Secret Invasion

Writer Brian Michael Bendis stated in interviews that the motivation for the invasion is the destruction of the Skrull Empire in the 2007 "Annihilation" storyline.[1] Bendis said the Skrulls believe Earth "is religiously and rightfully theirs,"[2] and that there are hints as to the plot placed in the limited series Secret War[3] and the title New Avengers from the first issue.[4] The limited series concluded the plot and was, according to Bendis, "a hell of an end."[5]

In November 2007, several ongoing titles and mini-series were branded as tie-ins to the main Secret Invasion storyline, with the tagline: Secret Invasion: The Infiltration. In addition to the core story, the Avengers titles provided additional plot material and acted as a link between titles. Other Marvel titles also featured variant covers with the characters depicted as Skrulls.[6] Bendis stated that the series would not deal with the origins of the invasion, but is conceived from the following perspective: "If there's a character on the team who's a Skrull, we will rewind from when they got on that team, or from before they got on that team, so when they are infiltrated, how they became who they became and the effects of their actions from their 'point of view' is shown."

The Marvel website featured two online-exclusive e-comics for the event, titled Secret Invasion Prologue (a seven-page comic that reveals the replacement of a previously unknown Skrull agent) and Secret Invasion: Home Invasion (a MySpace video blog featuring a young teenager named Kinsey Walden and her fears regarding her brother's strange behavior), supported by comic pages by writer Ivan Brandon and artist Nick Postic.[7]

After the Kree–Skrull War[8] the Earth superheroes Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Namor, Black Bolt, Professor Charles Xavier and Doctor Strange join as a group called the Illuminati to secretly confront the Skrulls. They attack the Skrull Empire, and warn that any future invasion attempts of Earth would mean further reprisals; however, they are all captured and intensely studied before escaping.[9]

An eventual successor to the Skrull throne, Princess Veranke, claims that a prophecy foretold the annihilation of the Skrull homeworld. The current Emperor, Dorrek, exiles her to a prison world for inciting religious extremism. After the destruction of the Skrull Throneworld by the cosmic entity Galactus,[10] Veranke becomes Empress by lineage, and guides an invasion of Earth, armed with the knowledge of superhumans gained from having studied the Illuminati. The Skrulls capture several superhumans and infiltrate Earth's defenses, with Veranke herself posing as heroine Spider-Woman.[11] Veranke is inconvenienced when there is a breakout of supervillains at the Raft prison, which forces her to join the New Avengers team.[4]

After the Civil War, Elektra, the leader of the ninja group the Hand, is revealed to be a Skrull named Pagon after dying in battle with the New Avengers.[12] Veranke takes the corpse to Tony Stark (who, at the time, led the pro-registration Mighty Avengers) to sow distrust among the superhero community. She joins the Mighty Avengers, claiming it will throw the Skrulls off balance. Posing as agents of spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D., the Skrulls attempt to mine the metal vibranium in the Savage Land and battle the New Avengers before being killed.[13] The Illuminati battle an impostor posing as Black Bolt and two new Super-Skrulls, possessing all-new powers.[14]

The Skrull invasion destabilizes the superhuman community as:

1. Simultaneous strikes disable the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and orbiting base The Peak.
2. A breakout is instigated at the supervillain holding facility the Raft.
3. The Baxter Building (headquarters of the Fantastic Four) is transported to the Negative Zone.
4. Thunderbolt Mountain (headquarters of the Thunderbolts) is attacked.

Additionally, the Avengers are attacked by Skrulls posing as heroes in the Savage Land, and Reed Richards is wounded by the Skrull Criti Noll (who was posing as Henry Pym) seconds after determining a way to identify the shape shifters.

After several battles between Earth's heroes and the Skrulls in Manhattan and the Savage Land, Mr. Fantastic manages to develop a device that can detect the aliens. Criminal kingpin the Hood aids the heroes, deciding "no more Earth is bad for business." Veranke regroups with her forces in New York City in a final battle against the combined Avengers, now aided by Nick Fury and his new Commandos, Thor, Daredevil, Ka-Zar, and super teams such as the Young Avengers and the Thunderbolts.

Veranke is wounded by the Avenger Hawkeye. Criti Noll activates a booby trap placed on the heroine Wasp, although the blast is contained by Thor at the cost of her life. Veranke is then shot and killed by Norman Osborn (using a weapon he created with intelligence stolen from Deadpool).[15] The last remnants of the Skrull armada are destroyed, with Iron Man locating the missing heroes. S.H.I.E.L.D. is dissolved by executive order of the President of the United States while a last Skrull (posing as the Avengers' butler Edwin Jarvis) flees with the child of hero Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. This Skrull is killed by Bullseye shortly after returning the child. Norman Osborn is placed in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D's replacement, H.A.M.M.E.R., and forms a secret group consisting of himself, Emma Frost, Namor, Doctor Doom, The Hood and Loki which commences the "Dark Reign" storyline.[16][17]

The Mighty Avengers

• Iron Man
• Spider-Woman (Veranke)
• Black Widow
• Ares
• Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers)
• Sentry
• Wonder Man
• Wasp

The New Avengers

• Luke Cage
• Spider-Man
• Iron Fist
• Ronin (Clint Barton)
• Wolverine
• Echo

Fantastic Four

• Mister Fantastic
• Human Torch
• Thing
• Invisible Woman

Skrulls

• Dard'van
  • Yellowjacket (Citri Noll)
  • Captain America
  • Dum Dum Dugan
  • Edwin Jarvis
  • Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)
  • Invisible Woman
  • Elektra
  • White Queen (Skrull)
  • Beast
  • Spider-Man
  • Luke Cage
  • Thor
  • Wonder Man
  • Jean Grey
  • Iron Man
  • Hawkeye (Skrull)
  • Vision
  • Jewel (Skrull)
  • Scarlet Witch
  • Mockingbird
  • Wolverine
  • Ms. Marvel

Additionally, several variants of the Super-Skrull appear, utilizing the powers of Archangel, Captain America, Iron Man, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman and the Illuminati, among others.

