Skrulls. They’ve secretly invaded the Marvel Universe, and some of their number include our greatest heroes. In fact, one of their agents is (this is really incredible) none other (the Marvel Universe will never be the same) than (insert more hype building) HANK PYM!

Don’t tell me: half of you don’t know who he is and the other half doesn’t really care.

In fact, I’m not even sure what’s the difference.

Skrulls did show up in the first issue of Secret Invasion looking like Sue Storm and Captain Marvel, but it seems less likely they are in fact much-bayooed replacements, but rather, on-the-spot impersonations used for specific plot devices.

The real interesting news is the discovery of several superheroes in a Skrull vessel all claiming to be the genuine article. But just what are the odds these heroes are Skrull red herrings as well? Below is a breakdown of chances the recently unvieled heroes are the real deal.

Captain America

Legitimacy: YEAH RIGHT!!! Marvel is going to go through all the trouble of setting up Cap’s death to undo it with the standard Skrull impersonator. If they did, they would lose out some major face. Sorry - Steve Rogers died on those court house steps, and while his resurrection may be in the cards eventually, it won’t be a simple quick fix with a Skrull!

Odds: 1 million to 1.

Spider-Man

Legitimacy: Although many comic book fans might like to forget One More Day, I don’t think this is the way. Plus, Marvel would have to recon at least some of Spidey’s time with the New Avengers to make this stretch, and I’m not sure comic book fans are willing to trade Spider-Man on the Avengers for quick and easy answer to One More Day. I’m guessing this is one is a Skrull. Still, Marvel could argue Spidey was kidnapped AFTER One More Day, making it sometime recently.

Odds: 1,000 to 1

Jewel

Legitimacy: No, they didn’t dig up pop-turned-country singer on the Skrull space ship. Jewel refers to Jessica Jones’ previous Avenger identity before striking out on her own to be a successful private investigator. As Skrull impersonations go, this one actually has some substance - Luke Cage and Jessica Jones’ baby has green eyes, hinting that it may be of partial Skrull parentage (I personally like the theory it’s a midget Skrull imposter). The real question though is is Brian Michael Bendis willing to sacrifice all of “Alias” - the comic (no relation to the TV show) that built Bendis’ Marvel career - to force this story. Fans have long identified with Jones - making her a Skrull might not be the best of ideas, but with this one, she somewhat stays in the spotlight as Jewel.

Odds: 100 to 1

Beast (Blue Ape Form)

Legitimacy: Can Beast be a Skrull impostor? It’s certainly possible - he considered taking the mutant cure in Astonishing and made some pretty odd alliances pre-Messiah Complex. But Beast is a very visible character in the X-Mythos, so the changes of him being gone all this time raise some really hairy continuity questions - no pun intended. Plus, why did the Skrulls choose the Blue Cat form to show up in? “Don’t mind me guys - I look all different, but I’m really Beast . . . really!”

Odds: 50 to 1

Phoenix

Legitimacy: This is one character overdue for a resurrection. I always thought Marvel let Scott off too easy by killing her off, and the X-Universe has certainly been a more volatile and unwelcoming place without her. Considering how many times Jean has brushed with death, her return is all but assured, and Dark Phoenix appears to be one of the enemies appearing in the X-Men’s future according to recent promos. On the downside, Jean has already appeared in a limited capacity in some of the Phoenix Wishsong mini-series, so there’s a small amount of continuity flushing required. Still, I never understood how Magneto killed her in the first place, so this is one plot twist I wouldn’t mind seeing.

Odds: 10 to 1

Mockingbird

Legitimacy: Hawkeye’s dead ex-girlfriend, there’s nothing really keeping this former West Coast Avengers from being a Skrull . . . or a human. She’s been dead for quite some time, so I can’t really see there being too many objections to her resurrection . . . except one. In one issue of the Thunderbolts, I remember Hawkeye going down to Hell to rescue Mockingbird, who had died a violent death. But Hawkeye was never able to save her, apparently because his “ride” - Damion Hellstorm - substituted the rescue of his dead lover Hellcat for Mockingbird. I suppose Marvel could make the case Mockingbird was never really dead, ergo she never really was in Hell . . . but is it really worth it for such an obvious Black Canary rip-off? Then again, if Marvel has taught us one thing, it’s never underestimate the value of second-tier characters.

Odds: 5 to 1

Wolverine

Legitimacy: Well, he’s actually been replaced with a Skrull before, when Apocalypse was using the real deal as Death in his infamous Four Horseman. And he’s been kidnapped and brainwashed by the Hand, who also did the same thing to Elektra - who also happens to be a Skrull. And to top it all off, aside from his presence in New Avengers, I can’t see any story in the last couple of years fans are clamoring to claim in Wolvie’s defense, so yeah, maybe he’s a Skrull. In other words, wrapping this up for those confused, there’s a possibility the Wolverine on the ship is in fact the real Wolverine, making his New Avengers counterpart the Skrull. Confused yet?

Odds: 3 to 1.

Wolverine is the prime suspect for Skrull-age?! How’d that happen? Well, as you can see, at the very least Secret Invasion is revving up - and getting interesting.

If you liked that, try...

1. The Skrull List
2. Comic Rundown: Will the Crossovers Never End?!
3. Comic Rundown: Nova Still Rocks and Captain Marvel’s a Skrull
4. Comic Rundown: Marriage is A Knife to the Throat
5. Comic Rundown: Grant Morrison Writes Everything

2 Comments »

1. 
   notyourhero
   April 3, 2008 at 9:42 pm

   in the Secret Invasion #1 Bendis article he says that the story has been building up for several years and that eater eggs and other clues have been on any book that he had his fat fingers on…i have just recently read the whole Pulse series and I am pretty confident that Luke Cage and Jessica’s baby is a skrull (if were going to use glowing green eyes as the tell)not because someone switched the baby out…instead for the reason that on the cover of the isssue of the Pulse number 11 Jessica has green glowing eyes.

   as for the less than obvious ones…i was pretty surprised by a few that were revealed and i am looking forward to seeing how this pans out.

   [Reply]

2. 
   Richard Pulfer
   April 3, 2008 at 11:31 pm

   I think there are a lot of easter eggs scattered throughout Marvel in general. For example, in the last issue of the Inhuman mini Silent War, the villain Maximus imprisoned Black Bolt. So how could he show up in a subsequent issue of Illuminati unless BLAMO!! SKRULL! Plus, if you look on that same cover, BB is completely in shadow, visually marking him with hiding something. It’s little visual things like that which make you want to read every book in Marvel just to get all the clue.

   But beyond that, Bendis is really walking a fine line. He could really seriously screw up a lot of characters if he does this wrong. He’s done great so far, but realistically there’s 1 way to this this right and 1 million ways to blow this up. Let’s up he picks the prior.

   [Reply]

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