Warning: The following contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode 3.The Marvel Cinematic Universe series Secret Invasion is similar in stakes and tone to the previous MCU movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Though the stakes are global, the story is a contained spy thriller focused on a small set of characters. That means that though there are implications for the wider MCU, much of the focus is only on how the series affects Nick Fury and his closest allies. As the Skrulls on Earth number one million, however, and there are at least 100 covert operatives pretending to be human on Earth, other important areas of the MCU could have been infiltrated by them.
Various government leaders are shown to actually be Skrulls in disguise, and those same leaders are in charge of the Skrull Council. Gravik, however, has been operating independently of the Council for some time. He’s been gathering followers, providing sanctuary for Skrulls in need, and planting his own Skrull operatives around the world. Evidence in the series also suggests that Skrulls might have had the chance to infiltrate Wakanda, one of the most secure nations in the MCU.
Groot And Cull Obsidian Samples Could Have Been Obtained In Wakanda
One of the big clues to there possibly being Skrulls, or even a single Skrull, moving in and out of Wakanda is the kind of DNA samples the Skrulls are revealed to have in Episode 2. When G’iah examines the computer used by the scientist experimenting on behalf of Gravik, she finds listings for samples of a Frost Beast, Groot, Cull Obsidian, and Extremis.
The Frost Beast and Extremis DNA could have been found outside of Wakanda. A Frost Beast was wandering the streets and presumably contained by Damage Control after the events of Thor: The Dark World. Extremis was stabilized by Tony Stark, but it’s still used in the MCU, as demonstrated by underground cage matches in Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings. It’s Groot and Cull Obsidian that are the head-scratchers.
Unless Skrulls had conflicts with the Guardians of the Galaxy or Thanos and his followers in outer space at some point, there wouldn’t have been very many opportunities for a Skrull to gain access to samples of Groot and Cull Obsidian’s DNA. One place where they could have easily accessed it? The battlefield in Wakanda during the events of Avengers: Infinity War. It’s not hard to imagine that there may have been a few Skrulls in that battle at Nick Fury’s request. The Avengers and the Wakandan forces tried to stop Thanos and his people but were unsuccessful there. In the confusion of so many people disappearing right after the events of the battle, a Skrull could have easily left with DNA samples.
Of course, there is also the possibility that James Rhodes is a Skrull and was able to obtain those samples with his government access.
Agent Ross Could Have Been Taken By His Wakandan Rescuers
Another big piece of evidence in favor of Skrulls having found their way into Wakanda or crossed paths with Wakandan forces in the real world is that Everett Ross is revealed as a Skrull in episode 1 of Secret Invasion. It appears unlikely that Ross has been a Skrull for long since he isn’t overly convincing as Ross. Instead, it’s entirely possible that the last time the audience saw the real Everett Ross was when he was rescued before a possible prison sentence by Wakandan forces.
When Okoye came to save Ross at the end of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, she very well might not have been the real Okoye, or someone else with her could have been a Skrull in disguise. That would have given them access to Ross while he’s hiding out in Wakanda, giving the Skrulls access to a government agent they could impersonate, even if he was a government agent trying to outrun a treason charge on the other side of the world.
Does Wakanda Have A Way To Identify Skrulls?
Avengers: Infinity War and the Black Panther movies have shown how difficult it can be for an outsider to end up in Wakanda. Wakandan forces, primarily the Dora Milaje, are always there to meet someone who crosses their borders. Their scientists, led by Shuri, also have such advanced scans and techniques that they’re able to help Bucky Barnes counter his Hydra programming, and they could have found a way to remove an Infinity Stone from Vision if given more time. If the country has previous knowledge of Skrulls, or even other shapeshifters, it wouldn’t be surprising if they developed technology to identify them, though it’s unlikely they have yet since only a select few people know about the existence of Skrulls in the MCU.
There would be comic book precedent for a device to identify Skrulls. The device, however, was designed by Reed Richards in the comics, and the Fantastic Four haven’t been introduced in the main universe in the MCU just yet. Even the power set of the Fantastic Four members, which is used to create the first Super Skrull in the comics, is being approximated by the DNA samples from the Frost Beast, Groot, Cull Obsidian, and Extremis in the MCU. A lot of the bigger scientific advancements in technology and weapons in the MCU in the past were from Tony Stark’s companies.
With Wakanda having one of the leading scientific minds in the world also leading the country in Shuri, however, they could definitely make breakthroughs utilizing Skrull technology. If the Disney Plus series or upcoming MCU movies opt to include Wakanda in the Skrull narrative beyond Secret Invasion, it would likely be Shuri who developed that particular piece of technology.
New episodes of Secret Invasion are available to stream weekly on Disney Plus.