Skrulls

Skrulls
Alias(es)	Lizards Ugly Bastards Insidious Shapeshifters
Home Planet	Skrullos (formerly)
Appearances
Movie	Captain Marvel Spider-Man: Far From Home
TV Series	WandaVision (unreleased)
Comic	Guardians of the Galaxy Prequel Infinite Comic (mentioned)

"You are just one victim of the Skrull Expansion that has threatened our civilization for centuries. Impostors who silently infiltrate, then take over our planets."

―Supreme Intelligence to Carol Danvers^[src]

The Skrulls are a technologically advanced race of reptilian humanoids from the destroyed planet Skrullos. They are notable for their shapeshifting abilities, which allow them to replicate other lifeforms seamlessly, and infiltrate planets without suspicion.

History

Kree-Skrull War

The Skrulls lived on their home planet Skrullos. However, they eventually came into conflict with the Kree who defeated them in a genocidal war and destroyed their homeworld. The thousands of Skrull survivors used deception and their shapeshifting abilities to seek refuge in various planets by blending in with their population. The Kree Empire began a propaganda campaign that depicted the Skrulls as evil invaders who infiltrate planets with the intention to conquer them in order to hunt down any Skrull refugees they could find.

One faction of the Skrulls led by Talos found temporary refuge aboard a Kree cruiser hidden in Earth's orbit, being sheltered by Mar-Vell, who researched a way to build a Light-Speed Engine, hoping to provide transport to the faction away from the Kree's war. However, Mar-Vell was assassinated before she could complete her work, resulting in the refugees residing in her spaceship for six years.

Anti-Skrull propaganda spread around Hala

In the 1990s, several Skrulls were killed by Starforce during the Ambush on Torfa. Talos kidnapped Vers and tried to read her mind with a memory probe. Vers escaped, killing several Skrulls and causing her and the surviving Skrulls to land on Earth. The Skrulls took human forms so they could find the Light-Speed Engine in the hopes of finding a new homeworld beyond the Kree's reach.

Eventually, Talos and Norex formed an alliance with Vers and Nick Fury once it became clear that the Skrulls were, in fact, victims of Kree oppression. In the Battle at Mar-Vell's Laboratory, Vers, Fury and the Skrull warriors recovered many Skrull refugees and civilians, including Soren and Talos' daughter, whom Mar-Vell had helped hide. After defeating the Accusers fleet, Danvers decided to help the Skrulls find a new homeworld and look for Skrull survivors scattered throughout the galaxy.

Skrull Detectors

Because the Skrulls were known for their shapeshifting abilities, making them difficult to recognize if they were working undercover, it led to the development of Skrull detector technology. In 2013, one black market trader on Conjunction was selling Skrull detectors for ten units apiece.

Activities on Earth

On vacation in 2024, Nick Fury chose to reside on a Skrull flagship which had several Skrull occupants. While away on the ship, Fury placed Talos and Soren on Earth in the absence of him and Maria Hill. They kept in touch with Fury, informing him of the progress in the Elemental attacks across the planet.

Characteristic Traits

The Skrulls are a humanoid species with distinguishing features that include green skin and pointed-back ears. Unlike all species that are native to Earth, Skrulls are not carbon-based lifeforms.

Skrulls are also able to shapeshift into other beings, right down to the individual's DNA. They are all physiologically capable of this, but accurate shapeshifting requires practice and talent. Skrulls are even able to replicate the recent memories of the person that they are copying.

It appears that the Skrulls possess a vast level of longevity - Talos has not visibly aged in 30 years.

Notable Skrulls

Talos

Norex †

Skrull Spy

Coulson Impostor Skrull †

Soren

Talos' Daughter

Trivia

• In the comics, the Skrulls are a race of alien shapeshifters bent on invading Earth as an advantage in their prolonged war with the Kree. The Skrulls managed to replace many of Earth's heroes with Skrull operatives in what was called the Secret Invasion.
• The Skrull alphabet from the comics appears in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode Eye-Spy, as well as in Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Behind the Scenes

• The film rights to the Skrulls were co-owned by 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios, similar to the rights of the Watchers, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch. However, certain Skrulls and Watchers characters were owned completely by Fox such as Kl'rt the original Super-Skrull and Uatu, making impossible for Marvel Studios to use them until 20th Century Fox acquisition.
• The Skrulls were believed to be featured in The Avengers as Loki's army, however, Joss Whedon debunked this, saying that "The Skrulls — they can shape change. That's a whole thing. I've already got Loki. He's got magic. Once you got magic along with your Iron Man and your Black Widow — it's a real juggling act." Despite this, the Skrulls were featured in some of the films' toy line merchandise.
• James Gunn considered implementing the Skrulls either in Guardians of the Galaxy or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but it did not work out.
• Kevin Feige stated that: "the Skrulls are as diverse and as multilayered as any other intelligent life form. Certainly like humanity itself. And we happen to see good ones. I think there are probably better ones out there as well, like there are with any fully realized characters. But yes, the idea certainly was to subvert the expectation of the pointy-eared green aliens. And Ben Mendelsohn, even subverting people’s assumption that Ben Mendelsohn will be playing the villain."
• Chris McKenna mentioned in an interview with Variety that the Skrulls were initially further involved in an early iteration of story for Spider-Man: Far From Home, but director Jon Watts dropped the idea to not add too many plot twists. Among other things, it would have involved Mysterio actually being a Skrull.

External Links

• Skrulls on Marvel Database
• Skrulls on Wikipedia