Wizard Insider: Secret invasion

Man, Brian Michael Bendis certainly know how to craft the big events, doesn't he? From Avengers: Disassembled to House to M to Secret War to New Avengers: The Illumnati to all the stuff happening in New Avengers and Mighty Avengers...why, it seems like he's scripted more major Marvel events than Geoff Johns has done for DC!

The next major storyline after World War Hulk is a development of his New Avengers story in issue #31, where Elektra was outed as a Skrull. The concept isn't a new one, but hey, with Bendis at the helm, it's sure to be a massive story!

Wizard Universe has the latest goss:


WIZARD INSIDER: SECRET INVASION
Brian Michael Bendis spills the beans as the alien aggressors seek to take over Earth in ‘Secret Invasion’

By Kevin Mahadeo

Posted November 21, 2007 10:45 AM

Brian Michael Bendis blew the proverbial little green lid off Marvel’s biggest secret. The Skrulls’ infiltration into the ranks of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the pages of New Avengers #31—with the outing of Elektra as one of the alien metamorphs—is a reveal that spawned thousands of forum posts, guesses around the water cooler and even a couple of backroom, high-stake bets all based around one simple question: Who do you trust?

With the Marvel U. primed and ready for April’s Secret Invasion, an eight-issue mini by Bendis and artist Leinil Yu, here’s some trustworthy info on those shifty shape-shifters from space and their sneaky schemes.

LITTLE SPECIES LOST After seeing throneworlds eaten for lunch by Galactus (pictured) and annihilated by Annihilus, the Skrull Empire, which first appeared in Fantastic Four [vol. 1] #2, faces complete dissolution without a kingdom from which to rule. With the Skrulls’ metamorphic fingers already growing deep roots on Earth, their new party pad might not be far off. “There’s a couple of different mindsets within the Skrulls,” explains Bendis, “and one of those factions believes it is written in the scriptures that Earth is the Skrull homeworld.”

PARANOIA WILL DESTROY YA When asked what Marvel team will be most affected by Secret Invasion, Bendis laughs: “The human team.” Although the number of sleeper Skrulls is “less than people think,” the outcome of their plan and the damage leaked from the faucet of mistrust runs a deep gorge in the landscape of the Marvel U. “Every team will be affected, but the Avengers will have the biggest effect in the endgame.”

GOOD, BAD OR JUST PLAIN UGLY Originally the Skrulls were a peaceful race of merchants, until the barbaric Kree (below) morphed them into a militaristic society through millennia of fierce, devastating war. Although green of skin and pointy of ear, the now-world-conquering Skrulls might not be much different from humans after all. “It isn’t an invasion of want, it’s an invasion of need,” says Bendis. “And this country was born on that [mindset]. We came and wiped out the people that were here before because ‘it’s ours, and God told us to.’”

LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR SUPER-SKRULL! First appearing in Fantastic Four
[vol. 1] #18, Kl’rt the Super-Skrull’s genetic modifications allow him to wield all the powers of Marvel‘s First Family—thereby solidifying the Skrulls’ ability to effectively mimic the powers of Earth’s protectors. Despite numerous failures against the various heroes of Earth, Kl’rt (main illustration) recently redeemed himself, sacrificing his life to destroy Annihilus’ Harvester of Sorrow, a warship responsible for the obliteration of countless Skrull worlds. Though mysteriously revived post-mortem, Kl’rt currently battles Phalanx-controlled Kree and continues to verify his unwavering loyalty to the Skrull Empire.

HELL HATH NO FURY After pulling a Houdini at the end of 2004’s Secret War, Nick Fury makes his long-awaited return in Secret Invasion. Bendis plans to rewind the tape during a proposed issue of New Avengers to finally disclose what the former S.H.I.E.L.D. director has been up to. “Most of it he’s been watching Oprah,” jokes Bendis. “It’s not going to be the most exciting issue.” Other Skrullified heroes—whether Avenger or X-Man—also get time turned back in spotlighted issues, revealing when the swap occurred and what happened to the swappee, which Bendis promises “won’t be pretty.”

TRUST NO ONE… Not even Bendis himself, the man who began planting the seeds of a Skrull invasion three years ago beginning with Secret War and Avengers: Disassembled. “In the words of Tommy Lee Jones in ‘JFK,’ ‘If I was a Skrull, do you think I would tell someone like you?’” Sounds like Skrully behavior to us.