Secret Invasion

Secret Invasion
Variant cover art to Secret Invasion #1. Art by Steve McNiven.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Publication date	(The Infiltration) November 2007 - April 2008 (Main Story) April 2008 - November 2008
No. of issues	8 plus tie-ins
Main character(s)	New Avengers Mighty Avengers Nick Fury The Skrulls
Creative team
Written by	Brian Michael Bendis
Artist(s)	Leinil Yu
Inker(s)	Mark Morales
Colorist(s)	Laura Martin

Secret Invasion is a comic book limited series and crossover that began in April 2008, published by Marvel Comics.

It focuses on an alien invasion by shapeshifters known as the Skrulls, who have been secretly posing as various characters in the Marvel Universe.

Production and marketing

Though it is unknown how the Skrull invasion began and for how long it has been going on, writer Brian Michael Bendis revealed in interviews that the motivation is the destruction of the Skrull Empire in Annihilation; the Skrulls believe that Planet Earth "is religiously and rightfully theirs". Bendis said there have been hints of the Skrull plot placed as far back as New Avengers #1, when an unknown figure hired Electro to break into the superhuman prison known as the Raft, and 2004's Secret War, which culminated in Nick Fury being removed as head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and going underground for many years.

Starting in November 2007 and leading up to April when the event starts, several ongoing comics and mini-series will be branded as tie-ins to the main Secret Invasion storyline, bearing the branding: "Secret Invasion: The Infiltration". These tie-ins include New Avengers: Illuminati #5, Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1, Mighty Avengers #7, New Avengers #38-39, Captain Marvel #4 -5 and Ms. Marvel #25-27.

The primary story of the Secret Invasion will be told in an eight-issue limited series which will pull all parties involved together, while the current titles of New Avengers and Mighty Avengers will focus on the past three years' worth of events and how those have been affected by the Skrull invasion, including the return of Nick Fury to the Marvel Universe. Other books such as the Fantastic Four will not tie in although their characters will still appear in the Secret Invasion books; the main story will mostly stick to Avengers-related books. Major impact from Secret Invasion has already been felt in Avengers: The Initiative, but whether this impact will relate to current events or reflect past events which will be revealed in this book is unknown.

When asked about the plot, Bendis stated that the series would not deal with heroes trying to work out how the Invasion had started, but show the reader the details; he stated that "if there's a character on the team who's a Skrull, we will rewind from when they got on that team, or from before they got on that team, so when they infiltrated, how they became who they became and the effects of their actions from their "point of view" is shown. He also stated that the story has been brewing since 2004's Avengers Disassembled, and that the limited series will be that story's final end, "and it’s a hell of an end".

"Who Do You Trust" images on Marvel.com show Skrulls posing as Iron Man, Wolverine, Hawkeye, Hercules, Phoenix, Spider-Woman, Luke Cage, Storm, Invisible Woman, Doctor Doom, Yellowjacket, Nick Fury, Spider-Man and Captain America.

In addition the Marvel website features two currently Online-Exclusive and free Comics for the event - Secret Invasion Prologue, a seven page comic that reveals the replacement of a previously unknown Skrull agent, and Secret Invasion: Home Invasion, a special storyline started via a Myspace video blog and featuring a young teenager named Kinsey Walden and her fears regarding her brother acting strangely, and continuing on Marvel.com with one new comic page by writer Ivan Brandon and artist Nick Postic every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Plot synopsis

Kree-Skrull War aftermath

Shortly after the Kree-Skrull War, in which Earth's heroes were involved, a small group of heroes banded together to secretly confront the Skrull emperor. Informally referenced as the "Illuminati", this group represented the various factions of the Marvel universe and consisted of Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Namor, Black Bolt, Professor Charles Xavier, and Doctor Strange. They attacked the capital of the empire, and then threatened the emperor that another attack by the Skrulls would lead to war. However, they were captured, separated, and then experimented upon. The Skrulls analyzed their captives (physiology, genetics, technology, etc) and gleaned information from their behavior, until Iron Man was able to lead an escape. The Illuminati recognized that another attack is inevitable, while the Skrull Empire began to make use of the data they compiled. The research resulted in the creation of clones indistinguishable from the originals and the capacity of duplicating almost any superhuman power.

