- "This is war. My hands are filthy from it, too. But we’re here now. You found my family, and this is just the beginning."
- ―Talos to Captain Marvel[src]
Talos is a Skrull General who had collaborated with Mar-Vell in order to save the remnants of his own people from the Kree Empire. As the war between the Skrulls and Kree progressed, Talos managed to extract information about the Light-Speed Engine from Carol Danvers and arrived on Planet C-53 to retrieve it. On C-53, Talos had confronted Vers and Nick Fury, while disguised as Keller, however, Talos' deception was soon exposed. Eventually, Talos helped Vers to realize that the Kree had been manipulating her as she had finally agreed to aid him, fighting the Starforce to find a new home for the surviving Skrulls, as well as his own family.
In 2024, Talos and Soren were asked by Fury to travel to Earth and impersonate himself and Maria Hill, respectively, while Fury took a leave of absence and went on vacation on his flagship. In doing so, Talos took the command of Fury's tactical team and came into conflict with the rising global threat of the Elementals, and bargained an alliance with Quentin Beck and Spider-Man, before realizing Beck's fraudulence.
Biography
Kree-Skrull War
Fugitives from the Kree
- "Your people are terrorists that kill innocents. I saw the ruins on Torfa."
"Ruins that the Accusers are responsible for. My people lived as refugees on Torfa. Homeless, ever since we resisted Kree rule, and they destroyed our planet." - ―Captain Marvel and Talos[src]
Talos, a Skrull General, had been leading the losing side of the Kree-Skrull War ever since the destruction of their home planet Skrullos at the hands of the Kree Empire and the Accusers. By 1989, Talos brokered an alliance with rebel Kree scientist Mar-Vell, who offered Talos, his family and several other Skrull survivors refuge on her laboratory in the orbit of Planet C-53, while she would engineer a Light-Speed Engine to allow the Skrulls to escape Kree opposition.
Unfortunately, as a result of Mar-Vell's assassination executed by Starforce commander Yon-Rogg, this put an indefinite hiatus into her research, and set back their opposition in the war. By 1995, a remnant of the Skrulls led by Talos, who had since abandoned Mar-Vell's laboratory and thus leaving his family behind for their safety, had sought refuge on Torfa.[1]
Ambushing Starforce
The Skrulls, led by Talos, had organized an ambush on Torfa with the objective of capturing Vers. On Torfa, Talos had successfully kidnapped Soh-Larr, a Kree spy, to find the coordinates for the laboratory, which had contained the Tesseract.
They lured Starforce members into the planet by impersonating Soh-Larr and using a code that only he would have known. The Starforce operatives quickly realized that the Torfan natives were Skrulls led by Talos. As most of the Skrulls were made quick work of by the Starforce, 'Soh-Larr' lured Vers to him, and exclaimed his verification code to prove that he wasn't a Skrull. Despite this, Talos revealed himself and abducted her to the Skrull flagship.[1]
Unlocking Memories
- "Dig deeper. Lawson is our link to that lightspeed engine, and everything we're after."
- ―Talos[src]
The Skrulls hooked Vers to a machine that allows them to visualize scenes of her memories, from where they are able to uncover the alias that Mar-Vell used in planet C-53. Once Vers got back her consciousness, she escaped from the machine and promptly started attacking every single Skrull on site. Talos tried to stall her on her way to the Escape Pod, though his efforts were futile.[1]
Planet C-53
Crashing in Los Angeles
The four pods carrying Talos, Norex, and two other Skrulls crash-landed in the Pacific Ocean, on the coast of California, and later emerged at a beach during a sun-sprawling morning in Los Angeles. While familiarizing themselves with their surroundings, Talos gave orders to the three Skrulls under his command to locate Vers. To blend in with the rest of the beach, Talos and the Skrulls had simmed several human surfers.[1]
Infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D.
During the Chase of the Skrulls, which resulted in the death of one of his fellow subordinates at the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Talos confronted and assumed the guise of Keller, in order to gain the trust of his situational enemies.
