Kree-Skrull War
The Kree-Skrull War is a conflict that features in Marvel Comics.
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History
Origin
The Kree-Skrull War was a conflict that was waged by the Kree and Skrull civilizations. One account on the origins of the conflict was at a different time when the Skrulls were led by Emperor Dorrek and their civilization was more peaceful. They had formed an interstellar civilization with advanced technology where they believed no other race were their equals. Thus, they sought to elevate a race to their level by gifting a worthy species with their technology. Their travels led them to discover the planet Hala that was home to the blue-skinned warrior Kree and the peaceful plant-based Cotati. Representatives were chosen from both species to take part in a trial to judge which was more worthy of the Skrulls gifts. These participants were transported to the uninhabited planetoid that was Earth's Moon where they were given a year to develop a great work in the Blue Area of the Moon that would be judged. The Kree had constructed a great blue city that impressed the Skrulls but the Cotati won the trial after creating a thriving garden dominated by plants. However, the Kree refused to accept defeat and in the cover of night they attacked as well as killed the Cotati whilst the Skrulls slept. They then approached the Skrulls and attacked them with the peaceful green skinned aliens led by Dorrek were massacred. In the aftermath, the Kree pilfered the advanced technology of the Skrull craft that they took back to their home world. The Skrulls during this time were unaware of what had happened and only learnt of the betrayal when the Kree had created an armada that attacked the Skrull home world without warning. From that day onwards, the Kree and the Skrulls became bitter enemies with one another who had waged a long eternal war. (Avengers v1 #133) The war was waged between the two alien civilizations for control over the satellite galaxy NGC-205. In this engagement, an officer of the Intergalactic Kree Fleet by the name of Mar-Vell fought fiercely and valorously against the Skrulls. He became a war hero among the Kree Empire and his actions were noted even in the Skrull War Annals. (Captain Marvel v1 #2)
During the first Kree-Skrull War, a Skrull War-Queen named Ryga'a and a Kree Ultra-Warrior named Soh-Larr fought one another on the battlefield on the planet Xaccus. However, the two came to fall in love with one another where they disappeared from the conflict. Their mating produced a hybrid child known as Dorrek Supreme who formed the Knights of the Infinite that consisted of other such hybrids who wanted an end to the conflict as well as a merger of the twin empires under a prophesised hybrid leader. (New Avengers v4 #4) Though technologically advanced, the Kree empire came to see that they had a biological disadvantage to the Skrulls due to their ability to shapeshift. Thus, for sometime, they looked for a means of overcoming that limitation with them finding a solution upon finding Klyntar the homeworld of the Symbiotes. These creatures had a means of bonding to host bodies and manipulating their substance to shapeshift which was seen as a potent weapon. Thus, a specimen of the species was harvested where it was bonded to a recruit named Tel-Kar who served as a superpowered covert operative for the Kree empire. (Venom: First Host v1 #2) This saw the Kree warrior undergo intensive training and gene therapies with his body modified to more fully integrate with the Symbiote. Implants were added that modified his body chemistry to make the Symbiote more reliant on him whilst physical training was used to make him immune to the parasites psychoactive effects with additional physiological training to manipulate its memory. (Venom: First Host v1 #3) One noted engagement was the Battle of the Shattered Heart where the two sides fought on the corpse of a Celestials. Nega-Bombs were noted to had cracked open the body of the Forgotten Celestial unleashing its raw power into the cosmos. The Kree Imperium intended to harvest this energy to fuel their forces for centuries with the Skrulls looking to stop this operation. Thus, the battle was waged over the giant cosmic being's body where ultimately the Kree lost their prize in claiming the Celestial's power. Both sides were noted to had suffered in equal measure in the battle but claimed victory for their efforts. (Fantastic Four v6 #21) (Venom: First Host v1 #3)
Years of Conflict
As hostilities grew, a Skrull was sent to infiltrate the Kree Supreme Science Council and spur them into starting a conflict that they could not win. (Captain Marvel v1 #53) In this time, Kaptroids on Earth were tasked with rounding up the Inhumans for use in the War of the Three Galaxies with an expedition launched to investigate their failure in accomplishing their task. This resulted in a super-powered Kree warrior named Shatterstar being dispatched to capture the Inhumans for use as weapons in the conflict. (Inhumans v1 #3) The The coming war saw the Supreme Science Council also abandoning Doctor Minerva's scientific experiments. (Captain Marvel v1 #52)