The heir to the Skrull throne, Princess Veranke, claimed that a prophecy foretold the annihilation of their planet and the need to find a new planet called Earth. King Dorrek exiled her to a prison world for inciting religious extremism. After the destruction of the Skrull Throneworld by Galactus and the Annihilation Wave, Veranke became queen by lineage, which drew the remainder of the Skrull Empire under her rule. Having heard the report of Siri, who had taken the place of Elektra, Veranke decided to spearhead an invasion of Earth with the information of the human species obtained from the Illuminati. The plan was to disguise themselves as important people in society and weaken the Earth's defenses from within, thus leaving the planet vulnerable for a military assault. Veranke has decided that she herself would pose as one of the agents on Earth. When she asked who she could replace to do the most damage, Spider-Woman was recommended.

The Infiltration

After the events of Secret War, Nick Fury goes into hiding. He learns that Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is 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 realizes that an alien invasion is taking place. He recruits Jessica Drew 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. Afterwards, he recruits former S.H.I.E.L.D. Daisy Johnson in order to gather a group of super powered teenagers whose existence is known only to Fury himself.

A group of Skrulls disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, led by a new Skrull agent disguised as de Fontaine, begin mining vibranium in the Savage Land, using natives as slaves. They are discovered by Ka-Zar and Shanna, who organize a guerrilla force to oppose the impending Skrull invasion. The S.H.I.E.L.D Skrulls, save for the de Fontaine Skrull, are all destroyed by a blast from the Helicarrier.

A Skrull agent posing as Edwin Jarvis infiltrates Avengers Tower sometime after the formation of the New Avengers. The Skrull agent appearing as Jarvis asks Iron Man for access to files on the Sentry under the cover of hoping to avoid another situation like the incident with the Scarlet Witch during the events of Avengers Disassembled. The Jarvis imposter then meets with other undercover Skrull agents, including the Skrull Emperess who has assumed an unknown human female (possibly Spider-Woman), and uses the information to formulate a plan to have a Skrull agent impersonate the Void and cause the Sentry to experience a complete mental collapse. The Skrulls also decide to let the events of the Hulk's return to Earth and the war over superhuman registration escalate on their own.

Dum Dum Dugan also meets 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 another Skrull imposter. The Skrull then assumes Dugan's form and leaves him to die.

Some time afterwards, a battle breaks 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 the crash landing of the ship they are traveling on due to the Ultron Virus occurring at the time, Spider-Woman knocks out Wolverine, the only other conscious team member following impact, and steals the corpse to bring to Iron Man.

Spider-Woman informs Tony Stark of what has happened in Japan, including the suspicion by his former team-mates 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 wants to get back to doing something useful, and does not tell them what happened in Japan.

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 not only has Black Bolt's powers, but 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.

The returning Captain Marvel battles 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 confronts Ms. Marvel over her identity, and then shares with her his experiences fighting both Cobalt Man and Cyclone. Shortly thereafter, Mar-Vell interrogates 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. 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.

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. 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. Afterwards, 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 is the murderer. 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 has disguised herself as him to convince Ms. Marvel he was dead, and that he is still alive. However, Ms. Marvel and Operation Lightning Storm try to stop the truck holding William, only to discover it is a holographic projector. When Carol confronts the Skrull agent, the latter says the words "He loves you", and causes a massive explosion that destroys Operation Lightning Storm's Minicarrier.

A Skrull posing as Daredevil attempts to infiltrate the Sanctum Sanctorum only for Echo to see through his disguise since the Skrulls' are unaware of Matt Murdock's current activity. In battle, the Daredevil-Skrull is shown to exhibit Wolverine's claws and healing factor, Cyclops' optic blasts, Nightcrawler's teleportation abilities, and the flame abilities of the Human Torch or Firestar. After a long battle, Echo drives away the Skrull with Wolverine's help.

The Invasion

Iron Man reveals the corpse of the Elektra impostor to Henry Pym and Reed Richards (who pretends he has never seen the corpse before) and leaves the two to study the body. Then he assembles the Mighty Avengers to investigate the wreck of a Skrull spaceship in the Savage Land, unaware of the fact that the New Avengers are heading for there as well after being tipped off by Spider-Woman. As Luke Cage opens the downed ship, a chain reaction of events takes place. S.W.O.R.D.'s headquarters in space is destroyed by the Skrull now posing as Dum Dum Dugan, while in Avengers Tower, a Skrull disguised as Edwin Jarvis inserts a computer virus into Stark Tower's mainframe that causes every computer system controlled by Iron Man to crash, including Iron Man's armor and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, which is evacuated as it starts to lose power. This virus also releases super-powered prisoners from the Raft and the Cube as Noh-Varr leaves amid the chaos. In addition, Khn'nr attacks Thunderbolts Mountain for unknown reasons.

