References

Event Synopsis

Secret Invasion is Marvel's major crossover event of the summer of 2008. It revolves around the infiltration of Earth's superhuman community by new genetically-altered super-Skrulls. Similar to the Super-Skrull Kl'rt, who mimics the abilities of the Fantastic Four, each of these super-Skrulls mimics the abilities of an individual or group.

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 has been viewed as prime territory by many alien cultures. One of these cultures is the Skrulls. However, due to the large number of super humans on Earth, invasion attempts, including those by Galactus in his attempts to consume Earth's energies, have been thwarted every time. The Skrulls, despite their inability to conquer the planet, still view 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 have found themselves pushed to the edge. Having slowly infiltrated the planet Earth, their time for vengeance has come.

After experimenting on the Illuminati, the Skrulls have replaced various superhumans 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 team. It is unknown if that has 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 have 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 is 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 asks Dugan about Nick Fury's whereabouts and if he has had contact with Fury. Dugan denies any knowledge and the Contessa stabs Dugan with claws similar to Wolverine's, revealing herself to be a Skrull. The Skrull then assumes Dugan's form and leaves him to die.^[1]

After the events of Secret War, Nick Fury went into hiding. He learns that Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was plotting to extract S.H.I.E.L.D. passcodes from him and kill him. Fury kills her first, after which she reverts to her true Skrull form. Fury comes to the realization that an alien invasion is taking place. He recruits 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.^[2].

Fury meanwhile assembles a new team, a team he believes to not have been targets of the Skrull insurgency. He begins 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 superhumans.

Ironically, he attempt to recruits Layla Miller, but she is expecting Agent Johnson. Miller claims that if she joins Johnson's/Fury's team, "it wouldn't work" but without her, they wouldn't fail. She wishes to stay with the mutants because they will need her. She states Johnson will live through this, but is going to lose a lot.

In the Savage Land, the Skrulls also plant a fake S.H.I.E.L.D. team that eventually engages the Avengers, but they successfully escape. Ka-zar and his people witness this, believing that there is something odd happening, but realizing that the Skrulls have infiltrated Earth, while also causing disgruntlement between the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Once Elektra is discovered however, it is far too late as the Skrulls have clearly crippled Earth's main defenses: the mutant population has been cut to only a few hundred, superhumans have 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; have all been infiltrated by Skrulls. Earth is ready for the taking...

History

The Infiltration

Some time the registration act, a battle broke out between the New Avengers and the Hand over the fate of Echo. During the fight, Echo is freed from the Hand's influence, and stabs the Hand's leader Elektra. Moments after her death, Elektra is revealed to be a Skrull. Tensions rise amongst the New Avengers, as no-one was able to detect Elektra's true nature, they surmise any one of them could also be a Skrull. Spider-Woman suggests that they hand over the Skrull corpse to Iron Man, but she is rebuked by Luke Cage, who believes Iron Man to be a Skrull as well. During a fight, Spider-Woman knocks out Wolverine and steals the corpse to bring to Iron Man.^[3]

Spider-Woman informs Tony Stark of what had happened in Japan, including the suspicion by his former teammates that he is a Skrull himself. A disturbed Stark accepts this, claims that his possession and DNA restructuring by Ultron verifies his authenticity, then demands to know where Nick Fury is, because he would know what to do. Jessica doesn't know. Stark agrees with Wolverine's opinion that this is just the beginning of an invasion, and convinces her to join the Mighty Avengers, even though she still absolutely refuses to register her abilities under the Superhuman Registration Act, since it will throw the Skrull off guard. Stark assumes that one of the Mighty Avengers is a Skrull sent to kill him, and with Spider-Woman on the team the Skrull will know that the Avengers are now aware of the Skrull threat. Spider-Woman convinces the others that she merely wanted to get back to doing something useful, and does not tell them what happened in Japan.^[4]

Iron Man is shocked by the Skrull corpse, realizing it to be a repercussion of the Illuminati's attack years prior. He reassembles the group for the first time since they splintered shortly before the Civil War, and they debate over whether this means an invasion has taken place. The group is caught off guard, however, when Black Bolt voices his opinion. It is revealed that he is in fact a Skrull as well, and fights the others over the body. This Skrull shows to not only have Black Bolt's powers, but to have the combined powers of all the members of the Illuminati. After Namor manages to kill him, the Illuminati are attacked by two more Skrulls:

• A Skrull that has Cyclops' optic blasts, Nightcrawler's prehensile tail, and Colossus' metallic skin.
• A Skrull that wields a technological copy of Thor's hammer Mjolnir.