In their attempt to free Rick Jones and Captain Marvel, the Avengers accidentally released Annihilus from the Negative Zone. In the Kree Empire, the Supreme Intelligence was subdued by Ronan the Accuser who seized control of the Kree Empire and gave the order to have Earth attacked. (Avengers v1 #89) The renegade Ronan began his own initiative in the war by engaging in Plan Atavus. (Avengers v1 #90) This involved using devices to de-evolve the human race into more primitive beings allowing the Kree to control Earth but was stopped by the Avengers. (Avengers v1 #91) The Avengers then faced persecution from the government due to the Alien Activities Commission headed by the politician H. Warren Craddock, who incited hatred against the Avengers, resulting in the Avengers Mansion being trashed by protesters. The team disbanded in the aftermath of the incident. (Avengers v1 #92) Three of the leading Avengers namely Iron Man, Thor Odinson and Captain America returned to the Avengers Mansion to discover that the team had been disbanded by Skrulls who were disguised as them. They got the team back together and located the secret Skrull base, where they fought a team of Fantastic Four imposters. The Super-Skrull escaped the base with the Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, and Quicksilver as his prisoners. Meanwhile, Skrull agents in disguise attempted to trick Mar-Vell into revealing the secrets behind the Kree Omni-Wave Projector though he discerned the deception and destroyed the device. (Avengers v1 #93) The Skrull ship was pursued by the Vision, while Mandroids sent by H. Warren Craddock arrested the rest of the Avengers. The Super-Skrull attempted to destroy the Inhumans before he left Earth, but Attilan's defenses were strong enough to deflect his attack. He then returned to the Skrull throneworld, where Dorrek VII, the Skrull emperor, forced Mar-Vell into building an Omni-Wave Projector. (Avengers v1 #94) After defeating the Mandroids, the Avengers received a call for help from Triton and went to San Francisco. With Black Bolt they broke through Attilan's defenses, and overthrew Maximus after driving him into insanity, restoring Black Bolt to the throne. While this was going on, the Kree captured Rick Jones. (Avengers v1 #95)
The Avengers head out into space and upon arriving in Skrull space, Captain Marvel uses the Omni-Wave Projector to break free of his captors. Vision nearly beat the Skrull admiral Kalxor to death in his attempt to save the Scarlet Witch and the Earth as the Skrull emperor had ordered the admiral to launch a missile that would turn the Earth into a ball of hellfire. Meanwhile Rick Jones is locked up on the Kree homeworld, alongside the Supreme Intelligence who opens a portal that sends Rick Jones into the Negative Zone, where he was forced to confront Annihilus. (Avengers v1 #96) Rick Jones deflected Annihilus by firing a mental force-bolt. Upon returning back to his home reality through the portal, the Supreme Intelligence educated him about mankind's potential once it was fully unlocked. Using his new powers Rick created a small army of Golden Age super-heroes who fought Ronan and the Kree. He then froze the Skrull and Kree armies in stasis, thereby putting an end to the war, though apparently at the cost of Captain Marvel's life. Rick and the Avengers then returned back to Earth. (Avengers v1 #97)
To prevent any future alien threats to planet Earth, Iron Man assembled a secret group of Earth's greatest super-heroes, who took the name Illuminati. He led them to the Skrull throneworld, to warn the Skrulls to stay away from Earth and if necessary force them to do so. Instead, the team was captured, tortured, and experimented on by the Skrulls. They barely escaped from the throneworld with their lives. Not realizing that the Skrulls had been able to learn everything about their powers, technology, scientific knowledge, magical knowledge, and the human genome with which the Skrulls would perfect the Super-Skrull program for a future invasion. (New Avengers: Illuminati v1 #1)
Later during the Dark Phoenix crisis, the Shi'ar Majestrix Lilandra consulted both the Skrull Empress R'Klll and the Kree Supreme Intelligence regarding Jean Grey, the host of the Phoenix Force, whom agreed to a trial of combat between the X-Men and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard to determine Jean's fate. The Kree warrior Bel-Dann and the Skrull warrior Raksor were assigned to observe the duel by their governments and to make sure that the X-Men lost. Soon the two warriors turned on each other. (X-Men v1 #137)
For months the two warriors hunted each other in Attilan's bowels and did battle. Uatu the Watcher observed this and informed the sovereigns of the Kree and Skrull Empires. After much discussion and thought, the two empires decided that they would have the two warriors determine the outcome of the war between the two rival empires. They informed Raksor and Bel-Dann, who were honored to represent their empires in this final battle. The fighting between the two continued for months, undermining the foundations of the Inhumans' city. After Uatu informed the Inhumans and the Fantastic Four of what was happening, they manipulated the two warriors to join forces in combat against the Fantastic Four and Inhumans. They arranged it so that the heroes were 'defeated' by the two, after which Uatu the Watcher interceded, declaring Earth the loser, and the Skrull and Kree Empires both winners thereby ending the eons long war. (Fantastic Four Annual v1 #18)
During this time, the Kree came to form a secret alliance with the Badoon to fight against the Skrulls. Around this time, the Skrulls sought allies themselves and went to the Badoon despite their reputation. They were unaware of them being the Kree's allies leading to hostilities erupting between the two races. (Silver Surfer v3 #25)
