Yahoo News Who are Marvel's Kree and what do they have to do with Captain Marvel?
Aliens-wise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe got off to a slow start by introducing the little-known Chitauri as the first non-human race to menace Earth back in 2012's Avengers (unless you count Thor and Loki.)
But the MCU is now back on track, having introduced plenty of other aliens including the Kree, an empire of superhuman conquerors with a taste for genetic meddling. 2019's first MCU movie, Captain Marvel, will double down on the blue-skinned humanoids, introducing their own super team and their conflict with another alien race, the Skrulls.
But who are the Kree and how do they fit into the MCU?
Who are the Kree?
Alongside the shapeshifting Skrulls and the bird-like Shi'ar (who fans of the '90s X-Men cartoon will be very familiar with), the Kree are one of the most powerful alien races in the Marvel Comics universe, and have tangled with Earth's heroes many times.
Though the major Kree characters tend to be of the more 'purebred' blue-skinned variety, others appear just like pale-complexioned humans (and, in the MCU at least, Beninese actor Djimon Hounsou portrays a dark-skinned Kree).
The 'blues' constitute the Kree political and social elite, while the 'whites' are more numerous. While – skin colour aside – they look pretty much like humans, the higher gravity of their homeworld, Hala, means they are significantly stronger and more durable than your average Earthling.
The empire is ruled by the Supreme Intelligence, a gigantic, be-tentacled floating head that contains the combined knowledge of the Kree's greatest thinkers, whose minds are assimilated after their deaths. It is, needless to say, very intelligent, with great predictive and psychic powers, which we guess just about makes up for it being a gross, dictatorial head in a jar.
Kree society is extremely regimented and militaristic, which, along with their advanced science, fuelled their growth into a huge empire formed of many conquered worlds. The Kree's big problem is that they are considered 'genetically stagnant', having ceased evolving in the distant past. Their obsession with jumpstarting their evolution has made them talented geneticists, and their experiments included the creation of the superpowered, living weapons known as the Inhumans.
But the Kree aren't all bad – the original Captain Marvel was a spy for the empire who eventually became one of Earth's greatest champions.
The Kree in the MCU
Captain Marvel will focus on the conflict between the Kree and their ancient enemies, the Skrulls, which puts Earth in the crossfire. While the MCU is yet to introduce the Skrulls, the Kree have already made appearances in Guardians of the Galaxy and Agents of SHIELD.
Guardians introduced us to Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and Korath the Pursuer, radicalised Kree who had split from the empire and (temporarily) allied with Thanos.
In Agents of SHIELD, the Kree were revealed as the creators of the Inhumans. A group called the 'Reapers' had travelled to various planets to turn their inhabitants into living weapons to fight in the Kree Empire's wars. The Kree are revealed to have been meddling in Earthling affairs (via the terrorist organisation HYDRA) in the present, and, in an alternate future that was mercifully averted, they enslaved the remnants of humanity after Earth was destroyed.
Set in the '90s, Captain Marvel will introduce us to Starforce, a team of Kree superhumans of which Brie Larson's titular, amnesiac human hero is a member alongside Minn-Erva (Gemma Chan), Att-Lass (Algenis Pérez Soto), Bron-Char (Rune Temte) and Jude Law's mysterious Kree warrior (probably but not definitely Mar-Vell).
A younger version of Korath is also back as a Starforce member, and Ronan – who is yet to split from the empire at this point – also appears.
While plot details remain tightly under wraps, the focus of Captain Marvel trailers on our hero Carol Danvers' memory loss and uncertainty about her past and where she comes from indicate some potential shady actions by her warmongering masters…
Kree/Skrull War
Captain Marvel will be drawing on the classic Avengers storyline 'Kree/Skrull War', which saw the millennia-long conflict between the two races move to Earth for its latest round.
While there are some rumours that the MCU is gearing up for a version of 'Secret Invasion' (a story in which Earth is revealed to have been secretly infiltrated by the Skrulls, who have even replaced some key superheroes), could this be the opening salvo of an on-screen Kree/Skrull War?
The Guardians of the Galaxy movies have successfully moved MCU storytelling into outer space (with Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War continuing the trend). This would be an opportunity to go further and explore a full-on war spread across galaxies and numerous alien races.
If Disney wants to tread new ground in Phase 4 and beyond, the Kree could be a sign that this new ground could turn out to be thousands of light years away from the Earth.
Captain Marvel will be released on March 8.
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