'Keller' arrived at the autopsy of the deceased Skrull alongside Nick Fury, pretending to be as confused over the strange alien as Fury was to avoid any suspicion. Still motivated to capture Vers, he instructed Fury to track her down and keep him updated, before sending him off. Once he was alone, 'Keller' began mourning the death of his fellow Skrull and vowed to complete their mission, before leaving as well.
Later, Talos had been contacted by Fury via his Pager, who told him that Vers was with him at the Joint USAFA Facility in Nevada, where she was attempting find some more information regarding Doctor Wendy Lawson. 'Keller' informed Fury that he and several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were coming to apprehend the threat. Arriving at the facility, Fury became suspicious that his superior was a Skrull impostor when 'Keller' referred to Fury by his first name when they boarded an elevator to hunt down Vers.[1]
Ambush at Joint USAFA Facility
During the elevator ride down, Fury attempted to test 'Keller' to confirm his suspicions by asking him if he remembered a strategy during a fictitious mission that he supposedly did with the real Keller in Havana.
Talos, unable to determine if the mission was real or not since Skrulls can only remember recent memories from the people they replicate, said he remembered the fake mission, confirming Fury's suspicion. Talos soon realized that his cover was blown and attempted to disarm and kill Fury, only to be stunned by Vers with a photon blast. While 'Keller' was incapacitated, Fury and Vers escaped to the facility's hangar. After 'Keller' sent several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents after the fugitives, the agents opened fire when the Quadjet became airborne, and fled the facility.
Frustrated by losing Vers and Fury, 'Keller' took a moment, when he was interrupted by an agent who informed him about their process of locating the Quadjet, which Talos was confused on how they weren't able to do it quicker. He was then handed a file from Whitcher on a crash that occurred six years ago that matched Vers' memories. 'Keller' then asked if there was a record of the crash, which Whitcher informed him of a Black box that they had, which Talos later instructed Norex to retrieve. Talos then looked at the files and discovered Maria Rambeau and her address, leading to him to head to the location.[1]
Negotiating an Agreement
Talos and Norex tracked Vers to the Rambeau Residence, after she found out the truth about her real origins, about her being from Earth and previous Air Force pilot for Mar-Vell. At first Carol, Maria and Fury believed him to be there for evil intentions, Talos was able to convince them that he was there to negation a peaceful deal and everybody calmed down.
Once the negotiation is successful, restoring Carol Danvers' memories back to normal, Talos alongside Maria Rambeau and Nick Fury began to find Mar-Vell's hidden Laboratory ship at space nearby Earth, while Norex sacrificed his life as a decoy to diverse a distraction to lure the Starforce, by disguising as Danvers. With the distraction is a success, at cost of Norex's life, Talos and his allies finally arrived at Mar-Vell’s hidden lab ship, reuniting with his family and the fellow surviving Skrulls hidden by Mar-Vell once more.[1]
Battle at Mar-Vell's Laboratory
Unfortunately, the Starforce already called the reinforcements, including the Accusers, with Talos and his people, alongside Fury, Rambeau and Goose are held hostage, and being put in other cells respectively, while Danvers being put into having her memories wiped again. Thanks to Davers' fully awakened power which manage to resist the Supreme Intelligence's control, Talos manage to dispose one of the Starforce guards and disguise as one of them, once the cell he and his people were in are turned off by the results of Danvers' battle against the majorities of Starforce.
While disguised as a Kree foot soldier, Talos and his people reunited with Fury, Rambeau, and Goose, who too freed by the efforts of the latter. Although there are still few remaining Starforce guards remains. Once Talos begin to rescue his allies and was injured while risking his life-saving Fury from one of the remaining Starforce guards. Talos, while recovering, remaining the ship where he and his allies escaping, as Mar-Vell's ship is about to be destroyed. Upon landing back to the desert at Earth when once the majority of Kree army finally retreats because of Danvers' undefeatable power.[1]
Finding a New Home
Once the battle was over, Talos and his family sought temporary refuge at the Rambeau Residence, joining them for dinner. Afterwards, Captain Marvel left to search the galaxy for a habitable planet for the Skrulls to live. Using the Light-Speed Engine, Talos and his family followed suit.[1]
Elemental Attacks
Skirmish in Mexico
In 2024, Talos and his wife Soren were called to Earth to impersonate Nick Fury and Maria Hill, while the latter two were away. Fury required Talos to act as himself to watch over Spider-Man, and ensure Parker received an item Tony Stark left for him. After the two arrived on Earth, and keeping with their aliases, they began an investigation in the city of Ixtenco, Mexico. There they encountered Quentin Beck, as he arrived to battle Sandman.[2]
Recruiting Spider-Man
- "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Stark said you wouldn't get that because it's not a Star Wars reference."
