Marvel Studios' latest Phase 6 release featured the surprise return of the Skrulls, only two years after the Skrull-focused series, Secret Invasion, flopped for the MCU. Marvel Zombies is the latest animated series set in the MCU Multiverse, acting as a spin-off of the zombie episode in What If...?. Marvel Zombies has featured the return of many characters from various corners of the MCU, but the Skrulls made a surprising debut in Episode 2 of the series.
The shapeshifting aliens, who were first introduced in Phase 3's Captain Marvel in 2019, have popped up now and then in the MCU, but were finally given their chance to shine in Secret Invasion. An adaptation of the famed Marvel comic run, Secret Invasion explored a Skrull infiltration on Earth, as a radical subsect of the community planned to take over humanity's home. The result was one of the MCU's most poorly-received series.
Despite the disappointment of Secret Invasion, the Skrulls remain a part of the MCU, and made an appearance in Marvel Zombies' second episode. The aliens appear in a sequence set five years after the on-set of the zombie apocalypse, when Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), Katy (Awkwafina), and Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) are on the road in a vehicle convoy reminiscent of Mad Max.
The crew are travelling toward the Raft, a floating sanctuary run by Baron Zemo. But to gain access they need to make a tribute, so Shang-Chi and his group have successfully gathered a convoy of cows that they plan to exchange. However, this gathers the attention of bandits, and these bandits are none other than the Skrulls, who are also manning a motorbike convoy of their own.
Shang-Chi and his group get into some vehicular combat with the Skrulls, eventually using their team's driving skills and super abilities to attack the bandits and protect their cows. The Skrulls also have some firepower of their own, using machine gun-manned bikes. In the end the Skrulls are all taken down, some in quite a brutal fashion fitting for Marvel Zombies' mature rating.
This is the extend of the Skrulls' role in Marvel Zombies, and reveals that survivors of the alien group resorted to outlaw life after the zombie apocalypse took over.
Marvel Zombies is a four-part miniseries (with the potential for a Season 2) created by Bryan Andrews and Zeb Wells. It is set within the Marvel Multiverse and includes several MCU actors reprising their roles, including Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Hailee Steinfeld, and Iman Vellani. The series released on Disney+ on September 24, 2025.
Where Do the Skrulls Stand in the MCU?
The Skrulls have been used sparingly in the MCU since the release of Secret Invasion. In Captain Marvel, it was established that the shapeshifting group weren't the invasive terrorists the Kree had led Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) to believe, and were instead refugees searching for a home. This led to some of them, like Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), settling quietly on Earth while they sought a new home planet.
In Secret Invasion, it was revealed that the frustration of this displacement led some of the Skrull contingent to infiltrate Earth's world leaders in an attempt to start a war that would end humanity and allow the Skrulls to take over Earth. Once this effort was exposed it led the US President at the time, Ritson (Dermot Mulroney) to pass a bill labelling all off-world species as hostile and caused humanity to hunt down the Skrulls.
Since these events in the MCU, the Skrulls have not been utilized much on-screen. However, they were seen once again in 2023's The Marvels, where the Kree and Skrulls met to negotiate a peace treaty at the Skrull colony on Tarnax, which Captain Marvel helped them to establish. Unfortunately, Dar-Benn's vendetta against Captain Marvel led to the annihilation of the planet, and the Skrulls were taken in by Valkyrie at New Asgard instead.
Since then the Skrulls have remained a persecuted people, with some scattered in hiding on Earth, and others still searching for a permanent home elsewhere in the galaxy (with the help of friends like Captain Marvel and Nick Fury).
Secret Invasion is very unlikely to receive a second season after the reception the first season received, although it did help to set up two key MCU films. Nevertheless, the Skrulls are an embedded faction in the MCU and, despite their persecution, they still could have a large role to play in the future of the cinematic universe.
In a Q&A with Alex Perez (via The Cosmic Circus), the insider shared that the Skrulls are a part of the plan for Marvel Studios' next saga, meaning fans can expect them to return after the end of the Multiverse Saga.