Also, several Skrulls are seen impersonating such pop culture figures as George W. Bush, Stephen Colbert, Tom Cruise, and Eric Cartman from South Park.

Cloak

Noh-Varr

Thunderbolts

• Norman Osborn
• Swordsman (Andreas von Strucker)
• Songbird
• Moonstone (Karla Sofen)
• Venom (Mac Gargan)
• Bullseye
• Robbie Baldwin (as Penance)

Captain America (Bucky Barnes)

Thor

Franklin Richards

Valeria Richards

Young Avengers

• Patriot
• Wiccan
• Hulkling
• Speed
• Hawkeye (Kate Bishop)
• Vision

The Initiative

• Diamondback (Rachel Leighton)
• Stature
• Gauntlet (Joseph Green)
• Prodigy (David Alleyne)
• Taskmaster
• Proton
• Crusader (Z'Reg)
• Batwing
• Gorilla Girl
• Red 9
• Geiger
• Melee
• Sunstreak
• Annex

Secret Warriors

• Nick Fury
• Slingshot
• Quake (Daisy Johnson)
• Phobos
• Hellfire (J.T. Slade)
• Stonewall
• Druid (Sebastian Druid)

Skrull Kill Krew

• Ryder
• 3-D Man II
• Riot
• Catwalk
• Dice
• Moonstomp

The Hood's Criminal Syndicate

• Hood
• John King
• Wizard
• Wrecking Crew (Marvel Comics)
• Madame Masque
• Blood Brother
• Crossfire
• Blackout (Marcus Daniels)
• Griffin
• Chemistro
• Answer (Aaron Nicholson)
• Brothers Grimm
• Bushwacker
• Shockwave
• Scarecrow
• Cutthroat
• Corruptor
• Masked Marauder
• Scorcher

Howard the Duck

X-Men

• Pixie
• Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner)
• Cyclops
• Beast

Medusa

Black Panther

Sabra (Ruth Bat-Seraph)

Uatu the Watcher

Daredevil

Mockingbird

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine

President of the United States

Cabal

• Norman Osborn
• Hood
• Namor
• Lady Loki
• Doctor Doom
• Emma Frost

According to Comic Book Roundup, the core series has an average score of 6.9 out of 10, based on 79 critic reviews.[18]

Issue #1 was not very well received despite critics noting its "strong introduction to the story, good pacing, and "slick" art style",[19][20] although some concerns were raised over Bendis' dialogue.[19][20] Sales estimates suggested that around 250,200 copies were sold, more than twice as much as the second highest seller.[21] The Secret Invasion: The Infiltration collected volume also topped the trade paperback chart, with an estimated 7,247 sales.[21] The second issue kept the top slot, with estimated sales dropping to 200,344.[22]

The stories are collected in volumes:

From November 2022 forward, Marvel released a new Secret Invasion title composed of five issue miniseries that serves as a spiritual sequel to the original event and sees new hints from the Skrulls to invade again Earth that will force Maria Hill to put out an alert in the intelligence community to prove that they are ready for another Skrull invasion. After dealing with the various Nick Fury imposters, she alerts the Avengers and assures them that it is unlikely that they have been infiltrated, unfortunately she is wrong.[23] While the world's most clandestine forces move in silence to quell the situation before it gets out of hand, Earth's Mightiest Heroes have been left wondering who among them might be an alien infiltrator. Thankfully, Maria Hill is quick to move on to the ranks of Earth's Mightiest Heroes for immediate blood testing. Though her methods are certainly intrusive, to say the least, the Avengers all acquiesce to her demands for a blood sample. This leads to Black Widow being uncovered as a Skrull, which when coupled with the lack of any other failed tests, is enough to calm the rest of the heroes' nerves for the time being. And, in the case of Tony Stark, it is enough to assure him that his fellow Skrulls' plans are going exactly as intended. Upon returning to his lab, Stark is met by another version of himself while revealing the blood bag taped to his arm which he used to pass Hill's test. This is more than enough to make it perfectly clear that Stark has been replaced without anyone else realizing it. It also sets the stage for the latest Skrull invasion to do untold amounts of damage before anyone can stop him, assuming no one figures out the truth anytime soon.[24]

• Marvel.com - Secret Invasion: Skrull Revelations
• Secret Invasion at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Secret Invasion: The Infiltration at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Secret Invasion: First Strike, Newsarama
• WizardUniverse.com - Secret Invasion #1 Director’s Commentary
• GammaPoweredRadio.com - The entire Marvel: Secret Invasion Panel from the NYC Comic-Con 2008