Outcome
Hostilities between the twin empires continued until a new threat emerged in the form of the vengeful Cotati. The plant race had re-formed their civilisation into one that looked to eliminate all animal races. Thus, they waged a cosmic war to kill all flesh-based species with them conducting gruesome experiments on worlds belonging to the Kree and the Skrulls. Upon seeing this danger, representatives of the two races decided that they needed to show a united front against this foe. However, they determined that they needed a figurehead to represent both their empires with it being decided that Hulkling was to achieve this role. Thus, the Kree Bel-Dann and the Skrull Raksor made a plea to him to assume the throne and become emperor of the newly formed Alliance. Cotati agents killed the two operatives but they failed in stopping Hulkling assuming the throne which sought to end the threat of the Cotati. (Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling) Thus, formally, the Kree-Skrull War was noted to had come to an official end with the formation of the Alliance. (Fantastic Four v6 #21)
Overview
In appearance, the war was an interstellar conflict waged between the Kree and the Skrulls across light-centuries that encompassed thousands of worlds. (Avengers v1 #93) Some accounts referred to it as being known as the Glorious War. (Venom: First Host v1 #3) The conflict was referred to be one between two empires that consisted of thousands of worlds. (Silver Surfer v3 #25)
During the war, the Kree engaged in a super-soldier program. (Venom: First Host v1 #3)
The Skrull came to develop a cureless bio-weapon plague tailored to exterminate entire species. (Venom: First Host v1 #3)
Participants
- Dorrek VII :
- Supreme Intelligence :
- Ryga'a :
- Soh-Larr :
- Kal-Torr : a male Kree Colonel who participated in the Battle of the Shattered Heart where his recorded recollection was placed within the Kree Chronicle of Blood Jo-Venn. (Fantastic Four v6 #21)
- J'Bahzz : a male Skrull General who participated in the Battle of the Shattered Heart where his recorded recollection was placed within the Skrull Requiem of the Shapeless Soul N'Kalla. (Fantastic Four v6 #21)
- Kalxor :
- Tel-Kar : a white haired blue Kree who served in the military's Third Spiral Arm fleet where he was chosen to be bonded to a Klyntar Symbiote and served as a superpowered deep cover agent that fought the Skrulls from within their lines. (Venom: First Host v1 #2)
- Raksor :
- Bel-Dann :
- Mar-Vell :
- Rick Jones :
Notes
- The Kree-Skrull War was created by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema, Neal Adams, and John Buscema where it made its first appearance in Avengers v1 #89 (June, 1971).
- For the storyline, Roy Thomas was inspired by the novel This Island Earth and admitted he had no 'master plan' in writing the storyline other than, "rapacious, galaxy-spanning races ... would be at war in the far reaches of space, and that their conflict would be threatening to spill over onto the Earth, turning our planet into the cosmic equivalent of some Pacific island during World War II."
In other media
Television
- In The Super Hero Squad Show, the Kree-Skrull War appeared in the setting of the animated television series second season. Captain Marvel went missing during a peace conference between the Kree and the Skrulls, forcing the Squad to investigate. After the Squad was captured by the Skrulls, the Falcon's trump card, in the form of the Scarlet Witch, ended the war between the Kree and the Skrulls and defeated the real foe who was Thanos, though the Mad Titan managed to escape.
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Kree-Skrull War was referenced in the animated television series starting in the episode "459". Kang the Conqueror later revealed that the conflict led to the destruction of Earth when its Sun was torn in half thus scorching the planet.
Films
- In Captain Marvel, elements of the Kree-Skrull War were adapted in the live-action film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was revealed that the Kree had destroyed the Skrull homeworld thus forcing the shapeshifters to become interstellar refugees who were persecuted and hunted down by the Kree Starforce. The Kree civilization used propaganda to portray the Skrulls as sinister subversive terrorists who infiltrated planets to conquer them and that their Border Worlds were under constant threat from the green-skinned humanoids. Mar-Vell came to see the truth of the Skrull persecution and the Kree scientist sought a peaceful resolution to the conflict by creating a light-speed engine that would take the Skrulls to safety outside her empires reach. She conducted her research in secret on Earth under the guise of Dr. Wendy Lawson where she experimented with the Tesseract as a means of creating a light-speed engine. However, the Kree learnt of her efforts and had her eliminated in order to claim the core for themselves. Carol Danvers was brainwashed by the Kree to fight the Skrulls. When she discovers the truth, she rebels against her former masters and helps the Skrulls find a new homeland.
Appearances
- Avengers v1: (1971)
- Silver Surfer v3:
- New Avengers v4:
- Venom: First Host v1:
- Fantastic Four v6: (2020)
External Links
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