These Skrulls are killed by Iron Man who detonates a small nuclear bomb with his armor. Namor reminds them that any of them could also be a Skrull, and that no one is to be trusted. The five then go their separate ways. ^[5]

The returning Captain Marvel battled the villains Cobalt Man and the original Cyclone, both supposedly deceased. He is then confronted by a group of Skrulls posing as Kree Soldiers, who attempt to kill him but are quickly defeated by Mar-Vell with the aid of Iron Man. He then goes on to confront Ms. Marvel over her identity, and then shares with her his experiences fighting both Cobalt Man and Cyclone. Shortly thereafter, Mar-Vell goes to interrogate Cobalt Man, who reveals himself to be a Skrull and states "You are not Captain Marvel." Meanwhile, Brother McNally, a member of the recently formed Church of Hala (established after the return of Captain Marvel), is revealed to be a Skrull as well.^[6] Iron Man is suspicious of Mar-Vell's true identity and sends men to Titan to investigate his grave. The Skrull impersonating Cobalt Man reveals to Captain Marvel that he is in fact a Skrull sleeper agent named Khn'nr created to pose as the real Captain Marvel. However, despite his status, Marvel decides to fight against the invading Skrulls.^[7]

Iron Man tells 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 states that he believes Ms. Marvel is actually a Skrull agent.^[8]. A Skrull named Rl'nnd is found by Ms. Marvel in what she believes is an A.I.M. lair and attacks her, only to escape. Afterward, Ms. Marvel finds the body of William Wagner, a man she had been dating. Agent Sum and the rest of Lightning Storm try to capture Ms. Marvel under the impression that she was the murderer.^[9] Eventually both Ms. Marvel and the Skrull impostor are captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. with Rl'nnd following in disguise. After Rl'nnd reveals himself, the Skrull Ms. Marvel tells Ms. Marvel that Wagner was a Kree. She also had disguised herself as him to convince Ms. Marvel he was dead, and that he is still alive.^[10]

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 knows it is just the beginning of an invasion.

Meanwhile, The Peak, S.W.O.R.D.'s headquarters, hosts a meeting between various world security agencies. As Commander Dugan arrives, a Skrull ship enters Earth's atmosphere and crashes in the Savage Land. Tony Stark gets called in by Agent Brand, leaving Reed and Hank to examine the Skrull.

Iron Man orders the Avengers to assemble, but only Spider-Woman is currently available. She contacts the Secret Avengers and tells them about the crashed Skrull ship.

The two Avenger teams meet up in the Savage Land near the crashed ship, each side ready to fight. As Luke Cage pries open the Skrull ship, S.W.O.R.D. is 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, decide to take "action".

Commander Dugan sets off an explosion that destroys S.W.O.R.D. headquarters, saying "He Loves You..." just before the blast. Jarvis uploads 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 calls the Helicarrier, but no one responds. Commander Hill has ordered everyone to abandon ship as the Helicarrier has lost all power and control, falling down toward a city.

The Raft, Ryker's Maximum-Maximum Security prison loses power, freeing every single villain that is being held there like Armadillo, Answer, Doctor Doom, Mandrill, and Shockwave. Similar events happen at The Cube, where the master Noh-Varr, Marvel Boy decides it is time to go. The Thunderbolts' headquarters, Thunderbolt Mountain, is simultaneously attacked by Mar-Vell himself.

Meanwhile at the Baxter Building, a Skrull disguised as a tourist changes into Susan Storm, enters the lab, and opens a gateway to the Negative Zone, again saying "He loves You...", and creating a massive vacuum WITHIN the Baxter Building that begins to engulf the building and the surroundings.

In the Savage Land, Iron Man slips into a seizure as the Skrull ship opens, 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 have made it back to Earth. "Wolverine," who has emerged from the ship, asks the gathered Avengers who exactly they are.

