The internet is ablaze as per the last pages of New Avengers #31.It appears that Elektra was a Skrull, and the Skrulls have been infilitrating the earth for quite some time. This is going to serve as fodder for a whole bunch of stories, setting hero against hero (again) as no one will know who to trust.
I have some thoughts on this, and I will reveal them here for you now.
1. The Concept isn't terribly original: One of the plotlines of DC's Millennium series was that the robotic Manhunters had infiltrated the DCU, and have replaced some of the DC heroes closest confidants. (Well, that was how it was supposed to work. As I recall, there were a bunch of human co-conspirators and very few robots.) granted, Marvel doesn't have a bunch of broadly portrayed stereotypes that are supposed to be the next advancement in human evolution that the Skrulls are trying to kill. But the whole "is my friend really my friend or is he the enemy" thing played in both.
2. That being said, it is the perfect kind of plot for the Skrulls: Think of it. You have the power to imitate any life form in the universe. If you want to attack another planet, do you go at it with payguns and spaceships? No, you use your native abilities to study and undermine your enemy. I'm surprised someone didn't use the Skrulls in this way more often.
3. If they are doing this right, the sleeper agents need to be big names: One of the things that bothered me about Millennium was that a lot of the sleeper agents were small time supporting characters or villains. If the Skrull turn out to be characters who have only appeared three times in the last 20 years and have had a grand total of 5 lines in the comic, then this is not going to work.
4. The stories will have to make sense: Another of the things that bugged me about Millennium was that the whole town of Smallville were hypnotised by the Manhunters to keep an eye on and try to sway Superman. THE WHOLE TOWN. This raises several questions. A) Why didn't the Manhunters just cause Superbaby's ship to go into the sun instead of landing on Earth or, B) why didn't they just hypnotise Superman so he could become their ultimate sleeper agent.
What they need to do is keep track of continuity and storylines when they decide who becomes a sleeper Skrull. The first Skrull that a handful of fans can list multiple occassion why they can't be a Skrull, the concept will go down the tubes.
This whole thing has me a little excited. In the right hands, this could mean a lot of good stories. In the wrong hands, it could be totally lame retcon in the making.
It's pretty obvious that Jessica Jones is a Skrull as of NA #31, but the question is when the switch took place.
ReplyDeleteI read an interview with Bendis where he is trying to do a swerve and say Cage could be the Skrull, since he went from Yellow Silk Shirt Shaft wannabe to hip-hop, "street" Shaft wannabe.
ReplyDeleteEither way, I just hope it's not just the baby who is a Skrull. You know, that the Skrulls cam in and replaced nameless in the night.
The panel where Wong notes that Jess is bottle feeding?
ReplyDeleteHUGE CLUE. She left the building after Strange's 'who's evil here?' spell, didn't she? Bang - Skrullswap!