With the release of Captain Marvel, Marvel Studios just revealed a larger part of the universe to audiences, teasing that there’s a lot more cosmic conflict to come in the future.
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And while the new film does give us a glimpse of the ongoing conflict between the Skrulls and the Kree, there’s still a lot of ground to cover after the credits roll on Captain Marvel, including the potential Secret Invasion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Warning: Major spoilers for Captain Marvel below.
One of the biggest twists of the Marvel movie is learning that Carol Danvers has been manipulated her entire life by the Kree, with the Supreme Intelligence convincing her that the Skrulls are infiltrating their worlds and threatening peace. In reality, the Kree are expanding their rule across the galaxy and destroying anyone who comes in their way.
The Skrull leader Talos explains to Carol that the Kree destroyed their homeland, effectively turning the tables on who the villains and heroes are in this story. Carol teams up with Talos to find the secret lab of Kree defector Mar-Vell, where a group of Skrull refugees are hiding out. Among group are Talos’ wife Soren and daughter, the latter of which goes unnamed in the credits but still gets a lot of attention.
Based on the events that occur, and what we know of popular Marvel Comics storylines that are ripe for adaptation in the MCU, we wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Talos daughter is none other than Queen Veranke, the antagonist of Secret Invasion. Let us break it down…
The Skrulls have been living in seclusion for at least six years when the events of Captain Marvel begin. They are afraid to branch away from Mar-Vell’s ship so that the Kree wouldn’t find and killed them.
During their escape from the Kree, Talos asks his wife to cover their child’s eyes as he kills some of their captors. She manages to break away and see her father’s violence, but it doesn’t scare her. As he approaches her to show affection, the scene makes it clear that she’s happy, if not proud, that her father executed their enemies in order to protect his kin.
As they attempt to board a ship and fly away from Mar-Vell’s lab, the Kree shoot at him and wound him, causing worry among his family. Talos survives, and his daughter even forges a bond with young Monica Rambeau, who will likely grow up to become the hero Photon or Spectrum or Captain Marvel, depending on the comic book route they decide to take.
But Carol eventually aids the surviving Skrulls in their quest to find a new homeworld, but not before issuing a warning to the Supreme Intelligence that she would return to Hala to end the lies being fostered on the Kree civilization. It sets up a sequel that could possibly set up a proper Kree-Skrull War, which was only teased in this film, or a different conflict entirely between the two entities.
Either way, the stage has been set for some epic storylines in the future, and if Talos’ daughter ends up being Veranke, it would make sense and be a great development for the eventual Secret Invasion storyline.
While Captain Marvel reverses course on making the Skrulls outright antagonists, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige explained to ComicBook.com that other factions might exist, including Skrulls who are willing to take advantage of their abilities.
“Just like not all humans are bad, and not all humans are good, I think Skrulls probably have a variety of moralities amongst them,” Feige told us. “When they can do what they can do, it probably gets very tempting. So, it’s fun to have introduced this concept and see where it goes.”
While we don’t know if Carol has returned to Earth between the events of Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, her commitments to the Skrulls and/or the Kree are obviously keeping her occupied and in outer space for the most part. A lot can happen in that conflict over the last 20 years.
Perhaps the battle takes its toll on the remaining Skrulls, even if they do finally escape the threat of the Kree with the aid of Captain Marvel. Or maybe they result to more extreme tactics after the death of a beloved leader, such as Talos, leading his damaged child to take control of their faction.
We wouldn’t be surprised if the kid turns out to be Veranke and decides to lead the Skrulls back to a planet where they could easily assimilate, attempt to co-exist and, if not, eventually subjugate the human population. While sequels to Captain Marvel might show Carol Danvers attempt to be a protector of the universe, her actions could eventually lead the Earth to its biggest struggle yet.
Captain Marvel is now playing in theaters.
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