Captain Marvel's Skrull Transformations Are Wonderfully Gross

CBR

By Ian Cardona

Published Jan 8, 2019

The Captain Marvel first look gave us a glimpse at the Skrull's transformation, a process that appears to be more painful and gross than we expected.

The latest Captain Marvel teaser effectively serves as a new, somewhat short trailer for the film. Not only does it show us Carol Danvers' cosmic powers in full action and beginning stages of the trust forming between her and Nick Fury, it also gave us more of a look at the film's main villains, the Skrulls.

Marvel Comics' race of villainous shape-shifting aliens who have attempted to invade Earth time and time again, the Skrulls' special abilities allow them to change their green and pointy-eared form to look like anyone they choose to copy. As you'd expect, this allows them to execute their plans unnoticed, a secret malevolent presence hiding in plain sight.

In the comics, the Skrulls' shape-shifting is a rather seamless action, as the aliens switch from their alien look to human with ease. However, the new footage reveals the Skrulls' on-camera transformation, and it's appears to be a more complicated, possibly even painful, process.

In the first look video, the Skrulls arrive on Earth, emerging out of the sea and walking onto the beach. Then, one of the four aliens spots a young woman headed out to surf. This shot appears to be presented through the eyes of the Skrull, given that there is a blur effect and distortion around the screen's edge. Perhaps this "Skrull vision" is how the aliens lock onto a target, in order to replicate.

Then, the transformation begins, a process that looks like it hurts -- a lot. As the Skrull's skin changes color, its body appears to be re-written at a molecular level as the alien invader lets out a screech of pain. The change is gruesome and messy, bordering on something you'd see in a horror film, like in a classic werewolf movie.

This is actually different from previous instances of shape-shifting in the MCU. Loki, for example, can take on the form of others (he shape-shifted into Captain America once, remember?), but his was a seamless transformation based on the God of Mischief's magic and illusions.

Bruce Banner's transformation into the Hulk does appear to be painful, yes, but it's still a different process from the Skrulls'. The Hulk grows bigger, adding muscle and bone mass, yet still maintains Banner's general facial features. We don't know yet whether the Skrulls can change size as well as shape, but the process involved looks completely unique from the Hulk's, with the skin seemingly cracking and glowing as they become someone else, entirely.

In the Marvel Universe, the Skrulls are an important fixture that stand apart from the rest of other, villainous alien species. And from what we've seen of Captain Marvel so far, it appears the shape-shifters will be equally formidable -- and downright insidious -- in the MCU.

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck from a script they wrote with Liz Flahive, Carly Mensch, Meg LeFauve, Nicole Perlman and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Captain Marvel stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Jude Law as the commander of Starforce, Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, Djimon Hounsou as Korath the Pursuer, Gemma Chan as Minn-Erva, Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau, Algenis Perez Soto, McKenna Grace as young Carol, and Annette Bening in an undisclosed role. The film arrives March 8, 2019.