Did The Avengers Plant The Seeds For Marvel’s Secret Invasion?

There’s a growing feeling within Marvel’s impassioned fanbase that the MCU is about to experience an invasion. But not just any invasion – the Secret Invasion, itself inspired by Brian Michael Bendis’ eight-part comic crossover.

Take this latest Reddit theory as an example. Put forward by a user named ‘lunch77,’ this speculative tidbit supposes that Marvel Studios already planted the seeds for a big-screen rendition of Secret Invasion during The Avengers and, more specifically, the moment when Thanos unleashed a Chitauri army upon Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

In doing so, the Mad Titan may have created a distraction for the Skrulls to slip into our world undetected…

Captain Marvel, confirms the Skrulls are a major player in the MCU. Since it takes place in the 90s, that could be when they would begin the timeline for Secret Invasion. I think they’ll go that route but there’s another event that was right in front of us that’s important: The Chitauri Invasion.

What if Thanos made a deal with the Skrulls to let more of them enter the Space Stone portal and sneak into Earth undetected, using the loud, bombastic, in-your-face Chitauri Invasion as a diversion for a highly covert, sneak attack? The Avengers’ attention would have been on Loki and the Chitauri, leaving us highly vulnerable.

It’s just one of the many, many Avengers 4 fan theories currently bouncing off the walls of the Internet, so as always, we’d advise taking this one with a pinch of salt.

Even still, it’s certainly a plausible take on the current status of the MCU, what with Captain Marvel poised to introduce the Skrulls early next year. And given the film’s ’90s setting, Carol Danvers either missed one or two of those pesky aliens, or the Skrulls needed to partner with Thanos further down the line in order to stage their resurgence.

The theory continues:

I’m not saying Avengers 4 will be Avengers: Secret Invasion. I’m not predicting when it will happen. But I personally think it’d be a genius move and help strengthen the MCU if Thanos is still fucking with the Avengers from beyond the grave (assuming he’s killed or worse).

(One more possible hint, the Chitauri are shapeshifters in the comics, and were used in the Ultimate Universe in place of the Skrulls. I remember when I saw The Avengers on opening night and thought it was odd they would use aliens notorious for shape-shifting and never once have them use those powers or even reference it. They were just a generic invasion force. Perhaps it was intentional?)

All will be revealed once Avengers 4 makes landfall on May 3rd, 2019. Closer to home, we have the standalone Captain Marvel movie to look forward to, which is expected to roll out the MCU’s undisputed power player come March.