A Skrull agent poses as Reed Richards and neutralizes Susan Storm whilst she is at a conference,. Afterwards, the Skrull known as Lyja takes on Susan's form and sends the Baxter Building into the Negative Zone. As Ben Grimm attempts to protect the Richards children from Negative Zone insects, Lyja attacks her former husband Johnny Storm. Each Skrull agent mouths the words "he loves you" before putting their part of the plan in to action.

The Skrull spaceship is shown to hold a large group of Marvel superheroes with older appearances and costumes, speaking as if they believe themselves to be authentic. Floating in space in a stasis gel with only minutes of oxygen left, Agent Abigail Brand witnesses a massive Skrull armada heading for Earth. Elsewhere, Reed Richards conducts an autopsy on the Elektra Skrull corpse and learns how the Skrulls are avoiding detection, but is quickly shot in the face before he can share the information with others by Pym, who reveals himself to be a Skrull and leaves Richards unable to remain solid.

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 upon being stepped on by a Tyrannosaurus and revert into Skrulls, while Mockingbird insists she is not an impostor, as she and the Secret Avengers' 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. The Sentry faces the ship's Vision and, convinced he's The Void, flies away to space filled with terror. 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. The Skrulls and the Young Avengers face each other, while one of them attacks the Sentry's Watchtower and tries to kill Reynolds' wife Lindy, only to be stopped by The Void himself.

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, a Skrull turncoat loyal to MI:13 and who had taken the form of John Lennon. The Skrulls' target was the Siege Perilous. The British heroes believe that they intend to capture it, but their actual intention is to destroy it. In the ensuing explosion, Captain Britain appears to be dead.

Athena gathers all Earth gods to prepare a "God Squad" to fight the Skrull Gods, stating that if they can destroy the heathen deities of the Skrulls, the religious war which the Skrulls fight for Earth will become meaningless. Hercules, Atum, Ajak, Snowbird and Amatsu-Mikaboshi are chosen as the team, with Thor and his pantheon felt to be still under construction and thus unable to help. Mikaboshi later asks Hercules if his sister's eyes have always been green, suggesting that this might be a trap.

In the fight with a Tyrannosaurus, the New Avengers Spider-Man is knocked away from the rest of his group and encounters Ka-Zar, Zabu and Shanna, accusing them of being Skrulls. However, they are all confronted by the ship's Captain America, who believes the same of Spider-Man.

Meanwhile, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier has crashed in the Bermuda Triangle and all of its systems are down, due to the virus introduced by the Skrull posing as Jarvis. When Deputy Commander Hill reaches the upper deck of the Helicarrier, she finds Jarvis, who requests S.H.I.E.L.D.'s immediate surrender. At the Thunderbolt's headquarters in the Colorado Rockies, Captain Marvel has succeeded in defeating the Thunderbolts, but is unable to kill any of them. Realizing that their attacker will not kill them and is not who he seems to be, Norman Osborn approaches Captain Marvel and proposes they 'talk.' At Camp Hammond, Yellowjacket (who is not known to be a Skrull by anyone other than Mr. Fantastic, whom Yellowjacket-Skrull incapacitated) tells Gauntlet to rally the cadets as New York City is under attack.

Back in New York City, the Young Avengers are the only team present to combat the Skrull invasion. Hulking attempts to reason with the Skrulls, but is taken out by a series of energy blasts. Wiccan rushes to Hulkling's aid, but is taken out by a towering Skrull. The Initiative cadets show up with Gauntlet, seemingly turning the tide of the battle. In the Savage Land, Spider-Woman attacks Echo, revealing herself to be a Skrull. She then locates Iron Man, who is attempting to rebuild his armor, and praises him for the work he has done and informs him of his true nature as a Skrull sleeper agent named 'Kr'Ali.'

In New York City, the Young Avengers and the Initiative are defeated by the Skrull Invaders, suffering a few fatalities including Vision, whose head is blown off by an energy blast, and Proton, an Initiative cadet, whose neck is snapped. Suddenly, the Skrulls are distracted as the ground begins to quake and one of their number explodes and Nick Fury is revealed to have arrived with a group he refers to as 'Commandos.'