In orbit, Agent Brand and her team are safe in a stasis gel. She calls for help only to realize that a massive Skrull invasion fleet has just arrived on Earth's doorstep.

At the lab, Reed realizes how the Skrulls become undetectable and turns to tell Hank. Pym pulls out a weapon and shoots Richards which destabilizes him. As Hank transforms into a Skrull, he says "He Even Loves You."

Despite the urging of Ares that their confrontation is merely a distraction from the true battle, the assembled heroes from the ship and their counterparts on Earth begin fighting, both sides convinced that their opponents are the Skrulls. In the ensuing battle, the Spider-Man and Hawkeye from the ship are both killed and revert into Skrulls, while Mockingbird insists she is not an impostor, as she and the real Clint Barton make a tearful reunion. Mockingbird also states that the Captain America from the ship may, in fact, be the genuine article. While Spider-Woman disappears into the jungle and Earth's Ms. Marvel heads back to the States, Earth's Iron Man (still suffering from the Skrull virus) starts to build himself a new suit from the wreckage of a nearby lab. In Manhattan, meanwhile, the first wave of Super Skrull shock troops bearing the abilities of Earth's superhumans arrive, as witnessed by the Young Avengers and the Runaways.

The Invasion: Front Lines

Meanwhile, Britain is 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 missle head on, possibly sacrificing himself.

Not being able to combat the power of the Sentry the Skrulls decide the best way to deal with him is to make Reynolds have a psychotic episode. With Sentry believing what 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 won't do.

Athena gathers all Earth gods to prepare a "God Squad" to fight the Skrull Gods. Hercules, Snowbird, Tecumotzin, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, and Atum the God Eater are chosen as the team. Mikaboshi later asks Hercules if his sister's eyes have always been green. This could be hinting that Athena is a Skrull and is trying to get rid of the heavy hitters.

While all this happens, Spider-Man confronts Ka-Zar and Shanna, accusing them of being Skrulls. However, they are attacked by the ship's Captain America.

During the evacuation of Helicarrier the Jarvis Impersonator confronts Ms. Hill about surrendering.

In Times Square Young Avengers try their best to battle the invading forces. Vision realizing that communications are down suggests 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 arrive. This does not change the tide of the battle (after Stature and Proton lose consciousness and Vision gets destroyed) until Nick Fury and his new Howling Commandos arrive.

We soon see Spider-Woman attacking and knocking out Echo all but solidifying that Ms. Drew has been replaced. After the scuffle the impostor finds Stark and congratulated him calling him her lover Kr’Ali and confirming that she is the Skrull Queen.

During the battle in New York, the Runaways return from their trip to 1907 to land in the middle of the fight. Xavin, the team's Skrull, knocks out the team and appears to betray them. After realizing that Hulkling is going to be executed by the Skrulls, Xavin intervenes and saves him.

Delroy Garrett, the 3-D Man, arrives in Hawaii and is greeted by Point Men team members Star Sign and Paydirt. He encounters Devil-Slayer on the way to the base, who states that he has sensed portents of doom all day. When he meets the final team member Magnitude, the goggles Delroy obtained from the original 3-D Man allow him to identify Magnitude as a Skrull impostor. The Skrull attacks and severely wounds Star Sign and Paydirt, but Delroy kills the Skrull with a sword magically summoned by Devil-Slayer. Devil Slayer uses his Shadow Cloak to teleport Delroy to Camp Hammond, where he announced to everyone assembled that the Initiative has been infiltrated by Skrulls. Crusader (fearing that he will be exposed as a Skrull) uses the Freedom Ring. This causes 3-D Man's goggles to make him see everyone surrounding him as a Skrull. Crusader tells Delroy Garrett to take his leave. However, Delroy's Quinjet is effected by the same computer virus and it crashes in New Mexico.^[11]

