Secret Invasion: The Big Picture (a.k.a. Money Don't Buy Night Thrasher)

I wrote this theory a few months ago and showed it to some of my customers. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to send me your comments at either:

universe7@juno.com
or
snakewing2000@yahoo.com

Also, you will win a very special Universe of Super-Heroes No-Prize if you can figure out where the title of this blog came from.

Enjoy

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Night Thrasher was the key. I should have known it all along.

Case 1:

Despite his skateboard gimmick, Night Thrasher has long been a positive role-model. He is a wealthy African-American who aspires to be the best as both a businessman and a super-hero. He will not sell-out his values or degrade his image for his own profit.

Strange then that he would take part (not to mention co-create) a reality show aimed at exploiting his super-team, the New Warriors. The entire concept was created as a way of 'cashing in' on the NW's super-hero career. Why would a respected super-hero (at least among his peers) take part in such a project?

That's just it, he wouldn't. Dwayne Taylor has too much self-respect to sully his image with such an idea. He became a super-hero to do the right thing, not make money.

Nevertheless, Night Thrasher was an important part of the New Warriors reality show and stuck with it until the group's untimely demise prior to Civil War. However, Thrasher's death is unconfirmed as only Micro and Namorita's corpses were recovered. The tatters of Night Thrasher's costume was found and taken into evidence, but his corpse has yet to be recovered.



Case 2:

Less than a year ago, investigation into the Raft prison break (see New Avengers #1-6) revealed that several super-villains, many previously believed to be dead, were being incarcerated at the facility, as if someone were 'stock-piling' them. Few questioned the reappearance of so many dead villains. After all, if so many heroes come back to life, why not villains too?

Unfortunately, two notable examples of resurrected villains show just why the recently-dead should have been investigated more thouroughly. Cutthroat was a minor rogue until he began working for the Red Skull, taking the place of the departed Crossbones. When Crossbones returned, Cutthroat saw a threat and attempted to kill his rival, only to be met with the business end of a katana, dying at his would-be victim's hands. Strange that he would show up in the Raft after dying such a graphic (and confirmed) death. A second villain is the Cobalt Man. Up to a year before the break-out, Cobalt Man was confirmed to be dead, up to the point that Tony Stark used the identity to infiltrate the Thunderbolts (see Avengers/Thunderbolts #1-6). However, he was documented as one of the incarcerated villains that escaped and hooked up with three others for a few months before being located in Stanford, Connecticut. Up until recently, Cobalt Man was believed to be killed during the explosion caused by Nitro.



The Connection:

Night Thrasher was part of a group which discovered a quartet of escaped super-villains in very close proximity to an elementary school. The New Warriors rushed onto the scene and before they realized what was happening, Nitro exploded and killed hundreds of innocent people.

The truth is that Cobalt Man and Night Thrasher specifically maneuvered the two groups into a confrontation which would cause a large amount of collateral damage in a particularly affluent neighborhood. The upper class of Connecticut would have a much louder voice to protest in the event of a large-scale super-human catastophe.

Why exactly would a hero and a villain work together to cause this event? The reason is that they were working together to cause a panic against super-humans. This event would alert the public to the danger of rampant superhuman activity to the point of outlawing them. It is doubtful that they expected for such a massive registration effort to be undertaken, but splitting the superhero community into two opposing factions was a major success on their part.

What group are Night Thrasher and Cobalt Man affiliated you ask? The Skrulls, that's who.

Sometime in the last year (prior to the New Warriors mini-series and the Raft Breakout), Cobalt Man and Night Thrasher were replaced by Skrulls. Evidence of this is that Cobalt Man was revealed to be a Skrull agent in the recent Captain Marvel series. We were led to believe that he was not the same one as the one who died in Stamford, but the truth is that both Cobalt Men were one and the same, a single agent placed in the Raft prior to the breakout and used to cause a superhuman catastrophe to divert attention away from any suspicion of a Skrull threat.

