Which MCU Characters May Be Skrulls?

In less than one month, Secret Invasion debuts on Disney+.

Marvel executives have pointed to this story as the Avengers: Endgame of television series, which hints that big surprises are in store for everyone.

I don’t want to break your heart, but some supposed heroes have probably been Skrulls for a while.

Which MCU characters could be Skrulls? Let’s round up the usual suspects.

Definitely Not Skrulls

I’ll begin with the presumption that almost everyone introduced in Phase Four and Phase Five shouldn’t matter here.

What’s the point in bringing in new characters if they’re already corrupt? I will make one key exception to that later, but I’ll also explain why.

So, we’re starting with the Marvel characters you know the best.

Thor doesn’t make sense as a Skrull because he lost an eye, got fat, and fought with every major deity.

None of that would qualify as excellent spycraft, as you’re supposed to keep a low profile and blend in.

Similarly, Captain America’s return to the World War II era and Tony Stark’s death should eliminate them from competition.

Hawkeye has since lost most of his hearing and has shown strong ties to his family. He’s had too much screen time to hide Skrull-y behavior.

I’m ruling Spider-Man out because I doubt Disney would do that for a Sony character. Plus, everything from Spider-Man: No Way Home flies in the face of the concept.

The same logic applies to The Hulk, whom we’ve recently watched in She-Hulk. Also, he adds the discussion of scale.

Some characters like Hulk and Captain Marvel are simply too powerful for anybody else to fake their aura. Thor factors in here as well.

For this reason, I don’t think a Skrull could act like Black Panther. Even if they could, let’s be clear that Marvel cannot do that to Chadwick Boseman’s legacy.

Conversely, such action would undermine Shuri’s character arc in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Similarly, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania somehow becomes even more pointless if Scott Lang isn’t Scott Lang.

I’m applying that logic to the other family members in that film.

Probably Not Skrulls

Okay, I’ll immediately backtrack on one. Throughout What If…?, Hank Pym has proven dirty and prone to treachery.

While his wife, Janet, was off galivanting in the Quantum Realm, he feasibly could have been replaced by a Skrull.

Even if that happened after she returned, she wouldn’t have known him well enough to tell the difference after decades apart.

So, he’s the only member of the Ant family I could see working for the other team. Even that strikes me as sketchy and implausible, though.

For many Marvel characters, these are the thought exercises we must apply, though.

The goal of the Skrulls is to attain power on Earth. So, they’d target the most influential people in society.

I mentioned Black Panther because T’Challa and Shuri are both Wakandan royalty. That’s the kind of role we’re discussing.

So, Thunderbolt Ross and his daughter, Betsy, are in play as well. However, Disney has recast Ross with Harrison Ford.

Saying that character is also a Skrull seems like it would needlessly complicate an already strange situation.

As for Betsy, we haven’t even seen her in the MCU in 15 years unless we count What If…? So, that character would lack emotional resonance.

I’ll also take all members of the Guardians of the Galaxy off the board since we’ve seen them twice recently. And who could fake being Nebula anyway?

Similarly, could anyone fake being the Sorcerer Supreme? I doubt it, which clears up any doubt about Wong.

Also, having him be a Skrull would retroactively ruin the Madisynn bit. And nobody wants that!

Maybe But It Would Take Some Explaining

I previously ruled out Iron Man for dying. How about Black Widow, though?

In the comics, this character has repeatedly gone undercover so deep that she was replaced without any of her allies knowing.

Could the same thing have happened here? The people who know her best, her younger sister and Hawkeye, both think she’s dead.

However, the acquisition of the Soul Stone required a sacrifice. It didn’t have to be Natasha Romanoff, though.

So, I could see a path wherein a Skrull died rather than Natasha. It’d be super-thin, though.

The infiltrator would be pretending to sacrifice themselves while fully expecting Clint Barton to do so in the end.

Another dark horse candidate is Pepper Potts. On the one hand, she has bragged that her name is on the lease at Stark Tower.

That’s exactly the sort of influence Skrulls desire. On the other hand, she has borne Tony Stark a child. That’s a commitment to the bit if it’s a Skrull spy.

Also, we’d be talking about Morgan Stark as half-Iron Man tinkerer and half-Skrull. That would be…a lot.

Meanwhile, the recent adventures of Wanda Maximoff, Loki, and Dr. Strange provide them with strong alibis.

Is Wanda acting out of character because of the Darkhold, or could it be that she’s really a Skrull witch? The same question applies to Dr. Strange.

I doubt Skrulls possess that sort of ability, though. As for Loki, it’d be tough to replace that character without the other Lokis noticing, right?

Could a Skrull replace Captain America or the Winter Soldier? I’m dubious about either, but Bucky Barnes would prove particularly challenging due to the bionic arm.

The Strong Possibilities

As I evaluate the various possibilities, my mind keeps going back to the close allies rather than the Avengers.

For example, Maria Hill’s position as a power player within S.H.I.E.L.D. makes her a strong target.

Unlike many of the other characters we’re discussing, we also know she’s in the show.

Still, we have previously watched a Skrull portray Hill. Could a different Skrull have attacked that Skrull and taken over?

I don’t rule out this possibility, as it’s a solid storytelling swerve. It’d be that much better if Hill herself discovered the switch.

Another possibility is Okoye, who failed her queen multiple times. This led to a humiliating scene in Wakanda Forever.

I’d buy an explanation that this happened because it wasn’t really her. Also, Okoye is reportedly getting her own series.

That storyline could theoretically involve her redemption arc afterward.

Realistically, I still don’t buy this one, though. Okoye fought too valiantly against the Atlanteans.

Along those lines, the most fascinating storyline reveal would be Nakia. She did leave Wakanda again and has lived on her own, where she lacks security.

In this scenario, a Skrull would be raising the heir to Wakanda!

Another possibility is Happy Hogan, whose primary heroic abilities are punching and driving a limousine.

That’s the kind of person a Skrull could assimilate. Also, since Marvel fans love Jon Favreau, it’d infuriate everyone.

The Two Likeliest Possibilities

I previously mentioned one possibility on MarvelBlog.

During Wakanda Forever, an odd encounter occurs between ex-spouses Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and Everett K. Ross.

The Contessa thinks her former husband looks gooooood. She offers to jump on his Peleton, but the joke isn’t the point here.

The two don’t seem confident about how to address one another, as if one of them is missing some context.

Also, a Skrull could have feasibly found Ross more attractive than Valentina had. Or, the Skrull might have made Ross too buff, which his ex-wife noticed immediately.

Both hold power positions in the American government and are friends with some Avengers/Thunderbolts. Either one would make an excellent Skrull target.

Still, Secret Invasion needs at least one Avenger to be a Skrull. Otherwise, people will swear the whole thing was overblown and undercooked.

Given what I’ve already acknowledged, the most likely infiltration would be an Avenger lacking special powers. For example, it’d be someone in a super-suit.

How about the War Machine, James Rhodes? He, too, holds a powerful military position.

Also, his Tony Stark-created armor wouldn’t require any unique abilities per se. You’d just know how to operate tech. A Skrull could learn that.

The spy would need to convince the machine that it’s Rhodes at least once, as I presume a password system based on DNA comes into play.

That’s a trifle, all things considered, though. Marvel could even reference the fact that Rhodes previously changed appearances once already!

In short, if any Avenger is a Skrull, I think it’s War Machine…who we know does appear in this series!

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