There are a large number of Marvel characters who no one is quite sure whether or not Marvel Studios can use, with one of the most prolific being the shapeshifting alien race known as the Skrulls. For a long time now, it’s been widely assumed that they’re part of the Fantastic Four franchise, but it turns out that may not be the case after all.
Just like Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver can appear in both The Avengers and X-Men franchises, it appears as if the same can be said for the Skrulls…well, most of them at least.
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn took part in a Twitter Q&A recently, and made it clear that while 20th Century Fox owns “some specific Skrulls,” the aliens are in fact co-owned. Why then they haven’t shown up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet is hard to say, though if Marvel is unable to use the Super Skrulls (who have superpowers), then they might just be reluctant to put the spotlight on a race of aliens who can do little more than change what they look like despite that having a fair bit of storytelling potential.
It may ultimately just be too complicated to try and figure out which Skrull goes where when all is said and done, but the prospect of either The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy one day taking this lot on is something well worth getting excited about. Now we’ll just have to wait and see whether or not it happens.