Whilst all of this is happening, Reed Richards is revealed to being 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. manages to break through the exterior of another ship and make it into one of the central control rooms, seeing the images of the invasion, death, and destruction the Skrull's are making on Earth, as well as the torture of Mr. Fantastic. A Skrull guard and a youngster find and point a gun at her. The Sentry is shown 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 show promises of turning the tide; Ms. Marvel, after being heavily blasted by a group of Skrull soldiers ends up rising in the middle of Fury and his group in Times Square as they fight, shocked by the return of the ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. leader. As they quickly head into the fray, Yo-Yo, the team's mutant speedster, manages to rescue all the downed Young Avengers and Initiative cadets before further execution and casualties. Ms. Marvel proceeds to help, but soon after is shot by Fury, whom is unconvinced she is the real Carol Danvers. After being shot back into another street, the Skrull onlookers quickly overrun her, with the Skrull Henry Pym looking down at her with a smirk on his face. Fury then calls his men to retreat so that they can plan the next move.

Watching the battle via news broadcast on live television, the Hood decides 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 tries to get Maria Hill to surrender, but Maria refuses and says it is still her ship, but the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents turn into Skrulls. Back in the Savage Land, Spider-Woman continues to persuade Tony into believing he is a Skrull sleeper agent named Kl'Riki Dulu, and that she will find a way to turn him back to his original form and praise him as the greatest Skrull Warrior to ever live. Natasha Romanoff (the Black Widow) is revealed to be watching the conversation, and proceeds to enter and shoot Spider-Woman. She is temporarily distracted by the Beast and Phoenix heroes from the Skrull ship, who she in turn, opens fire on and seemingly kills. Spider-Woman has enough time to escape, and Natasha injects Tony with a dose of adrenaline to keep him going. She convinces him to continue the fight, despite the words of the Skrull Spider-Woman and the possibility of him being a sleeper. Wolverine enters (after being shot by Black Widow and being forced to confirm his true identity through the codeword, "Carrot Sticks") and the trio conclude that Tony has to rebuild the armor quick, and return to New York as soon as possible.

After Fury and his Commandos move on, the view shifts to innocent civilians evading Skrull forces in Central Park. As they are about to be killed by some Skrull soldiers, a blast of lightning strikes and kills one. As the civilians look through the light and destruction, the shadowy figure of what appears to be Thor in the New York City sky is seen. Another mysterious figure is shown watching the event from another location with a pair of binoculars; the figure then proceeds to move from his position, and suddenly the shield and costume of Captain America is seen.

Meanwhile, after the God Squad is forced to experience their worse fears by Nightmare, Snowbird and Hercules make love after she confesses to him that she doesn't want to be alone anymore. Later, it is discover that the Skrull in the group was Kirby the Coyote Pup (who had been with them since the end of World War Hulk) reveals itself and is quickly dispatched by Atum. The issue ends 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 settle in Portland, Oregon, enslaving the population, the Skrulls repeatedly announce the any attempt at resistance will be met with extreme force. Gorilla Man and M-11, disguised as slaves, attack the Skrulls, freaking Namora who has been captured. The trio capture the regional Skrull commander, taking only his head, bringing it to their underwater saucer where Bob Grayson and Venus are waiting. They extract military secrets from the severed head just as they are attacked. The odd team repel the attack, liberate Portland, set a course for Seattle to secure that city, then intending on securing the country before moving to Japan, but they question who they can trust.

Norman Osbourne talks the Skrull-Captain Marvel out of destroying the Thunderbolts, sending him away in anguish. He then declares to U.S. troops that they are at war.

Nick Fury arrives 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 remains rather disfigured/damaged. He awaits with his team for the Skrulls to announced their plans for Earth and they do. 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, Dr. Doom Kim Jong Il, and others, the Skrulls announce that they intend 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 is to assimilate...

Meanwhile in space, Agent Brand successfully infiltrates the Skrull ship holding Mr. Fantastic captive where she battles the Skrulls experimenting on them, either killing or disabling them and freeing Dr. Richards. Frustrated, she decompresses the ship, throwing every Skrull out into space. Richards panics, threatening Brand, demanding the location of his family, believing she to be a Skrull. He reveals that the Skrulls needed him alive to assist in the invasion. Richards tests Brand to prove she is not a Skrull as the ship they have commandeered comes under attack. Out of nowhere, Captain Marvel, with a new sense of purpose, engages and destroys a large portion of the Skrull fleet. Brand then takes the ship and Richards to the the Savage Land.

