This week, the Secret Invasion crosses over into New Avengers #40, where we learn more about the reasons behind the secret Skrull invasion of Earth, the tumultuous history of the Skrull race, and get a glimpse of the greater plan.
On another note, Jessica Drew's dayplanner must weigh at least 50 lbs.
New Avengers #40
This story takes place directly after the events in New Avengers: Illuminati #1, in which Iron Man, Charles Xavier, Namor, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Reed Richards assault the Skrull empire head-on with an explosive threat/warning to steer clear of Earth. After being captured and subjected to a multitude of tests, the heroes manage to escape the Skrull throneworld and return home.
After the near-destruction of the throneworld, there is a violent civil war led by the zealous followers of a strange religion. Their female leader Veranke warns of a prophesied "wave of destruction" but is captured and exiled from the planet and left for dead on a barren world. Meanwhile, King Dorrek orders his mystics and scientists to begin work analyzing the data they retrieved from torturing the Earth heroes.
After the violent destruction of the Throneworld by Galactus, Veranke is sought out and made Queen of the Skrulls and immediately begins preparations to bring to pass the prophecies of her religion, which sheds light on the "as it is written" comment that so many Skrull invaders have been uttering recently. Furthermore, one such prophecy claims that the Earth is the future sacred home of the Skrull race explaining just why the Skrulls have decided to invade in the first place: this is the Marvel equivalent of the Crusades.
Queen Veranke meets with the scientists and mystics who have been working on the genetic information taken from the Illuminati members, and she is introduced to the first brand new Super Skrull: the Illuminati Skrull from New Avengers Illuminati #5. The scientists continue, explaining that after all this time, they've finally cracked the genetic code in all the heroes and now understand more about the human race than even we do. Using that information, they can now hide - undetected - on Earth, so long as they remain shapeshifted the entire time.
Queen Veranke is then introduced to the first such invader, the (now dead) Elektra Skrull. When asked why Elektra was chosen as the first test subject to be replaced, they establish certain criteria for a good candidate: their life is a mystery, no one knows them intimately, and they have died and come back to life. More importantly, the Elektra Skrull has spent her time on Earth compiling a partial list of matching candidates for replacement.
Taking matters into her own hands, the Queen herself decides to join the infiltration force and eliminate, then assume, the identity of one of Earth's heroes. Given a list of names and powers, she simply asks that they choose the person in the best position to do the most damage.
The identity chosen: Jessica Drew, aka Spider Woman.
I can't say that this is a shock, considering that the possibility has been bouncing around the "blog-o-sphere" since this whole thing began, but it does raise some interesting questions. First of all, where does she find the time!?!?
Originally an agent of Hydra, then a double agent for S.H.I.E.L.D., recently discovered to be a triple agent for Nick Fury (spying on the New Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D.), now it appears that she is the dreaded QUADRUPLE agent, spying on all of the above while all the while being a Skrull agent to boot. Whew! The girl must have absolutely no life outside of her work.
But is Spider Woman really a Skrull? They didn't go as far as to show the actual replacement, they just hinted at it on the last page. This leaves the possibility that Spider Woman is still a human, which would explain why she would turn over the dead Elektra Skrull's body to Tony Stark, effectively warning him of the oncoming invasion ahead of time.
But there's one other possibility. Queen Veranke succeeded in her plans and replaced Jessica Drew. She would have connections to both Avengers teams, the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. mainframe, and criminal connections to Hydra. She may have turned over the body to Tony Stark to win over his trust (to keep her own cover from being blown) while simulataneously rejoining the Mighty Avengers and getting closer to Tony Stark and Reed Richards, both of whom are considered great threats to the Skrull race. As we saw in Secret Invasion #1, she goes behind Iron Man's back and warns the New Avengers of the crashed Skrull ship, knowing that the ensuing power struggle would keep them both busy while the Jarvis Skrull uploads the virus that destroys the S.H.I.E.L.D. computer systems.
Remember? Jarvis stood by her the entire time she was warning the New Avengers and did nothing. Said nothing. As a Skrull, wouldn't he want to keep the New Avengers away from the crashed ship unless it was all a setup from the beginning? For this reason, I believe that the Skrull Jarvis knew that Spider Woman was really Queen Veranke and allowed her to complete her part of the plan, then fulfilled his orders.
She may be unconfirmed, but I'm adding her to the list anyway (temporarily at least) based on compelling evidence:
Elektra - revealed in New Avengers #31
Black Bolt - revealed in New Avengers: Illuminati #5
The Revolutionary - revealed in Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1
Cobalt Man - revealed in Captain Marvel #3
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine - revealed in Secret Invasion Prologue
Dum Dum Dugan - revealed in Secret Invasion Prologue
Edwin Jarvis - revealed in Secret Invasion #1
Henry Pym - revealed in Secret Invasion #1
Captain Marvel - revealed in Captain Marvel #5
Cyclone- revealed (then killed) in Captain Marvel #4
Crusader - revealed in Avengers the Initiative #12
Spider Woman (unverified) - revealed in New Avengers #40
Who do you think the next Skrull will be? Post a comment below and let me know!
This story takes place directly after the events in New Avengers: Illuminati #1, in which Iron Man, Charles Xavier, Namor, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Reed Richards assault the Skrull empire head-on with an explosive threat/warning to steer clear of Earth. After being captured and subjected to a multitude of tests, the heroes manage to escape the Skrull throneworld and return home.
