Marvel Confirms the MCU Super-Skrull Won’t Use Fantastic Four Powers

Marvel Comics feature a few different versions of the Super-Skrull, an enhanced version of the aliens found in Secret Invasion. The most notable version of Marvel’s Super-Skrull is one who possesses the combined super powers of the entire Fantastic Four. Modern comics would bring us more versions of the Super-Skrull but for years when Marvel comics fans thought “Super-Skrull” only one version came to mind. The Marvel Cinematic Universe version of the Skrulls are the focal point of Disney+ series Secret Invasion, and now the series has confirmed a major way that the MCU Super-Skrull will be very different.

With no Fantastic Four in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet, the Skrulls don’t have that power set to draw from and to create their Super-Skrulls. Secret Invasion episode 2 however is quick to answer the question of which characters they are pulling from to make their own upgrades. In the episode it’s revealed that Skrull leader Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) has collected genetic material from a few different MCU characters including: Guardians of the Galaxy’s Groot, Thanos’ minion Cull Obsidian from Avengers: Infinity War, an Extremis Soldier from Iron Man 3, and a Frost Beast from the Thor movies. 

These combines powers will however have very similar uses to what the Super-Skrull was capable of when it used the Fantastic Four’s abilities. Groot’s uncanny ability to stretch and contort his plant limbs is reminiscent of Mr. Fantastic’s stretchiness (and can already be seen in the trailer), while the Cull Obsidian DNA seems to be similar to Ben Grimm/The Thing and the Extremis Soldier’s abilities seem very similar to Johnny Storm/The Human Torch. Perhaps the Frost Beast’s DNA is being used to give them an unbreakable hide, but any similarities to Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman seems absent. 

It’s not fully clear what use the Super-Skrull will be in the larger scheme of Marvel’s Secret Invasion, but we can already glean from the show’s marketing that Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Gravik is going to at least get some of these powers. One shot from Secret Invasion seems to show the character fully utilizing Groot’s powers. Time will tell how the other abilities make themselves known, and if the Skrulls have somehow gotten access to the powers of characters like Thor, Loki, or The Hulk.

The MCU’s top superspy Nick Fury is back in Secret Invasion, the limited series premiered June 21st on Disney+ with new episodes every Wednesday. Samuel L. Jackson returns in the new Marvel Studios series, showcasing Fury’s attempt to get to the bottom of a Skrull invasion that goes all the way to the most powerful positions in various governments and organizations on the planet. In Secret Invasion, Fury teams with allies Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), while James Rhodes AKA War Machine will appear in a mysterious capacity. Other newcomers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe include Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, and Kingsley Ben-Adir.