Back on the Shield Helicarrier, Director Hill revealing to "Jarvis" and the Skrull insurgents that she is using a life model decoy as Fury had suggested to her many months ago. The Skrulls kill the duplicate and Hill on a jetpack, open fir on the Skrulls and then self-destructs the carrier.

The various superheroes, Savage Land leaders, and Skrull (or not) impersonators clash again, about ready to fight. Each one declaring who they are or who they believe themselves to be. Emma Frost states she can detect who is a Skrull and who is not, accusing Spider-man of being an impostor. Susan Storm states she will keep everyone in place with a force field until all is settled. Richards fires into the center of the crowd of super heroes with an odd weapon. When tech dust and brightness recede, the Skrulls and humans are revealed, a battle ensues. Ronin discovers his Mockingbird is a Skrull, grabs one of Black Widow's guns, and kills her in anger. The impostors are surprised when their skin turns green and become 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, declares that every last Skrull must be killed.

The invasion reaches San Francisco, new home of the X-Men. Believing the city to be virtually defenseless except for local police, they launch a small scale attack to cause enough damage to instill fear. However, their ground teams encounter unexpected superhuman resistance: each and everyone of the X-men that are still active. The X-men launch a counter strike, defending civilians and evacuating badly attacked buildings. The Skrulls are shocked to find the X-men in San Francisco especially when they take over their command shuttle. As the X-men make a successful gain, the Skrulls launch their super soldiers into the city from an orbiting ship.

Trapped in the Negative Zone, Johnny Storm, The Thing, Franklin and Valerie Richards, and Lyja turn to the prison population to rebuild the destroyed portal generator in order to return to Earth and help repel the invasion. The one they turn to is Phineas Mason, known as the Tinkerer. He tells the Fantastic Four that he was forcefully taken even after retiring from supervillain work, revealing that the unregistered superhumans did not receive a fair trial. The Tinkerer then refuses to help, but after Franklin pleads with the man, Tinkerer complies at the child's desire to return to his family. They successfully return back to New York City, Lyja staying behind, to the battleground that is New York City...

On Attilan, Medusa received news that Black Bolt had been replaced by a Skrull. She tries to get Maximus to take action against the Skrulls, but refuses. When Ahura is revealed to be a Skrull, Maximus defeats it as the Skrulls begin their invasion upon Attilan.

At New Asgard, Thor had just rescued Beta Ray Bill (who is lacking his Stormbreaker) after he escaped from the Skrulls. With the featured Asgardians thinking Beta Ray Bill is a Skrull, they plot to attack while he is recuperating only to be stopped by Thor. Thor proved Beta Ray Bill isn't a Skrull by throwing Mjolnir at Beta Ray Bill who catches it, proving he's not a Skrull by being able to lift Mjolnir. Beta Ray Bill, healed by holding Mjolnir, joins Thor in his fight against the Skrulls as some of them attack Asgard.

3-D Man, sabotaged into a crash in the Quinjet after all Starktech went offline, is discovered by She-Thing, a member of the Initiative. 3-D Man instantly sees she is a Skrull, but before she can strike a blow, she is killed by the Skrull Kill Krew. The Krew recruits Delroy and approaches Arizona's Desert Stars, determining Blacksmith to be an impostor. After a brief battle, the Krew plans on going to Las Vegas.

Norman Osborn and his Thunderbolts launch a counter-attack on the force invading Washington DC. There, Songbird is attacked by a Super-Skrull combining the powers of Atlas and herself. Mac Gargan and Bullseye go rogue, Norman and Robbie Baldwin go crazy, and Moonstone betrays the team by shooting Swordman and bargains her allegiance to the Skrulls.

At the DB, Jackpot is slandered by Dexter Bennett. When she arrives at the DB, along with a PR supplied by the Initiative, she's attacked by a Super-Skrull in Spider-Man's form searching for the wall-crawler. After her refusal, the Skrull changes from Spider-Man form to a composite form showing the powers and the abilities of Lizard, Rhino, Electro, Hydro-Man, Sandman, and Venom. Jackpot battles her Skrull opponent long enough for Betty Brant, Dexter Bennett, Robbie Robertson and Vin Gonzales to escape the building. While Robbie drives, Jackpot battles the Super-Skrull on the roof of the car until she is attacked by Menace who kills one of of the invading Skrulls and considers Jackpot to be "Spider-Man's Girlfriend." Their fight takes him into the path of one of the Skrull's, with Menace's glider exploding on contact. Menace survives, though badly injured, and limps away from the scene.