- ―Talos to Spider-Man[src]
In summer 2024, 'Nick Fury' had Happy Hogan tell Spider-Man he would call, but was left to speed dial by the high schooler. Repeatedly failing to contact Parker, 'Fury' awaited him in his room at the Hotel DeMatteis. Tranquilizing Ned Leeds, he tried to explain the situation but was repeatedly interrupted by Parker's classmates at the door which forced them to relocate to his hideout. At the base, 'Fury' introduced Parker to Quentin Beck, who explained the situation. 'Fury' then requested Parker to help in their mission to destroy the Elementals, with the Fire Elemental projected to appear in Prague. Since Parker wanted to continue his vacation, 'Fury' hijacked the travel itinerary of his European tour to change the Paris stop to Prague to "respect" Parker's wishes while ensuring the mission succeeds.
At this time, despite Talos being a shapeshifting alien, he did not bat an eye to Beck's story given recent events in the universe; however, to sell his masquerade as Fury, he had to doubt Beck's character to an extent. Additionally, per orders to watch Parker, Talos kept at least one of Fury's people watching him.[2]
Prague Attack
Talos rerouted Peter Parker's travel group to a rest stop in Austria where his envoy, the Seamstress, would deliver Parker a stealth suit. However, he later learned the incident of Parker's negligence calling for an inadvertent drone strike on his tour bus endangering his friends. The night of Parker's arrival in Prague, he berated the young hero for his negligence in the endangerment his friends. Once Parker left, Quentin Beck followed momentarily.
As Parker and his class were seating in the State Opera, 'Fury' called Parker through the latter's earpiece to determine if he was in position. As Parker was attempting to talk his way out of the opera, 'Fury' urged him to move. Once Parker was set in the predicted coordinates of the Molten Man that arose from the ground and began the assault. During the battle where Beck and Parker were struggling to suppress the creature, Talos and Soren in their respective forms raced with their assault teams to reach the duo. They arrived at the climax of the battle, where just as the Molten Man was gaining too much mass, Beck seemingly sacrificed himself to destroy it and emerged victoriously.
Maintaining his persona, 'Fury' approached Beck to propose a new super team and to rendezvous in Berlin for talks. While Beck agrees candidly, he approached Parker to reiterate that, but while the young hero was gifted, he needed to find focus in how he used himself. 'Fury' then departed with his team for clean-up and mission report activity, while Beck invited Parker to a pub.[2]
Battle of London
- "Beck! What's your four?"
"It's something else! Something more powerful! It's storing energy from the Earth's core!"
"See, now that's some bullshit." - ―Talos and Mysterio to Soren[src]
It was the sudden, and unexpected resurgence of Elemental activity that made Talos call in Quentin Beck to scout the city to report what happened. After Beck departed, 'Nick Fury' received a call from Happy Hogan with a coded message, alerting him of Beck's deception. As the Tempest Elemental attacked Tower Bridge, Beck's report of the matter finally convinced Talos that Beck was lying.
Readying for a potential assassination, Soren, under the disguise of Maria Hill, had set up on the roof with a rocket launcher. Upon Spider-Man's victory at exposing the illusion of the drones, including the cloaked drone aimed on Talos at the time, he asked if she had him with Soren replying she did, shooting the drone at once and destroying it.