What about the others you ask? What about Micro, Namorita, Coldheart, Speedball, Nitro, and Speedfreek, the other superhumans involved? Were they Skrulls too? the answer is no, pending further evidence. Micro and Namorita's bodies were recovered (see the current New Warriors series) and shown to be human. Skrull corpses revert to their Skrull form when dead. Coldheart and Speedfreek can be assumed to be incinerated as they had no superhuman vulnerability to protect them. Speedball was giving a full medical screening and shown to be human. His powers were also drastically affected by his proximity to Nitro's explosion, something not likely to happen with a Super-Skrull's physiology. Nitro is definitely human. When he was turned over to the Atlanteans to answer for Namorita's death, Wolverine cut off his hand. The severed hand was human, and Skrulls have no ability to maintain the transformation of appendages when cut off.

Regarding the New Warriors, the Skrulls saw a relatively small team that could be infiltrated without being noticed and placed an agent on the team. The reality show was created as a way to make the Warriors look like a joke and a future scapegoat for their plans to turn the United States against their superheroes. Speedball was easy to convince, and Namorita was just along for the ride. Night Thrasher brought in his new ward Micro, which would provide evidence for how inexperienced the New Warriors were. Cobalt Man hooked up with a superhuman known for his destructive tendencies and hid in a heavily populated area where the collateral damage from a superhuman battle would be the greatest.

Thus, two well placed Skrull agents were able to inadvertently cause Civil War.

But it goes deeper than that.



Case 3:

In the tradition of such prisons as the Slab, the Raft was the latest attempt at large-scale super-villain incarceration. It was heavily guarded by highly-trained SHIELD agents and believed to be impenetrable. Over the course of it's first year prior to the Breakout, at least 14 previously believed to be dead super-villains were transferred to it's cells. Where did these villains come from?

Each and every one of them was a Skrull sleeper agent meant to infiltrate the super-villain community for a future plan of attack. Cobalt Man was just the tip of the iceberg. The Skrull faction of SHIELD had agents stationed at the Raft who could oversee the transfer of Skrull sleeper agents into the facility.

The long-term plan came to fruition when the Skrulls needed a way to bolster Jessica Drew's status within SHIELD, while releasing several Skrull agents that could then infiltrate the criminal underworld. Jessica Drew would almost single-handedly fight off the entire prison population and pass herself off as one of the premier superhumans active in the superhero community. A previously ignored superheroine would be thrust into the spotlight following a very heroic act, while also taking the notice of SHIELD higher-ups. The replacement of Daredevil and Luke Cage (two street-level vigilantes) would also be possible due to their presence at the Raft on the day of the Breakout.

Unfortunately, Spider-Man, Captain America, and Iron Man showed up when it was least convenient. Rather than have a near complete breakout and one heroic SHIELD agent, the spotlight was placed on Captain America and Iron Man, with Jessica Drew blamed for the easy escape of over 40 prisoners. SHIELD chose to give credit to the more well-known superhumans and ignore any negligible contribution that the former Spider-woman made, quickly taking her off active duty.

While her SHIELD career was over, Jessica Drew did find a spot on a highly-placed superhero team, with the newly former New Avengers.

Meanwhile, only a few of the over 40 escaped prisoners were apprehended. Many of the prisoners still at large were likely Skrull agents (most notably the Cobalt Man). None of the apprehended prisoners were Skrull sleeper agents.



Case 4:

First, as part of the infiltration, "Jessica Drew" and "Hand Pym" went through a ritual to mask their presence from most known means of detection. The ritual was mystical, shielding the Skrull sleeper agents from passive scientific equipment and mutant powers. But what about mystical means of detection?

Following the beginning of the Invasion, the Skrulls made a concentrated effort to secure any and all known forms of human magic. Avalon was targetted by a larger-than-usual force of Super-Skrulls in order to secure any mystical artifacts available (see the current Captain Britain and MI-13).

