Captain Marvel‘s first trailer introduced the world to Brie Larson‘s Carol Danvers with a bang–and also a punch. Considered by many to be the mightiest Avenger and one of the most iconic comic book superheroes ever, she’s the person Nick Fury turned to in his greatest hour of need at the end of Infinity War. But, uh, if she’s so great and the best hope to undo the Snapture, why the hell did the trailer show her belting an old lady in the face? Not exactly heroic, you know? Well don’t worry, she wasn’t actually punching an elderly woman, she was punching a green, shapeshifting alien who only looked like an old lady. That sweet-looking grandma is really a member of one of the most dangerous races in the galaxy, one intent on invading Earth, the Skrulls.
The brutal, dastardly Skrulls have a long history in Marvel comics, but what’s important to know is their race once consisted of three distinct branches, until the one known as the Destructives wiped out the other two, in large part because of their ability to completely alter their appearance. They also waged a long, brutal war against the Kree, who Carol not only got her powers from, she served as a member of an elite Kree military squad known as Starforce.
(Check out our Dan Cave episode about the Skrulls to learn even more about them.)
The movie will see her trying to stop the Skrulls from invading Earth, and the first images from the film released by EW showed just how easily those green aliens can adopt the appearance of anyone and any race they want. This is what they look like in their normal, gnarly state.
Scroll to the last two images in this Instagram post:
Recognize their leader, Talos? No? Well this is what he looks like in his human disguise.
That’s right, the Skrulls can make themselves look like the bad guy from Ready Player One, or even the fantastic Ben Mendelsohn. It’s not hard to see why the Skrulls, who are also ruthless, are so dangerous and have caused the the Kree, Earth, and the entire universe so many problems in the comics. They can perfectly blend into their environment, even transforming into the Avengers, like in the beloved Secret Invasion limited comic series.
And what better, safer disguise on Earth than that of a nice old lady. Who would ever look at that kind woman and think she was a threat? Carol Danvers, a Kree soldier with tons of experience fighting them, that’s who. So no, Captain Marvel did not punch an old lady in the face in the trailer, she punched a dangerous alien in the face.
Unless we are way off and she really did deck an elderly woman taking the train. That would be weird, but Captain Marvel is awesome and if she did that we’re sure she the old hag had it coming.
What character from the MCU do you think could actually be a Skrull? Tell us why in the comments section below.
Images: Marvel, EW