Following Spider-Man's victory, 'Fury' wanted a debrief which was denied by Happy Hogan, as Parker wanted to enjoy what was left of his vacation. 'Fury' chuckled at the response, demanding Hogan ensure some report of how the battle occurred, or there would be consequences.[2]
Rendezvous with Nick Fury
- "Come off it, how was I supposed to know that the whole thing was fake? I mean, that was all very, very convincing. The performances, the illusion, that costume, the craftsmanship in that. I mean, this is just embarrassing for a shapeshifter."
- ―Talos to Soren[src]
Following the fight between Beck and Parker, Talos realized just how far he had been deceived. Despite justifying Beck's quality of deception, Soren still compelled him to report to Nick Fury: he completed his mission as Fury to protect Earth in his absence, but failed in his part to protect Parker when Beck leaked doctored footage to The Daily Bugle that exposed Parker's identity and incriminating him for the London event.
As Talos called Nick Fury, he confirmed that he had returned custody of E.D.I.T.H. and Tony Stark's Glasses to Peter Parker, but he was hesitant to go into full detail about his blunders with Beck. Nevertheless, he still successfully conveyed the message of requiring Fury's official return from the Skrull ship he was on. While delivering a long message, Fury cut the recording short.[2][3]
Personality
- "You know, you should always be polite to your neighbors. You never know when you might need to borrow some sugar."
- ―Talos[src]
Despite appearing to be a fearsome military leader on the surface, Talos is an honorable, kind, and caring leader who wants the best for the Skrull population and his family, whose safety he puts before everything else. He respects diplomacy, often choosing to solve problems through negotiations rather than conflict, as he called out Carol Danvers for being too quick to attack during his visit to the Rambeau Residence. That being said, Talos has an intense hatred towards the Kree and won't hesitate to resort to violence when facing them or those who he thinks are their allies, as was seen by how he also attempted to kill Nick Fury when the latter was working with Vers and discovered that he was impersonating the S.H.I.E.L.D. director.
Talos is a pragmatic person willing to forgive others and accept his mistakes, as he decided to seek help from Danvers and Fury upon discovering that they were being misled by the Kree into thinking that the Skrulls were the enemy and wanted to clear the misunderstanding despite knowing that Danvers could eradicate any of his soldiers with ease. Talos was even willing to confront Fury and Danvers in his true form without any shapeshifting as a sign of trust and helped Danvers rediscover her real identity. He also apologized to Fury for their previous encounter.
Once his trust is earned, Talos is a very loyal ally and respects the wishes of those he works with; after learning of Fury's preference to only be called "Fury", he used this as a code word to let him know he had disguised himself as one of the Kree attempting to take him and the Skrulls hostage. Talos also felt sympathetic towards Danvers after learning that she had been manipulated by the Kree into becoming their weapon, he also did not hold any grudge against her for her previous hostility either.
Talos also has a tendency to use humor as a way to defuse tense situations, but due to being unaccustomed to human socialization, he can sometimes come off as awkward when asked about his shapeshifting abilities. Talos is afraid of Flerkens, he often warned Nick Fury to stay away from Goose, which eventually became an ultimate price of his regrets, his left eye.
Talos and Fury mantained a friendship over the years, to the point that Fury allowed Talos to impersonate him in order to investigate the Elementals and track down Spider-Man. During that time Talos knew Fury's mannerims enough that he could convincingly trick everyone around him into thinking that he was the real Fury, however some aspects of his impersonation were off, most notably Talos' trustworthy nature made him believe Mysterio's lies rather easily whereas it is implied that the real Fury would've seen through Beck's deception.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- "Can you turn into anything you want?"
"Well, I have to see it."
"Can you all do it?"
"Physiologically, yeah, but it takes practice, and dare I say it, talent." - ―Maria Rambeau and Talos[src]
Skrull Physiology: Unlike the many species on Earth, Talos like his people are not carbon-based life and possess a wide variety of superhuman abilities compared to humans.
- Shapeshifting: Like the rest of his species, Talos has the ability to shapeshift into sentient humanoid beings, perfectly matching their height, voice, unique physical characteristics, and even copying their clothing- by way of Skrull co-morphing apparel. However, he has to visually perceive the person who is going to be imitated, and Talos has admitted that this is more of a skill requiring practice, and perhaps some remarkable talent to use.
