@therealsilvermane

If it was only once I wouldn't care, but drotto used the word incorrectly before in a response to me not long ago. And since the "mantle" word is starting to take on more importance especially in MCU Phase Four...just trying to help out. Knowledge is power.

Enuf is enough. It's "mantle", not "mantel." Mantel is the shelf above a fireplace. Mantle is a role or responsibility passed from one person to another. Okay, I have to go check in with my CGC Boards parole officer now...

Secret Invasion will directly lead into Captain Marvel 2. Over in the Falcon thread, I incorrectly said Fury was on R&R on the Skrull mothership at the end of Spider-Man FFH. He was actually on a mission, as stated by Talos. What is this mission and why is Fury getting the assist from the Skrulls? Is it something Earth related the reason why Fury is on a mission in some other solar system with an armada of Skrulls helping him? I'm sure that ending credits scene ties directly to the MCU's Secret Invasion. And as I said over in Falcon's thread, I do not think the Skrulls will be the invading alien force (or whatever it is) in the Disney+ series.

What’s laughable is you most likely think I literally meant a handmaid.

You could apply that logic if the show was taking place on the Skrull's planet on the other side of the galaxy which is probably populated with Skrulls with all different kinds of personalities, maybe even a few rotten ones. But I think we can assume Secret Invasion takes place on Earth. That means the Skrulls on this side of the galaxy will be involved, which obviously includes Talos as well as the very very large Skrull crew we saw on the Skrull mothership upon which Fury was taking R&R at the end of Spiderman Far From Home. Then there's the Skrull messenger at the end of WandaVision. That's a lot of Skrulls which appear to be allies of Nick Fury, and thus the good guys in Secret Invasion.

Sure, I just don't think we're going to see an armada of Skrulls invading Earth, though, in Secret War. I think Skrulls, as a general whole, are indebted to Carol Danvers and Nick Fury of Earth because they helped them find a new home on the other side of the galaxy away from the Kree bullies.

I really don't. Kree vs Skrull with Earth in the middle was kinda the battle at the end of Captain Marvel. To do that yet again in a multi-episode TV show might be kinda...boring? I think that battle in CM is the extent of the classic Kree Skrull War that we're going to see. I really think the MCU Secret War will be Nick Fury, Talos, and maybe a few other Skrulls seeking out a new invading alien race on Earth or maybe even an entity. I could be wrong. We'll see. I do think it's where we meet Dorrek aka Hulkling of the Young Avengers. Also, in the recent Empyre event series, the Skrull, Kree, and heroes of Earth all team up to fend off an attack on Earth by the Cotati, a plant-like alien race who resurrected the Swordsman in an Avengers storyline from the 70's, so maybe there's something there. We'll see.

Okay, then it will mean that Yonn-Rogg and the villainous Kree were right all along about the Skrulls as essentially terrorists in Captain Marvel. We'll see what Marvel does.

But it's not just Captain Marvel. We saw Fury taking R&R on a Skrull ship as Talos and Soren helped Peter Parker on Earth in FFH. We saw a Skrull give a goodwill message to Monica Rambeau at the end of WandaVision. All we've seen in the MCU is that Skrulls are good guys. The only reason to make them the bad guys in Secret Invasion is to faithfully follow Brian Michael Bendis' storyline. Historically, the comic book Secret Invasion and Fantastic Four #2 are the only instances in the comics I remember when Skrulls tried to invade Earth. Dire Wraiths have a much longer history of it as they fought Rom and several superheroes over Earth. Anyway, we'll find out soon enough. I know most fans and comics pundits are talking the Skrulls as the invaders in MCU's Secret Invasion(obviously as that's the comics Secret Invasion story) and I believe I'm a lone voice in the wilderness saying they aren't, and I think I'm right. We'll see.

Also, if Skrulls end up being the bad guys in Secret Invasion and essentially are alien terrorists in the story, then that means that Yonn-Rogg, the villain of Captain Marvel, was right all along about Skrulls, as was Carol's Kree-brainwashed assumption of Skrulls as terrorists before her awakening. It would be going backwards storywise and justifying the actions and point of view of a previous MCU villain.

Okay, let's assume it's a small band of rogue Skrulls invading Earth and going against the wishes of Talos and Skrull ally Nick Fury. What's the point of that? Is it a band of teenage Skrulls just looking to cause mischief? The usual reason for an alien invasion according to the Handbook of Alien Invasions is to conquer Earth. It would be almost like Skrull suicide to cross Talos, Captain Marvel, and Fury who was aboard a Skrull spaceship in Spiderman FFH manned by an army of Skrulls. I just think it's an offbrand alien race who don't care about Captain Marvel (or never heard of her), Talos, or Fury. There are so many aliens to choose from if Marvel wants to expand its universe. Why have Skrulls fighting each other? This is a chance to introduce Dire Wraiths (by another name, though, as the Wraiths name is owned by Hasbro), the Badoon, the Brood, the Cotati, or anybody else. Back in the days of Marvel's horror sci-fi Atlas comics, almost every issue featured a secret alien invasion from a new alien race like every month.

I've said this before and maybe I'll be wrong but I think the invading aliens in the Secret Invasion won't be Skrulls and be a different alien race altogether. This means it won't be a straight adaptation of the Bendis event storyline. It's a Disney+ show which makes me think it'll be a smaller scale story. In past posts, I've thrown out Dire Wraiths (or something similar) as a possible invading alien, but we'll see. Either way, I think it'd just be too confusing for general mainstream audiences to see Skrulls as both good guys and bad guys. Plus, Talos is going to team up with Fury in the show, again pointing to Skrulls being good guys.

