The comic book origins of Secret Invasion have little to do with the show

The Skrulls of the MCU wouldn’t require nearly the same team to defeat

• by
  
  Austin Joslin
  

• on June 21, 2023 8:00 AM

Marvel’s latest Disney Plus series has arrived, and it brings with it a world full of alien invaders who can shape-shift and take over the identity of anyone on Earth. But it’s perhaps the biggest mystery comics fans turn to Secret invasion It was exactly what this new series was to do with the comics it’s based on. As it turns out, the answer is: not much.

The basic principles of each series are the same: Skrulls, shape-shifting aliens in the Marvel Universe, have been living among humans for years and are slowly infiltrating their systems of government around the world. But the reasons for this differ slightly between media.

In Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, Skrulls are brought to Earth as refugees, but a particularly clever Skrull decides there’s no reason to be a refugee if you can just take over the planet you’re on instead – which is kind of a weird way of presenting refugees. On the other hand, comics are smarter. The Skrulls are invading as hordes of a far-reaching dictator destroyed hundreds of planets in their empire. They needed new worlds, and they hated humanity for its extravagance and arrogance. Also, they were generally picky about how superheroes treat former Skrull warriors. Like, the first Skrulls that appeared in the comics were tricked into turning into cows and then had their minds erased. So the remnants of the empire became angry and decided that they must take over the land as compensation.

As for the rest of the story, things are about as different as they can be. Secret invasion is one of Marvel Comics’ massive crossover events, a massive spectacle that includes almost every team and character you can think of. The arc is spread across eight issues and includes Skrulls revealing themselves to have already replaced many celebrities and world leaders. All this chaos unfolds over the course of a single day, through several massive battles, until Earth’s heroes are finally victorious. But the Skrulls still succeed in their primary goal: to destroy Earth’s faith in its integrity and protectors. (Yes… Secret invasion he very Post-9/11 series.)

While there are certainly some details that could provide compelling and easy crossover material for plotlines in the MCU version of this story, the elements are huge – from Tony Stark being one of the main characters and Reed Richards solving the problem to the massive battles involving dozens of superheroes. And the dinosaurs who get in the middle of the road – they can’t be brought back from the comics.

With that in mind, and in order not to spoil anything, we won’t say much about the new series except that it doesn’t have much to do with any of the sitcom’s plots. Instead, it is more serious, aiming for a more espionage and intrigue tone Captain America: The Winter Soldier or the Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

But, even with those differences in mind, it’s still worth reading the comic arc anyway. For MCU fans, this will be a nice reminder of how different the comics can be, but also a fun preview of some of the heroes that are on their way to the MCU or potential team-ups that could happen in the future. The main series is short and reads quickly, but there are dozens of closing character arcs that you can access if you like.

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