Is Secret Invasion’s super Skrull teasing the Fantastic Four?

Maybe the most exciting part of this week’s episode of Secret InvasionGravik, the rebellious Skrull General’s evil plan is revealed in full. It was already known that he wanted to lead a Skrull invasion of Earth. But now, we can see exactly what he plans to do with his science machine.

[Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode 3, “Betrayed.”]

Image: Marvel Studios

If you’re familiar with Skrull methods from Marvel comics or video games, you probably saw this coming. It’s a simple equation: How do you make the Skrulls scarier? Give ’em superpowers.

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and others created the Super-Skrull as a Marvel Comics villain in 1963. This character possessed the combined powers of the Skrulls and Fantastic Four (shape-shifting abilities, stretching skins, pyrokinesis capabilities, and invisibility). In modern Marvel Comics the idea has expanded to include Skrull spy agents who have been engineered to look like superheroes. So, if you hear someone referring to “super Skrulls,” they mean Skrulls that have copied the powers of Earth’s heroes. If they’re talking about “the Super-Skrull,” they mean the specific Skrull villain with the powers of the Fantastic Four.

Gravik’s plan is to introduce the MCU’s first super Skrulls right when Earth’s nations are occupied in a global war, and secure Skrull power over humanity on the planet. And it seems pretty likely he’ll be giving himself the superpower treatment first.

Gravik, the Super Skrull.

Look, we don’t know for sure. But what’s Nick Fury going to do about an army of super Skrulls, call in the Avengers? This is the whole point. Secret Invasion is that the Avengers don’t really exist right now.

You can also read about it here One can find out more about this by clicking here.Skrulls with superpowers? This seems to be more of a game. Secret Invasion’s big bad appears to be the Super-Skrull.

Is Secret Invasion the stepping stone to Fantastic Four?

Image: Marvel Studios

Nominally, sorta? Marvel Studios has finally begun production on a Fantastic Four movie set in the MCU after years of licensing issues. It’s expected to begin principle photography this coming January and hit theaters in May 2025 (though the studio has not yet released any casting info). Seeding Fantastic Four villains — like the Super-Skrull and Namor the Submariner — in current films is exactly the kind of connective tissue that made the Marvel Cinematic Universe such an object of interest for over a decade. Ooh, that’s from this other comic, that’s going to be important later!

But it’s also the kind of connective tissue that the setting has sorely lacked since the close of Avengers: Endgame. It’s not that the MCU hasn’t You can try it — Secret InvasionThe threads are picked up by the fabric itself Infinity WarYou can also find out more about the following: Spider-Man Far from Home. But it’s telling that those threads were left dangling in films significantly in the rearview mirror. In a narrative sense, the connection exists. But the emotional weight and urgency are missing. That’s how a lot MCU is these days.

The year 2022 will be the first time that we can expect to see a new generation of upcoming leaders. Ms. Marvel revealed that the MCU’s Kamala Khan is a mutant. But it’s been nearly a year and the studio hasn’t even An X-Men Project. A movie based on the X-Men could be released in 2026. By the time Fantastic Four rolls around — that is, if Marvel Studios doesn’t opt to delay it further in reaction to Hollywood strikes or cost reduction — Secret Invasion’s Super-Skrull will be two years in the rearview.

What is it? Secret InvasionLaying track Fantastic Four? It feels odd to say “Hopefully not.” Hopefully, the production just made the obvious choice about how to raise the stakes for the MCU’s Skrulls. After all, what’s scarier than a Skrull that can look and talk like anyone? Skrulls who look and speak like anyone. You can also find out more about the following:Perfectly replicate your superpowers

It doesn’t solve Marvel Studios’ modern issues with spreading connective tissue rice-paper thin, but it just goes to show what we’ve known for years: The Fantastic Four’s villains are built better. And there’s no shame in using them.