- Memory Replication: Anyone that he replicates, Talos is able to mimic the exact memories of that person, allowing Talos to perfectly imitate the person. However, he can only replicate the person's short-term memory and most recent thoughts, making him unable to use information from years ago but recent memory like the last few days. This was how Nick Fury deduced that he was not Keller, as Talos referred to him by his first name "Nick", which not even his mother does.
- Superhuman Strength: Talos has considerable levels of superhuman strength, was able to overpower Nick Fury easily and toss him around. However, his strength is average when compared to others of his race.
- Superhuman Durability: The skin, bones, muscles, are denser and tougher than a human being, being able to survive a direct Photon Blast from Carol Danvers at approximate point blank range.
- Superhuman Agility: Talos was able to fight with Carol Danvers and Nick Fury, with both agility and superior reflexes.
Abilities
This section requires expansion |
- Expert Combatant: Talos is highly trained in unarmed combat, capable of fighting expert combatants such as Carol Danvers, Yon-Rogg, and Nick Fury.
- Expert Leader: To be added
- Expert Marksman: Talos is an accomplished marksman, capable of using a blaster to takedown three Starforce guards with ease. He also precisely shot Ned Leeds in the neck with a tranquilizer dart.
- Expert Tactician: To be added
- Voice impersonation: Talos is able to accurately replicate the voice of whoever he is shapeshifting into as a means to further sell the impersonation.
Equipment
Weapons
- Skrull Blaster: Talos carried this as a sidearm, standard to all military personnel of the Skrull race.
- Skrull Electroshock Baton: During the Ambush on Torfa, after Vers uncovered Talos' disguise as Soh-Larr, Talos used this baton to electrocute her, and take her into Skrull custody.
- SIG Sauer P226: The SIG Sauer P226 was the standard pistol issued to S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel in the 1990s. As such, Keller carried this on his sidearm, and when Talos knocked him out, he took possession of the weapon and used it while hunting down Carol Danvers, and engaged in a duel with Nick Fury over it.
- Kree Blaster: Talos carried this as a sidearm while under the disguise as a Kree foot soldier.
- Crosman 2240 CO2 Pistol: Talos used this tranquilizer gun to shoot Ned Leeds in the neck during his first meeting with Peter Parker.
Other Equipment
- Tony Stark's Glasses: Talos received this pair of glasses, which housed the E.D.I.T.H. AI, from Fury, who in turn had received them from Tony Stark in the event of his death. The Skrull kept these glasses with him until he gave them to Parker while steering a boat in the middle of Venice.
Vehicles
- Skrulls' Ship: To be added
- Space Pod: To be added
- Quadjet: To be added
- Mar-Vell's Laboratory: To be added
- Talos' Command Ship: To be added
- Audi e-tron SUV: To be added
Facilities
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Field Office: To be added
- Nick Fury's Hideout: To be added
- The Shard: To be added
Relationships
FamilyAllies
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Enemies
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Trivia
- In the comics, Talos was a Skrull who didn't possess the shapeshifting abilities of his species due to a genetic defect, but became respected as a fearsome warrior and gained the nickname of Talos the Untamed.
Behind the Scenes
- Ben Mendelsohn portrays Talos' true Skrull form with his own Australian accent, while he portrays Talos disguised as Keller with an American accent inspired by politician Donald Rumsfeld.[4]
- Ben Mendelsohn was uncredited for his appearance in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
- Kieran Gallagher and Colin Follenweider were stunt doubles for Ben Mendelsohn in the role of Talos.
- James Henderson was a stand-in for Ben Mendelsohn in the role of Talos.
- According to Marvel Studios' Senior Visual Development Artist Jackson Sze, the reason Talos wears a trenchcoat is because his look would eventually inspire Nick Fury to wear his own iconic trenchcoat seen in other installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.[5]
References
External Links
- Talos on Marvel Database
- Talos on Wikipedia