Despite his current absence, Dr. Strange could be the one means that humanity could have to detect any and all of the Skrull infiltrators currently in our midst.

Secondly, the ritual allows a Skrull agent to better pass themselves off as the individual. Skrulls replacing living people are given a mystical connection to their imprisoned counterpart, making their detection highly unlikely to all but the strongest non-Skrull magics. Skrulls replacing a dead person are put through a ritual to merge their being with the appropriate Human (or in Captain Marvel's case kree) essence. this imbues the agent with most of the intimate memories of the person they are passing themselves off as.

Some Skrull agents were brainwashed to believe they actually were the person they were posing as (primarily to maintain their personality), such as the case with the Savage Land Imposters and the returned Captain Marvel. Primarily Captain Marvel needed the memory tampering as his return would be more closely scrutinized than any other. Mockingbird may cry for Clint and Bobbi Barton's lost child, but she doesn't realize she's just a pale imitation of Hawkeye's dead wife. The memories may be perfect, but inside her beats the heart of a Skrull.

Why do I believe this? Theoretically each of the returning Savage Land characters were imprisoned for over a year before returning. Why then, do none of them seem to be growing facial hair for their long-term incarcertation? Why are their uniforms simply immaculate and show no signs of wear and tear? Also, why do none of them have injuries consistent with a deadly (one assumes) escape? Why have none of them even mentioned Skrulls since arriving from space? The truth is that every one of them was programmed to believe they just escape imprisonment without any of the tell-tale signs of such an incarceration. The Skrulls are trying to further divide the superhumans when they need to unify the most, while also sticking another agent or two (i.e. Mockingbird) with the group.




Other Notes:

There are few means of detecting the Skrulls in our midst. Science and mutant senses seem to be negated, while Dr. Strange (our best method of detection) is missing in action.

Due to Dr. Strange’s powers, we can be sure that none of the New Avengers (Hawkeye, Echo, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Luke Cage) are Skrull agents. Spider-Woman had already betrayed them and was not present for the spell.

The only 100% effective way to detect a Skrull is to kill them. A Skrull will revert to its native form if killed.

I repeat, A SKRULL WILL REVERT TO IT'S NATIVE FORM IF KILLED.

That is how Elektra was revealed to be a Skrull. That's also how we know the Savage Land Spider-Man and Hawkeye imposters were Skrulls.

Captain America was not replaced with a Skrull. Don't believe the man wearing the costume in the Savage Land. He is an imposter. If Cap had been replaced, he would have reverted to his Skrull form immediately after being shot and killed by Sharon Carter.

Night Thrasher was a Skrull. Since faking his death at Stamford, Night Thrasher has presumably hooked back up with the Skrull insurgency.

None of the Thunderbolts (in the current incarnation) are Skrulls. The Skrull Captain Marvel was assigned to eliminate the group as part of the invasion.

The Skrulls were not involved in Avengers Disassembled. They were completely surprised by Wanda Maximoff's betrayal.

At the beginning of New Avengers, the blonde Black Widow was recruited as a human patsy for the Skrull SHIELD activities in the Savage Land. She never would have been recruited into SHIELD otherwise due to her mental instability. This was what made her so lucrative for the Skrull SHIELD group, because Yelena would be the just kind of loose cannon that the entire Savage Land operation could be blamed on in the event it was discovered. Later, the Skrulls (either posing as SHIELD or Hydra) offered her the opportunity to be genetically modified into a new Super-Adaptoid. She accepted. The Skrulls tested her against the Avengers, but she failed. This experiment was most likely a test to see if the Super-Skrull process could be conducted on humans.

The Skrull Queen posing as Spider-Woman is attempting to get Tony Stark to doubt himself. She wants him to get the information to the other heroes that they might not realize they’d been replaced with Skrulls. This would further divide the superhuman community during the course of the invasion.