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Secret Invasion

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Secret Invasion
Variant cover art to Secret Invasion #1.
Art by Steve McNiven.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
Publication date(The Infiltration) November 2007 - April 2008
(Main Story) April 2008 - November 2008
No. of issues8 plus tie-ins
Main character(s)New Avengers
Mighty Avengers
The Skrulls
Creative team
Written byBrian Michael Bendis
Artist(s)Leinil Yu

Secret Invasion is a comic book storyline that began on April 2008, published by Marvel Comics. It focuses on an alien invasion by shapeshifters known as the Skrull, 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, 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". [1]

According to writer Brian Bendis, 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.[2]

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 stated to be 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".[3]

"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

The Illuminati

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 Infiltration

It is revealed that Dum Dum Dugan met with his old friend Valentina Allegra 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 a Skrull. The Skrull then assumes Dugan's form and leaves him to die.[4]

Some time afterwards, a battle broke 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 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 a fight, Spider-Woman knocks out Wolverine and steals the corpse to bring to Iron Man.[5]

Spider-Woman informs Tony Stark of what had happened in Japan, including the suspicion by his former teammates 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 sign 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 wanted to get back to doing something useful, and does not tell them what happened in Japan.[6]

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 shows to have the combined powers of all the members of the Illuminati. After Namor manages to kill him, two more Skrulls, wielding other powers, attack. These Skrulls are killed by Iron Man. 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. [7]

The Revolutionary, who leads Pennsylvania's 50 State Initiate team The Liberteens, is shown to be a Skrull as well, contacting an unknown Skrull based within Camp Hammond who reveals his intentions to place agents in every 50 State Initiative team throughout the United States. [8]

Captain Marvel battled 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 goes on to confront Ms. Marvel over her identity, and then shares with her his experiences fighting both Cobalt Man and Cyclone. Shortly thereafter, Mar-Vell goes to interrogate 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.[9] 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 in Captain Marvel #4, although it is unknown whether or not this is a trick.

Iron Man tells SHIELD Agent Sum, a member of SHIELD strike force Operation Lightning Storm, of the coming Invasion, and states that he believes their leader, Ms. Marvel, is actually a Skrull agent.[10]. A Skrull named Rl'nnd was found by Ms. Marvel in what she believed was an A.I.M. lair and attacked her, only to escape and pose as her to kill Ms. Marvel's boyfriend. When she showed up to save him, he was dead. S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sum tried to capture Ms. Marvel under the impression she was the murderer.

A Skrull posing as Daredevil attempted to murder and replace Echo of the New Avengers, but was unsuccessful. This Skrull had not necessarily replaced Daredevil as other heroes have been shown to be, but could have simply been attempting to use Daredevil's image to lure Echo to her death, evidenced by the fact that the Skrull seemed unaware of Daredevil's recent actions, allowing his would-be victim to easily see through the ruse. Both this Skrull and Rl'nnd displayed the combined powers of several X-Men. [11][12]

The Invasion

The story begins with a flashback set shortly after the destruction of the Skrull Throneworld by Galactus, in which a band of Skrull warriors discuss the validity of the prophecy with an unnamed and concealed "Queen". Iron Man assembles the Mighty Avengers to investigate the wreck of a Skrull ship, unaware of the fact that the New Avengers are heading for the Savage Land as well after being tipped off by Spider-Woman. S.W.O.R.D.'s headquarters is destroyed by a Skrull posing as Dum Dum Dugan, while in Avengers Tower, the Skrull that had replaced Edwin Jarvis inserts a computer virus into Stark Tower's systems that causes any computer controlled by Iron Man, including S.H.I.E.L.D. and Iron Man himself, to crash. It also releases every prisoner in the Raft and the Cube. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel attacks Thunderbolts Mountain, while a third Skrull takes the form of Susan Storm and sends the Baxter Building into the Negative Zone. Each Skrull agent mouths the words "he loves you" before putting their part of the plan in to action.

In the Savage Land, when Luke Cage opens the downed Skrull ship a large group of Marvel superheroes with older appearances and costumes come out, speaking as if they believe themselves to be authentic. Elsewhere, Reed Richards states he has determined how the Skrulls are avoiding detection, but is quickly shot in the face by a Skrull who has replaced Henry Pym before he could share the information with others. Floating in space with only minutes of oxygen left, Agent Brand of S.W.O.R.D. reports a massive Skrull armada heading for Earth.[13]

Skrull Impostors

This section lists prominent characters who have been shown on panel to be a Skrull in order of appearance:

Tie-in issues

Secret Invasion: The Infiltration

  • 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 #25-27

April 2008 [15]

  • Secret Invasion #1
  • Mighty Avengers #12
  • New Avengers #40

May 2008 [16]

  • Secret Invasion #2
  • Captain Britain & MI: 13 #1
  • Incredible Hercules #117
  • Mighty Avengers #13
  • New Avengers #41
  • Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1

June 2008 [15]

  • Secret Invasion #3
  • Avengers: The Initiative #14
  • Captain Britain & MI: 13 #2
  • Incredible Hercules #118
  • Mighty Avengers #14
  • Ms. Marvel #28
  • New Avengers #42
  • Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #2
  • Secret Invasion: Runaways and Young Avengers #1
  • Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? one-shot

July 2008 [16]

  • Secret Invasion #4
  • Avengers: The Initiative #14
  • Black Panther vol. 4 #39
  • Captain Britain & MI: 13 #3
  • Incredible Hercules #119
  • Mighty Avengers #15
  • Ms. Marvel #28
  • New Avengers #43
  • New Warriors vol. 4 #14
  • Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #3
  • Secret Invasion: Front Line #1
  • Secret Invasion: Runaways and Young Avengers #2
  • She-Hulk #31
  • Thunderbolts #122
  • X-Factor, vol. 3 #33

August 2008

  • Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1[17]
  • Secret Invasion: X-Men #1 [18]

Release date unknown

  • Secret Invasion: Spider-Man #1-3[19]

References

  1. ^ Comic Book Resources: "NEW AVENGERS" #31: BENDIS TALKS ABOUT THE BIG TWIST
  2. ^ Secret Invasion: The Infiltration Tie-Ins - Marvel.com News
  3. ^ Newsarama.com: BALTIMORE '07: BRIAN BENDIS TALKS SECRET INVASION
  4. ^ Secret Invasion Prologue
  5. ^ New Avengers #32
  6. ^ Mighty Avengers #7
  7. ^ New Avengers: Illuminati #5
  8. ^ Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1
  9. ^ Captain Marvel #3
  10. ^ Ms. Marvel #24
  11. ^ Ms. Marvel #25
  12. ^ New Avengers #39
  13. ^ Brian Michael Bendis (w), Leinil Yu (a). Secret Invasion, vol. 1, no. 1 (June 2008). Marvel.
  14. ^ a b Marvel Digital Comics: Secret Invasion Prologue #1
  15. ^ a b Marvel and CBR talk tie-ins
  16. ^ a b Brevoort talks Secret Invasion Page 3
  17. ^ [1]
  18. ^ EXCLUSIVE—Secret Invaders: Mike Carey
  19. ^ Brevoort talks Secret Invasion Page 2
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