A new teaser for Marvel’s upcoming Empyre event teases an “unholy alliance” - one that somehow involves Wolverine. The teaser, illustrated by Phil Noto, shows a Kree and a Skrull getting ready to duke it out as the Watcher looks on in the background. It also shows Wolverine in the center, with images of the Kree Supreme Intelligence and a Skrull woman (possibly Veranke, the Skrull Queen) positioned just above his shoulder. The text reads “The aftermath of the Kree-Skrull War led to an unholy alliance. The Earth-shattering event of 2020 begins in April.”
The Kree-Skrull War ran in Avengers #89 through #97 and found the team caught in the middle of an intergalactic blood feud between sworn enemies the Kree and the Skrull. The Avengers battled both Ronan the Accuser and Skrull infiltrators, with both sides locked in a bid to use Earth for their own purposes. The Avengers succeeded, and later it was revealed the Illuminati - which included the likes Professor Xavier, Black Panther, Reed Richards, and Tony Stark - advised both sides to keep Earth out of their war.
Empyre will begin after the events of Marvel’s latest one-shot, Incoming, as the Young Avenger Hulking unites Kree and Skrull in a bid to claim Earth. The aftermath of the war will be further explored in Road to Empyre: The Kree-Skrull War by Robbie Thompson, Mattia De Iulis and Javier Rodriguez, and will also feature the cast of Thompson’s Meet the Skrulls series.
This isn’t the first time Marvel has drawn from the Kree-Skrull War. 2008’s Secret Invasion had its roots in the same war, with the Skrulls experimenting on captured Earth heroes in order to perfect their shape-shifting abilities. Later, they would use this information to infiltrate the superhero community and launch an invasion. The Kree-Skrull War is also seen in the MCU’s Captain Marvel and ends with titular hero leaving Earth to find a new home for the Skrulls.
The most interesting addition to the teaser, however, is Wolverine himself. The conflict is set to feature the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, and while Wolverine is a former Avenger himself, he’s not an active member of either team. Involving Wolverine in the conflict creates another link to the X-Men, who are currently in the midst of their own adventures in their utopic island of Krakoa. Depending on how exactly this unholy alliance involves Wolverine, it could also set both teams on an eventual collision course with the mutants. This has already been strongly hinted at, with Fantastic Four unnerved by the X-Men’s interest in Franklin Richards, the extremely powerful son of Reed and Sue Richards. However this plays out, Empyre is teasing plenty of surprises come April.
Empyre #1 by Al Ewing, Dan Slott, and Valerio Schiti hits stores in April.
More: Captain Marvel: 10 Things About the Kree/Skrull War the Movie Leaves Out
