The Skrull and Kree Unite in ‘Road to Empyre: The Kree/Skrull War’ #1

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Warning! This article contains spoilers for This week’s road to empyre: the kree/skrull war #1, so read on at your own risk, o frantic ones!

The Kree and the Skrull are no longer at war. As seen in INCOMING #1, Emperor Dorrek VIII has united his people under a single banner, and the newly formed Alliance is heading directly to Earth in EMPYRE #1! To complicate matters even further, Dorrek VIII is also the Young Avenger known as Hulkling, and he’s apparently turned his back on his adoptive planet.

But just because two rival cosmic forces have come together doesn’t mean that everyone is ready to accept such a radical change. Last year, MEET THE SKRULLS introduced the Warner family: Carl and Gloria, as well as their daughters Madison, Alice, and Ivy. These Skrull sleeper agents have spent years on Earth, and Carl gave his life in the name of their never-ending mission. But in this week’s ROAD TO EMPYRE: THE KREE/SKRULL WAR #1, writer Robbie Thompson and artists Mattia De Iulis, Javier Rodriguez, and Alvaro Lopez illustrate that the Warners don’t know everything about the history of the Skrulls’ enmity towards the Kree. However, they received a crash course in this special one-shot that may change the map of the galaxy.

Long time Marvel readers may already be familiar with some of these events, but ROAD TO EMPYRE represents them from a Skrull perspective. It also established Ivy as the peacemaker in the family. Ivy’s experience as a captive has changed her perspective of the war. Now, Ivy wants to find some way to make her people a peaceful race again, as they were eons ago. The issue also expands upon the origin of the Kree and Skrull conflict that was first seen in AVENGERS #133. It all started when the Skrulls initiated a competition between the Kree and the plant-based Cotati.

Prior to this contest, the Cotati and the Kree co-existed peacefully on Hala. Unfortunately, the Kree couldn’t accept the Cotati's victory in the contest because it would have denied them their “destiny.” Instead, the Kree slaughtered the Cotati and the Skrull, before reverse-engineering Skrull technology to become an intergalactic empire. In turn, the Skrulls embraced a new warlike culture of conquest.

AVENGERS #89-97 brought the conflict back to Earth in the classic Kree/Skrull War storyline. That tale also set the stage for Hulkling’s origin in YOUNG AVENGERS #9-12, when it was revealed that the Kree warrior Mar-Vell and the Skrull princess Anelle had a child named Dorrek VIII. To save his life, Dorrek VIII was raised on Earth as Teddy Altman before joining the Young Avengers as the hero called Hulkling.

Hulkling’s twin heritage briefly led the Warners to believe that he had sided with the Kree against them. That seemed like a safe assumption considering that a Kree sleeper agent came very close to assassinating them as well. This present-day conflict dovetailed with the legendary rivalry of Raksor of the Skrull and Bel-Dann of the Kree. Both warriors were introduced in UNCANNY X-MEN #137 during the Dark Phoenix saga. However, it was FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #18 that truly fleshed out Raksor and Bel-Dann. The Fantastic Four and the Inhumans were able to trick the duo into joining forces and temporarily ending the war. The Warners know that it was a trick, but Ivy doesn’t care. After all, it was the first sign of peace in thousands of years between their two peoples.

What the Warners don’t know is that INCOMING #1 revealed that Raksor and Bel-Dann became close friends on Earth. Bel-Dann’s murder set the events of that one-shot in motion, and his last message to Raksor was “beware the trees.”

Meanwhile on Earth, the Warners caught up with the Kree assassin only to discover that he had a sleeper family as well. At Ivy’s insistence, Gloria showed mercy to their foes shortly before they received Hulkling’s message of unity and conquest. Will the Warner family blindly follow the Alliance? Perhaps we’ll find out when EMPYRE #1 arrives in stores!

Stay tuned to Marvel.com/empyre for more news about Marvel’s latest comic event!