With Episode 2, “Secret Invasion” gets off to a slow start – and that includes learning more about the Skrulls that live on Earth and their plans. The aliens have not only taken over important politicians, TV presenters and other public figures. Evidently the Skrulls also have a plan how to defeat the Avengers if necessary – keyword: Super Skrulls.
Super Skrull(s) explained
Beautifully named Kl’rt, the original Super-Skrull made his Marvel debut as an adversary to the Fantastic Four – matching Mr. Fantastic (stretching), Johnny Storm (fire), Sue Storm (invisibility), and Force Fields) and Ben Grimm (strength and toughness). However, there are plenty of other Super-Skrulls, i.e. Skrulls that can not only shapeshift, but also have super powers – usually from exactly four known Marvel heroes.
And this is exactly the idea that seems to be the focus of “Secret Invasion”. Finally, in a scene in Episode 2, G’iah (Emilia Clarke) discovers that the apparently human scientist couple Rosa (Katie Finneran) and Victor Dalton (Mark Bazeley) are working on to combine the superpowers of four different beings or technologies with the Skrull DNA:
- Groot from the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies
- the Frostbeast of Jotunheim from Thor and Thor 2
- Clear out Obsidian, one of Thanos’ four henchmen from Avengers 3 and Avengers 4
- the Extremis technology from “Iron Man 3”
Using the machine developed by the Daltons to make the Skrulls stronger, So a Super Skrull in Secret Invasion can have the following abilities:
- the ability to change and grow your body through Groot
- the cold immunity and climbing ability of a frost beast
- the strength and resilience of Cull Obsidian
- the regeneration and fire powers of Extremis
The Skrulls reap superpowers on Earth
It’s no coincidence that this resembles the Fantastic Four abilities of the original Super-Skrull. At the same time, there is another reason why these four creatures/technologies serve as a template for the MCU Super Skrulls: the necessary genetic material can be found on Earth. When Harvests is mentioned in Episode 2, it apparently means that the Skrulls are looking for the remains of superheroines and villains:
At least Groot was on Earth as part of “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” and should have left one trace or the other. A Frostbeast was transported to Midgard (Earth) in Thor 2 and preyed on a flock of birds in the film’s closing credits scene. Cull Obsidian’s arm was separated from Wong (Benedict Wong) by a portal in Infinity War. And even after “Iron Man 3”, there are still people using the Extremis technology, as seen in “Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings”.
We may find out in episode 3, which will be released on Disney + on July 5, 2023, whether the previously successful attempt to create a Super-Skrull will still succeed.