Captain Marvel was one of the big reveals of the Marvel Cinematic Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2017, with fans getting to see a first look at Brie Larson’s official Captain Marvel costume, as well as learning some big reveals about the movie’s setting and villains.

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The biggest news regarding Marvel’s first female superhero feature film was that it will be set in the MCU’s past (the 1990s), and will (at last) bring the pivotal Marvel Comics villains known as The Skrulls into the MCU. Specifically, Captain Marvel will be the official adaptation of the famous Marvel Comics storyline known as “The Kree-Skrull War.”

For those who haven’t read the Marvel Comics story arc, the question now is “What Is The Kree-Skrull War?” And how will it affect the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Well, allow us to explain…

In Marvel Comics…

Captain Marvel What Is The Kree Skrull War

In Marvel Comics lore, The Kree-Skrull war is a story arc from the early 1970s, in which The Avengers get embroiled with Kree hero Mar-Vell, who conceived a child with a Skrull princess. The shape-shifting Skrulls covertly subverted The Avengers team bonds, leading them to break up so that the alien schemers can operate on Earth, unopposed. Marv-vell winds up being a central figure in the ongoing war between the Kree and Skrull empires, due to his knowledge of the “Omni-Wave Projector,” a weapon of deadly power.

The War ends when Mar-Vell is taken to the heart of the Skrull Empire to build the weapon, and various Marvel heroes show up to save the day. In the end, with help from The Kree Supreme Intelligence, Marvel sidekick Rick Jones has the all-powerful “Destiny Force” released in him, and uses that power to end the war. The Kree-Skrull war is also the conflict that brought Ronan The Accuser into his longstanding feud against The Avengers, as the Kree warrior tried to de-evolve the Earth, in order to convert it into a Kree military outpost.

In the Aftermath, Marvel’s Illuminati cabal strike a secret ceasefire with both the Kree and The Skrulls – so long as Earth is left out of their conflict. Not surprisingly, that peace doesn’t last forever…

In The MCU…

The Kree Skrull War Marve Cinematic Universe

The Kree-Skrull War will be the main feature of Captain Marvel‘s storyline – but in terms of the larger MCU, it will be another one of Marvel’s ‘retroactive foreshadows,’ which have become more and more popular, as of late.

Presumably, Captain Marvel will tell the story of how Air Force officer Carol Danvers comes into contact with the Kree (maybe through their operative on Earth, Mar-Vell?) and gains her cosmic power. That power will presumably make her a pivotal player in the Kree-Skrull War, and a key factor in changing its tide.

Due to her Kree origins (and the established history of the Kree race in MCU projects like Guardians of the Galaxy and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) we know that it’s likely the Skrull Empire that will suffer the hardest blow by the end of Captain Marvel. However, that defeat (at the hands of a super-powered Earthling, in part) will not go unanswered forever. The actions wrought by Captain Marvel in the Kree-Skrull War may indeed set up the next great threat that the Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes have to face, if they can defeat Thanos.

After all, by the time Captain Marvel is done, The Skrulls will know the dangerous potential of the human/Kree mixture, and the potential power the Skrull Empire could gain form mimicing such powers. Leading the MCU right to this big battle:

NEXT: Is Secret Invasion the Next Big MCU Story Arc?

More Captain Marvel News

MORE CAPTAIN MARVEL:

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming are both in theaters now, and will be followed by Thor: Ragnarok on November 3, 2017. After that Black Panther debuts on February 16, 2018, while Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters on May 4, 2018. Ant-Man and the Wasp is slated for July 6, 2018, followed by Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019.