While flying away, Noh-Varr comes across a damaged Skrull ship. He lands to check it out when Captain Marvel stumbles out. Before he dies, Captain Marvel begs Noh-Varr to stop the invasion but Noh-Varr says this isn't his world. Captain Marvel says it doesn't matter and he is here for a reason. He has learned so much from Earth's people and the Skrulls have no honor like the humans or the Kree. Elsewhere, the Skrulls restore the global communication systems and announce their plans. Using the restored systems, they explain the Skrull Invasion with the following talking points:

• They only want to improve Earth's culture and add to it, not kill anyone.
• They have 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 are part of their problems and they wish to change that.

Queen Veranke arrives at Camp Hammond while the Avengers head to New York only to find it burning. Down on the street a group of people want to welcome the Skrulls, but are caught between the battle between the Skrulls and Nick Fury and his troops. The Hood and his syndicate of criminals decide to finally help out. Thor makes his presence known and meets 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 assemble. Queen Veranke reveals who "He" is....God, and it's an all out war between the Skrulls and the superhumans of Earth.

The Skrulls move quickly to take Nova out of the equation before he can 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 launch an ambush. In the battle, one of the Super-Skrulls turns on his fellows, revealing himself to be Kl'rt, Nova's ally from the Annihilation War. Together, Nova and the original Super-Skrull defeat the attackers and travel by stargate directly to Earth where Nova intends to assist in repelling the invasion. Upon their arrival, however, Kl'rt attacks Rider declaring his loyalties to the Skrull Empire. His attack on Nova reveals to be a charade, as Kl'rt shields Nova from the view of the Skrull invasion fleet, allowing Rider to return to his home world undetected. However where his true loyalties lies remains to be seen as while he helps Nova, he later targeted his own daughter Jazinda and fight She-Hulk at the same time. Yet while he defeated both women, he found he couldn't kill Jazinda and left.

Despite the vast number of the superhuman involved in the fight, briefly reunited under a single purpose again, the battle is still locked in a stand-still, until Uatu appears, signaling that an event of cosmic relevance is unfolding, and the resolution of the obstacles is near. As Tony Stark is forced to retire because of damages received on his rebuilt armor, Jessica Jones and Noh-Varr take his place on the battlefield. The presence of Noh-Varr, claiming his victory in name of Mar-Vell and the Kree, is enough to give the assembled heroes back their resolve. Clint Barton, using the bow and the trick arrows of the wounded Kate Bishop, slays several Super-Skrulls before hitting a clear shot on Queen Veranke.

Criti Noll gets 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, watches from Avengers Tower as the energy washes over hero, villain and Skrull alike, commenting to the child that it doesn't matter if the Skrulls win or lose, so long as "God's" will is done.

Characteristics

As a race, the Skrulls possess the ability to shape shift. The super-Skrulls have additional powers granted by a genetic-engineering process that makes them more powerful and gives them super-powers, usually based on those of select Earth heroes.

Skrull Imposters

These are the Skrulls that have been revealed as impostors. Most of them replaced their targets while a few have merely impersonated them. They are 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 has been revealed that there are several methods of detecting a Skrull impostor aside from killing them. 3-D Man's visor can reveal a Skrull's true form, however only in person and not via video transmission. Also, the mutant known as Darwin, is capable of evolving the ability to detect Skrulls as he did when he revealed Longshot to be a Skrull. Mr. Fantastic has also developed a weapon, most likely based on what he discovered with the impostor Dr. Pym, that fires a pulse forcing Skrulls to revert back to their Skrull form.

Elektra

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.^[12] Under the guise of Elektra, she had been using the Hand to take control of the Japanese underworld and had replaced the real Elektra before Wolverine was brainwashed by 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

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.^[13] This Super-Skrull, which has 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'd only recently taken the Extremis virus into himself and, as was later revealed, the Skrulls were unaware.

