The Kree-Skrull War Is Coming To 'Captain Marvel' — Here's How It Could Set Up 'Avengers 4'

With all of the excitement and spectacle of Marvel's San Diego Comic-Con panel, one thing stood out for most fans: not only is Captain Marvel set in the 1990s, firmly establishing the character in the history of the #MCU, but the film will also introduce us to the alien race known as the Skrulls. These shapeshifting villains have plagued Earth's Mightiest Heroes ever since they were introduced back in 1962. Now, at last, they're coming to the big screen!

In a follow-up interview with IGN, Marvel visionary #KevinFeige has just revealed that he's bringing one of the most beloved comic book stories of all time to life. It's time for...

The Kree-Skrull War

Speaking to IGN, Feige said:

"There is an entire section of our comics that deal with the Kree-Skrull War, and we haven't tapped into that at all. And we thought that would be an amazing, huge portion of mythology to belong to Captain Marvel."

In the comics, the Skrulls are a race who believe wholeheartedly in the supremacy of their people. They established an ever-growing Skrull Empire — and then came into contact with the militaristic Kree. The first contact between these two soon devolved into outright war, which has continued from the time of Earth's prehistory into the present day. In the comics, the Kree created the race known as the Inhumans as potential footsoldiers in the galactic war, but the experiment didn't quite work out how they'd hoped.

Guardians of the Galaxy substituted the Skrulls for the Xandarians, but we can safely assume they're just another ancient Kree opponent. As Feige rightly notes, the war between the Kree and the Skrulls is something fans have always loved. It stood at the center of one of the most popular Avengers arcs of all, written by Roy Thomas and running from Avengers #89 through to #97. It's considered by critics to be one of #Marvel's greatest comic book arcs of all time, and the crowning glory of Roy Thomas's time with Marvel.

Inspired by Raymond F. Jones's novel This Island Earth, Thomas envisioned a battle between "two rapacious, galaxy spanning races," and imagined our planet as the equivalent of some Pacific island in World War II; just another battlefield in a star-spanning war.

What Does This Have To Do With Captain Marvel?

As comic book fans will well know, Carol Danvers's superhero origin is closely tied to the Kree race. She became an associate of the Kree superhero Mar-Vell, and was exposed to Kree energies while working alongside him. She essentially became a Kree-Human hybrid, possessing tremendous superhuman powers, and soon took up the identity of the first Ms. Marvel. More recently, the character was reinvented as the new Captain Marvel. Concept art released at #SDCC2017 confirmed that the film will draw upon this more recent interpretation of the character.

We can safely assume this origin story will be rewritten for the Captain Marvel movie. Last year, screenwriter Nicole Perlman explained:

"Here’s the thing, if you were just going to do a straight adaptation of the comics, her origin story is very similar to Green Lantern. And obviously, that’s not what we want to do. There’s a lot of reinvention that needs to happen."

Whatever the nature of these changes may be, Captain Marvel's origin is now clearly tied to the Kree-Skrull War. Will this film just be another stage in that conflict? Or is this the final end of the war? It seems likely to have come to an end by the time of Guardians of the Galaxy, after all, as the Skrulls seem to have become irrelevant to galactic affairs by 2014.

An Intriguing Possibility

The absence of the Skrull race in the more recent cosmic films is actually an intriguing detail, suggesting just why Marvel may have chosen to set Captain Marvel in the past. In the comics, the Skrulls ultimately came to a time of tragedy when their homeworld was consumed by Galactus, Devourer of Worlds. That kind of horrific event would certainly explain why the Skrulls have disappeared by Guardians of the Galaxy, although the Kree are still a notable presence on the galactic scene.

Of course, here's the catch with that idea: Marvel doesn't have the film rights to Galactus. That particular character's film rights sit with Fox. But is it possible that the MCU version of the Kree-Skrull War will end with the destruction of the Skrull homeworld?

Over in the comics, 2008 and 2009 saw Marvel reveal that the homeless Skrulls targeted the Earth as a new potential homeworld. Using their shapeshifting powers, they infiltrated the Earth's government (and superhero population), and ultimately launched an all-out invasion of Earth. This was the "Secret Invasion," one of the most fascinating Marvel concepts from the last decade. The tagline was simple: "Who do you trust?"

In the same interview with IGN, Feige was asked why Captain Marvel is set in the '90s. His answer, essentially, was a simple one: "Spoilers." Marvel hasn't set the film in the 1990s purely for the sake of nostalgia; they clearly want to set up some sort of plot running from that decade through to the present day. If that's the case, it could well be that they're deliberately setting up Avengers 4 — which is released after Captain Marvel — as the MCU's Secret Invasion. It's worth remembering that there's a reason why the title of Avengers 4 has yet to be revealed, and again it can be summed up in a single word: "Spoilers."

And here's where things get really interesting; Nick Fury played a major part in the comic book event. He'd disappeared for a number of years, and ultimately resurfaced as the one man who'd spotted the Skrull invasion coming. In the MCU, Samuel L. Jackson is now confirmed to reprise his role in Captain Marvel, meaning he's been aware of the alien race for decades. Again, the Captain Marvel movie could easily be setup.

So now we know: Captain Marvel will feature the Kree-Skrull War, and our world will be caught between "two rapacious, galaxy spanning races." The news is sure to leave Marvel fans thrilled, as the movie pays homage to one of the most beloved comic book arcs of Marvel history. But the news is thrilling for another reason, too: the Kree-Skrull War could easily be setup for something even bigger. Will Avengers 4 tell the tale of the MCU's "Secret Invasion"?

[Source: IGN]