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It is my understanding that in Marvel Comics, Skrulls are considered evil. For instance, in The Skrull Invasion, the Skrulls are the bad guys kidnapping people and such. I thought the Skrulls were evil. At least, that was my understanding until very recently. In Captain Marvel,

the Skrulls are portrayed as the ones who are actually the good guys, instead of the Kree.

This came as a total shock to me, as I always thought the Skrulls were totally evil. While comic book movies/TV generally don't always adapt things perfectly from the comics (Civil War, or The Trial of the Flash are good examples), I don't think they usually go that far off.

So, what I guess I'm asking is, while the Kree and the Skrulls are definitely enemies, does Marvel usually take the side of the Kree and designate the Skulls as "evil", or is it usually more complicated than that?

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    Well, take a look at Guardians of the Galaxy vol.1 - the Kree are bad guys, no doubt. If this is consistent among the MCU, this is likely to not be designated for Skrulls to be evil, as Kree already are
    – Nikita Neganov
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 5:08
  • That's true, I suppose. However, is that consistent with the comics, though? Are there some good and evil on both sides?
    – user112668
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 5:14
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    @NikitaNeganov: isn't only one Kree the bad guy in Guardians of the Galaxy? I don't remember the movie well
    – Taladris
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 12:11
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    @Chipster: the entire Kree government made peace with Xandar! You're still gonna assume they're all bad? We gotta move on man.
    – Paul D. Waite
    Commented Mar 25, 2019 at 22:57
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    @PaulD.Waite I think I misread Taladris' comment. For some reason I thought he was saying all Kree were bad, which now I can see he obviously wasn't. You bring up a very good point.
    – user112668
    Commented Mar 26, 2019 at 1:25

3 Answers 3

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To be blunt, the Kree and the Skrull empires are both pretty nasty in the comics. Both of them have posed threats to Earth which is in a strategically important position between their empires. But there are good individual characters from both and it's the war that they have been fighting for thousands of years with the Kree that have made the Skrull what they are today. They were much nicer when they first encountered the Kree.

The Skrulls reached planet Hala, home to the barbaric race of the Kree (Who have appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Guardians of the Galaxy – Ronan the Destroyer is Kree), and the more peaceful Cotati. The Skrulls devised a contest between the two races to see which would represent the planet of Hala.

A group from each race was given a year of supplies and taken to two separate planetoids. The group at the end of the year that had developed a better society would then be deemed most worthy to represent Hala in the Skrulls’ list of favorite civilizations.

The Kree had been stationed on Earth’s moon and built a city. Meanwhile, the Cotati had created a beautiful park. Realizing that they were not going to win, the Kree killed all the Cotati, effectively becoming the race that would represent Hala. The Skrulls were disgusted by this development and decreed that Hala would forever be banned from their circle of ideal worlds. Displeased with that decision, the Kree murdered the Skrulls, took their ship, and developed their technology.

/Film, A Brief Comic Book History of the Skrulls, The Kree-Skrull War

Good Skrulls

Lyja

While Lyja was originally a Skrull agent out to mess with the Fantastic Four she fell in love with Johnny Storm

Anelle

Princess Anelle attempted to end the Kree-Skrull war by having a child with Captain Mar-Vell who became Hulkling of the Young Avengers.

Xavin

Xavin, a later member of the Runaways.

Ethan Edwards

Ethan Edwards, one of Marvel's many Superman parodies.

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  • Also, Crusader, partner of Freedom Ring, was a Skrull operative living incognito, and chose to become a hero.
    – VBartilucci
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 16:12
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    Recent issues of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl had a mutant Skrull named G'illian who was in hiding on Earth and helped prevent another Skrull invasion.
    – Patrick Wynne
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 20:35
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    Originally, much of the way the Kree and the Skrull were played by Marvel writers was the simplistic "the Skrull are reptilian looking aliens and are therefore bad, the Kree look human, except maybe with blue skin, and thus are good", and that early characterization stuck around. Over time it evolved to be more nuanced, first with the Kree and their Supreme Intelligence being described as capable of being manipulative bastards, and then over a longer period as the Skrulls not being all bad. Still, as shapeshifting infiltrators, they tend to have a bad rep.
    – Keith Morrison
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 20:56
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    @KeithMorrison I must respectfully disagree. The Kree were were arrogant, imperialistic sumbitches from first meeting with the Fantastic Four (issue #64). The Kree had no mercy and zero patience for any pathetic primitive species getting in to their business. They were never considered "good" in any way until the arrival of Captain Mar-Vell (as a rogue member of an espionage team)
    – Blaze
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 21:30
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In FF issue 250 Skrulls are said to be worst than nazis! Once they are discovered as Skrulls in this issue, Ben Grimm doesn't have to hold back (as most heroes do in fights) and ends the fight quickly. Most Skrulls are evil. They are superior to humans (which they flaunt) plus they have super-skrulls who can go toe-to-toe with most heroes. Never heard of a skrull being weak or helpless.

They were also political, taking over governments and kingdoms by impersonating officials throughout the galaxy. Marvel made the ultimate bad guys with skrulls. Killing Skrulls was not frowned upon in the Marvel I've read since the late 70's.

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The Kree are ambiguous in the comics, not easily summarized as "good" or "bad." They are an imperialist warrior race ruled by a ruthless AI, so you know--they can get up to bad things. For instance, the Supreme Intelligence murdering a bunch of its own people because it would ultimately be good for the species' evolution. At the same time, the original Captain Marvel was Kree, and he was one of the biggest heroes of his time. Even Ronan fights with the Novas and Guardians of the Galaxy against another dimension called the Cancerverse. The Skrulls are mostly just evil. They were introduced as Fantastic Four villains, and they've tried to take over Earth several times.

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