Skrulls are good guys. That was established in Captain Marvel, reestablished at the end of Spiderman Far From Home, and reestablished again at the end of WandaVision. I'm not sure what Secret Invasion is going to be about, but the Skrulls will be good guys. I'm sure any Skrull operating on Earth has the consent and goodwill of Nick Fury and Talos and I don't think they'd approve of a Skrull doing some of the things that Sharon Carter was doing. So no, I don't think Sharon Carter is a Skrull, either. I think she's just a woman who got nothing but grief being on Team America and Team Cap, and has now decided to be on Team Sharon.

If Sharon Carter never took the serum in the comics, I don't think they'd have her take it in the MCU. Plus, I think she realizes the dangers of it, how it could amplify negative aspects of your personality. Plus, I'd think if she was a secret super soldier, she'd have had an easier time fending off the bounty hunters in Episode 4 or whatever it was.

I would argue though that the HBO Watchmen series is one of the best comic book films/shows ever.

I'm not saying the women super-heroes, SHIELD agents, and Dora Milaje haven't been able to kick butt, what I'm talking about is their role in the story and dynamic relation to the leading male characters. In Iron Man 2, Natasha/Black Widow kicked serious butt, but her role within the story as written is to serve Tony Stark's adventure. In Age of Ultron, Natasha also kicked butt, but still served a subservient role in relation to the big guys. Sharon Carter is a bada*s agent in Winter Soldier and Civil War, but her role within the story is to serve Steve Rogers' story/mission. The Dora Milaje's whole thing was to serve the throne. They're the ultimate secondary characters. On the other hand, in MCU films where women are part of a team, like Gamora in Guardians or Hope Van Dyne in Ant-Man and the Wasp, although they got to be decision makers in the adventure, that higher role was somewhat diminished by having to also play the wet blanket to the goofy fun loving guys. Star-Lord, Rocket, Drax, and Scott Lang get to have fun and laugh and make jokes while Gamora and Hope constantly attempt to supress that fun. Now, instead of playing handmaids, they're playing nannies. Which brings me to Captain Marvel and a reason why I love the MCU version so much. Carol is the main character of her story so she is h-word to nobody. At the same time, she isn't nanny to a bunch of goofball guys. In fact, she gets to have fun and make dumb jokes this time. I just don't feel Natasha Romanoff had achieved this level of character development until Endgame. Wanda got this higher level treatment in WandaVision. And now Sharon Carter got to be her own person, particularly towards the end of FWS. But even at the beginning, her main purpose to help Sam and Bucky was to get the U.S. pardon. She wasn't simply helping because it's her role to help in the story. She got to be selfish. For Marvel to allow a secondary character like Sharon to suddenly make her own decisions in her own self-interest is a major step IMO for women characters in the MCU. How much more selfish and independent will the women super-heroes (not named Carol Danvers) that are getting their own adventures be then?

Don't even get me started on the two African-American Avengers in the MCU. Sam and Rhodes were basically the "good buddies" to Steve and Tony their entire MCU careers until now. Now Sam is Captain America and able to get out of Steve's shadow(while, yes, continuing Steve's legacy but doing it his own unique way) and Rhodes is about to do the same when he takes the lead in Armor Wars. The MCU is evolving with the times.

A brainwashed Manchurian candidate Sharon Carter, right? Even in the comics Agent Carter was either Steve Rogers' handmaid or the Red Skull's.

Black Widow was essentially Nick Fury and Tony Stark's handmaid in Iron Man 2. By Age of Ultron, she'd become the Avengers' handmaid, even jokingly complaining "Do I always have to pick up after you boys?" and having to be the one tasked with calming Hulk down. I feel Natasha didn't truly become her own person who took the lead on her own choices until Avengers Endgame. The Dora Milaje are basically warrior handmaids who serve and protect the King of Wakanda. In myth, who are the Valkyrie but the Asgardian warrior handmaids of Odin who guide the dead to Valhalla? Granted, MCU Valkyrie was a bit of a rogue and seemed to do her own thing, but it seemed she really just traded Odin for the Grandmaster. Agent 13 Sharon Carter and Maria Hill were constant handmaids to either Nick Fury or SHIELD in general, by duty yes, but still. Even Carol Danvers was a mind-enslaved warrior handmaid to the Kree until she frees herself from their clutches. What happened in Falcon and Winter Soldier is Marvel took Sharon Carter, a lesser character whose sole purpose in the MCU was to either serve Nick Fury or Steve Rogers, and who again seemed like she might be Sam and Bucky's handmaid too, completely empowered her and made her arbiter of her own choices in the end credits. I think this is the model going forward for the MCU.

Also, how about SHARON CARTER?!? When newly pardoned "Agent" Carter walked down the Capitol steps with cell phone in hand making new world changing deals in the end credits, the days of the ladies being handmaids in the MCU officially ended.

In the comics, though, we all knew it wouldn't last and that Steve Rogers would be Cap again. It's also a comic book. There's a little more power to it seeing it live on TV and officially in the MCU, and also knowing that Marvel isn't going backwards on MCU Sam Wilson being Captain America. It wasn't a BIG culture shock, but it was a shock (for me) seeing Sam in the Red, White, and Blue for the first time in the MCU.

I have subtitles on too so I don't wake anybody up but I didn't notice that. I'll have to take another look.

I think we're past the three hour No Spoiler window or whatever it is, so... What about SAM WILSON AS CAPTAIN AMERICA?!? I have to admit it was a little culture shocking to see him flying around in the new suit and officially wielding the Shield right out of the gate. Maybe a little awkward for everyone, too. It was just like, first five minutes of the show and BAM! there it is. It took a little getting used to it, but by the halfway point, it all seemed pretty natural to me. Uncle Sam is off to a good start as the new Cap and wears the mantle well. I think there will be a Season Two.