It was revealed that Black Bolt is alive, but is still a prisoner of the Skrulls, who plan to use his destructive voice as a weapon.

Revolutionary

The Revolutionary-Skrull is a member of the 50-States Initiative team the Liberteens. He reports a mission to his superiors at Camp Hammond, where it is revealed that a part of the Skrulls' plot is to have an agent in each superhero team of the U.S.

Cyclone

A Skrull impersonating the deceased Cyclone, Andre Gerard attacks 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 it's remains decimated.

Cobalt Man

Cobalt Man, who had supposedly returned from the dead, revealed himself to be a Skrull imposter. 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 betrays his people.

Contessa de Fontaine 1

After going underground following the Secret War, Nick Fury reunites with his lover Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Months later, he grows suspicious, confronts her, and shoots 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, seeks Dugan's help in finding Fury, then brutally stabs 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 has been 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,^[14] who has 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 is responsible for deciding the members of the states teams and Noll has 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

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 has 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 Skrulls 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 has 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 can do anything about it, the Skrull Kill Krew kills 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 is still alive and is 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. 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 uses Thor Girl's own hammer to kill the Thor Girl-Skrull.

Super-Skrull Variants

See also: List of Super-Skrull variants

Super-Skrulls are virtually undetectable; the Elektra-Skrull was not sensed by anyone with enhanced senses. Seemingly as a trade-off, these Skrulls revert 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^[15]. 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^[16]. 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 appears that the X-Skrulls is the new breed of the Skrulls and is the main Skrull type, as one named Rl'nnd recently attacked Ms. Marvel (After impersonating her).

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.

Spider-Skrull #2

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.

Skrull Ship "Survivors"

Survivors of the Skrull Ship crash claim that they have "escaped" and have returned to Earth finally. However, many of them, simply by fact, cannot BE Skrull. Captain America was shot and died, his body did not revert into Skrull-form had he been a Skrull. The Phoenix cannot be a Skrull either as she has 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 is illogical that the Skrull could create an individual with such power. If they could, Earth would already be theirs. It is possible the ship is 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 is revealed that definitely some of the crash survivors are in fact Skrulls while some however are not. The Spider-Man that emerged from the ship was killed by a Tyrannosaurus and transformed back into Skrull form. The Hawkeye from the ship is also revealed to be a Skrull as it was killed by Ronin. Testing Mockingbird with confidential information, Ronin believes that Mockingbird is NOT a Skrull, but Wolverine and Luke Cage are 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 are shot by Black Widow and revert back to their Skrull forms. A weapon used by Mister Fantastic reveals that Mockingbird is a Skrull and she is killed by Ronin. The ship's Thor, Emma Frost, Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel, Jewel, and Susan Storm are also exposed as Skrulls and are 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 are after Tony Stark and Reed Richards because they are the most intelligent men on Earth, Charles Xavier because he is the leader of the mutant community, Namor because he is 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 can reveal hidden Skrulls and took it to the Savage Land, revealing all of the 1970's heroes as Skrulls.

Nick Fury

The Skrulls are after Nick Fury because they believe he is the only leader who can 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, is 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 have kept the Avengers from allying when the world needs 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 have now 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 will not show the same restraint for the gods.

Britain

The Skrulls invaded Britain looking for the Siege Perilous, a portal to a magical world. The found it and took the mythical city of Avalon, gaining control of it's magic. Their only opposition is Captain Britain and MI:13. After Captain Britain found the sword Excalibur, he used it's magic to single-handedly end the Skrull attack on Britain.

Wakanda

The Skrulls seek Wakanda for it's vibranium and plan 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 are now locked in battle with the Wakandans.

Attilan

It is unknown what the Skrulls want with Attilan, home of the Inhumans.

Xavin

Xavin, a Super-Skrull in training, belongs to the Runaways. It is learned that Veranke has ordered the deaths of all Skrulls loyal to the previous empereor, Dorrek VII. Xavin is one of those Skrulls, and is also wanted for saving another target, Hulkling.

Notes

• No special notes.
  

Trivia

• No trivia.

See Also

• Pages referring to the "Secret Invasion" event
• Event Gallery: Secret Invasion

Links and References

• None.