Trust no one. That seems to be the driving narrative behind the latest Marvel Studios show Secret Invasion, available to anyone with a Disney+ subscription. By the end of the first episode, we’d learned that a significant member of the MCU was really a Skrull posing as this person (no spoilers, just in case you aren’t caught up). And then we lost another key figure in the MCU when they THOUGHT they were looking at Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), even though it was the villainous Skrull, Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir). But a line in episode two of Secret Invasion has several Marvel fans speculating on who might else be a Skrull that is hiding in plain sight. Let’s sort through these rumors and come to a conclusion.
The line in question comes when Gravik is meeting in private with the Skrull Council Meeting. He’s asked, in light of his coup plans, what he’d do if the Avengers were to return. And Gravik confidently replies:
You don’t think I thought about that?
This suggests a back up plan. Perhaps Skrull who has been embedded in a position of power, who Granik can rely on if the Calvary appears. Maybe even someone who just fired Nick Fury during one of the tensest dramatic scenes in the program so far? That’s right. Marvel fans are starting to wonder if James “Rhodey” Rhodes is a Skrull in hiding.
Rhodey is DEFINITELY a Skrull. The stance he takes with Nick Fury is the SAME ONE he REGRETTED taking in Civil War! Also hes never in his suit probably budget but also definitely cause his Skrull biology cant fool stark tech! pic.twitter.com/2jLJoq77ZHJune 28, 2023
For others, it was the moment that Rhodey admitted he volunteered to fire Nick Fury, blaming him for the mess that was made in Moscow. That’s not team loyalty.
It was at this moment I realized Rhodey might be a #Skrull pic.twitter.com/Jz7EX1mYu0June 28, 2023
This one is also pretty sick. Is that green arrow in the background pointing out the reality that Rhodey is a Skrull in disguise?
people have been theorising that this could be a clue to Rhodey being a Skrull… if it’s true that damn what an Easter egg! I do agree though I think Rhodey is a Skrull mainly because of the way he’s been acting… pic.twitter.com/m2lFYSOaBdJune 29, 2023
Do I believe this? Actually, yes. I do. I think in order to convey the severity of the Skrulls infiltrating our planet’s positions of power, then it’ll be crucial for the Avengers (or S.H.I.E.L.D.) to have been infiltrated by the shape-shifting Skrulls. In the comics, a slew of heroes were revealed to be Skrulls. That’s harder to do on a Disney+ adaptation of Secret Invasion, but using Rhodey, and making him a Skrull, sets up a lot of moral quandaries. Does the real Rhodey know that Tony Stark has died? What effect might this have on Armor Wars, when that happens? Especially now that it has changed from a show to a movie?
We still have several episodes of Secret Invasion to come, so these theories could change. Or solidify. We know that Carol Danvers isn’t part of Secret Invasion, but she’s up next in The Marvels, one of several upcoming Marvel movies that we anticipate will expand on this storyline, and beyond.