Known Skrull agents

This section lists prominent characters who have been shown to be agents of the Skrulls, in order of revelation publication date. Some or all have been replaced by Skrulls for an unknown but prolonged period of time.

• Elektra - revealed in New Avengers #31. Killed by Echo. New Avengers #40 revealed that her name was Siri and was one of the longest infiltrators, sent to examine the defenses of Earth.
• Black Bolt - revealed in New Avengers: Illuminati #5. Killed by Namor. In New Avengers #40 it was revealed that this Skrull was the first of the new version of Super Skrulls created, and was the only survivor of the Skrull home world's destruction by Galactus.
• Revolutionary (of the Liberteens) - revealed in Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1.
• Cobalt Man - revealed in Captain Marvel #3. Killed by Captain Marvel.
• Cyclone - revealed in Captain Marvel #4. Killed by Captain Marvel. Skrull identity not public due to destruction of remains.
• Captain Marvel - revealed in Captain Marvel #5. A mistake in the Skrull Khn'nr's conditioning led to Khn'nr's personality being erased and Captain Marvel's remaining, which has caused him to rebel against his species.
• Valentina Allegra de Fontaine - revealed in Secret Invasion Prologue. Two Skrulls have posed as her; the first one was killed by Nick Fury, while the second one posed as her in the Savage Lands and then assumed the form of Dum Dum Dugan before dying in a suicide bombing at the S.W.O.R.D. Space Headquarters.
• Edwin Jarvis - revealed in Secret Invasion #1.
• Henry Pym - revealed in Secret Invasion #1.
• Susan Richards - revealed in Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1
• Spider-Woman - hinted at in Mighty Avengers #14, finally confirmed as the Skrull Queen Veranke in Secret Invasion" #3.

Reception

Issue one was generally well received for its strong introduction to the story, good pacing and "slick" art, although some concerns were raised over Bendis' dialogue. Sales estimates suggested that 250,200 copies were sold, more than twice as much as second highest seller. The Secret Invasion: The Infiltration collected volume also topped the trade paperback chart, with an estimated 7,247 sales.

Tie-in issues

Secret Invasion: The Infiltration

The following issues were released with the The Infiltration banner prior to the launch of the Secret Invasion series:

• Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1
• New Avengers #31-32 & #38-39
• New Avengers: Illuminati #1 & 5
• Captain Marvel #3-5
• Mighty Avengers #7
• Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #25-27

Secret Invasion

The following issues tie into the Secret Invasion mini-series:

• Avengers: The Initiative #14-19
• Black Panther (vol. 4) #39-41
• Captain Britain and MI: 13 #1-4
• Deadpool (vol. 4) #1-3
• Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #4-6
• Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #33-35
• The Incredible Hercules #117-120
• The Mighty Avengers #12-19
• Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #28-30
• The New Avengers #40-47
• The New Warriors (vol. 3) #14-15
• Nova (vol. 4) #16-18
• Punisher War Journal #24-25
• Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1-3
• Secret Invasion: Frontline #1-5
• Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1-4
• Secret Invasion: Runaways & Young Avengers #1-3
• Secret Invasion: Spider-Man - Brand New Day #1-3
• Secret Invasion: Thor #1-3
• Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? one-shot
• Secret Invasion: X-Men #1-4
• She-Hulk (vol. 2) #31-32
• Thunderbolts #122-125
• X-Factor (vol. 3) #33-34

Collections

The stories are being collected into volumes:

• Secret Invasion: The Infiltration (collects Fantastic Four #2, New Avengers: Illuminati #1 and #5, New Avengers #31-32 and #38-39, Mighty Avengers #7, and Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1, 208 pages, April 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3231-7)
• Captain Marvel: Secret Invasion (collects Captain Marvel #1-5 and Civil War: The Return, 144 pages, hardcover, August 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3303-8)
• Incredible Hercules: Secret Invasion (collects Incredible Hercules #116-120, 120 pages, hardcover, November 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3333-X)

References

• Secret Invasion at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Secret Invasion: The Infiltration at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)

External links

• Marvel.com - Secret Invasion: Skrull Revelations
• Secret Invasion: First Strike, Newsarama
• WizardUniverse.com - Secret Invasion #1 Director’s Commentary
• GammaPoweredRadio.com - The entire Marvel: Secret Invasion Panel from the NYC Comic-Con 2008
• Review of Secret Invasion #2, Comics Bulletin
• Review of Secret Invasion #2, Comic Book Resources
• SecretInvasion.com