This article includes spoilers for Secret Invasion on Disney Plus.The Marvel Cinematic Universe series Secret Invasion brings the comic book story of Skrulls secretly embedded in human society to life, and some known MCU characters are being revealed as Skrulls. The story, inspired by the comic book event series written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, sees Skrulls seeking to make Earth their permanent home. The shapeshifting alien race takes on the guise of humans in order to hide in plain sight and gain power over an extended amount of time.
In the comics, that attempted takeover is because Skrulls are a hostile group looking to expand to a new planet. In the movies, however, the Skrulls have been refugees searching for a new home for decades after being promised help by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). One faction of Skrulls has decided to take matters into their own hands, and the series premiere reveals that at least one long-time MCU character has been a Skrull, but how long has the character been a Skrull?
How Secret Invasion Reveals Everett Ross Is A Skrull
CIA Agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), who made his debut in Captain America: Civil War, is revealed to be a Skrull in the Secret Invasion series opening. Agent Ross is seen meeting up with another government agent who appears to have become something of a conspiracy theorist. The other agent outlines all the circumstantial evidence he has about Skrulls taking over the world while Ross listens before he is killed. When Ross leaves, he is followed and calls Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) for an extraction.
While she attempts to extract him, Ross gets into a scuffle with the unknown assailant and ends up dead as well. His death, however, reveals him to be a shapeshifting Skrull, much to Hill’s surprise. His assailant is revealed as Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), who has been tracking him. The reveal makes it clear that anyone could be revealed as a Skrull at any time, but it also calls into question just how long Ross has been a Skrull in hiding.
Where The Audience Last Saw Agent Ross In The MCU
Prior to the events of Secret Invasion, the audience last saw Everett Ross in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. During that MCU movie, Ross helped Shuri (Leticia Wright) and her mother against direct orders from his boss at the CIA. His boss was also revealed as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss), who also happened to be his ex-wife.
His actions in helping Shuri protect Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) and avoid an all-out war with the Atlanteans earned him a formal reprimand from the CIA. In fact, Ross was likely going to be removed from action and charged. He was in FBI custody. Before he could end up in prison, however, he was rescued by Wakandans in gratitude for his help earlier in the movie. He’s last seen traveling with them back to Wakanda, where, presumably, he would be staying.
What The Last Agent Ross Appearance Means For His Skrull Status
Unless Wakanda has been infiltrated by Skrulls, which seems unlikely given the extensive medical treatment previous entrants into Wakanda, like Ross and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) have received, it’s unlikely that the Everett Ross who helped Wakanda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a Skrull. It’s more likely that the Skrulls who have been infiltrating human governments took the opportunity his disappearance from the US provided to masquerade as Ross.
That means that at some point between the ending of Wakanda Forever and Secret Invasion, a Skrull took on the guise of Everett Ross and either managed to get Ross out of legal trouble with the CIA or keep him on the run outside of the US. If his turn as Ross had been for very long, it’s likely that Maria Hill would have noticed something was amiss since she appears to be his contact in Secret Invasion, and she’s dealt with shapeshifters before. She’s even been impersonated by a Skrull herself (though, presumably, with her permission since it was Talos’ wife).
It also appears that this Skrull might not have access to all of Ross’ memories like those who are purposely planted by the Skrulls do. He doesn’t offer much in the way of his own opinions or personality when he’s introduced. The Skrull-Ross simply listens, nods, and asks questions at the expected moments. Without showcasing much of Ross’ personality, or the Skrull’s own, it would make the Skrull less likely to be found out. The Skrull not being entirely comfortable as Ross would indicate that his impersonation is a recent one.
Ross as a longtime Skrull embedded in the government would also be an odd choice since Ross has specifically been used as a peacekeeper or negotiator in the MCU. He’s efforts with Wakanda have been to help prevent the country from going to war with anyone. His time overseeing the Sokovia Accords in Captain America: Civil War is also in an effort to minimize the damage caused by superheroes. The Skrull rebels specifically want to destabilize humanity, which is the opposite of Ross’s MCU history. It’s more likely that the Skrull-Ross has been used to gain specific information just prior to the events of Secret Invasion.
The MCU series is sure to reveal more surprising characters as Skrulls as the show continues. Secret Invasion is available to stream on Disney Plus with new episodes added weekly.