15 Ways The MCU Improved Marvel Mythology
14. Skrulls As Refugees
From their inception, the Skrulls have been one of the most insidious races Stan Lee ever created. Their innate ability to shapeshift made them perfect foes for the Secret Invasion story line and forced readers to retrace their steps trying to figure out when certain characters could have been replaced and what that meant for the continuity. So when it came time to adapt one of the most iconic villains in the comics to film in Captain Marvel, Kevin Feige decided to pull a fast one and subvert the audience's expectations.
Anticipating that they would assume the Skrulls would be the evil alien empire they were in the comics, the film maintained that illusion about two-thirds of the way through, at which point it revealed that the Skrulls were not invading conquerors, but rather fleeing refugees, nearly hunted to extinction because people assumed their powers made them dangerous.
On top of being a great swerve that allowed the grand scheme of the MCU to grow from its source material, this painted a whole new level for it to grow on. It was revealed in the post-credit scene of Spider-Man Far From Home that the Skrulls from Captain Marvel, Talos and Soren, had been impersonating Nick Fury and Maria Hill for an indeterminate amount of time. And since they're good guys in the MCU and can't do Secret Invasion, what does that mean for Phase 4?