[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Conflict, combat, and all-out war
are par for the course in the Marvel universe.
But did you know that one of the greatest battles
ever may have been started by a couple of hypnotized cows?
COW: Moo?
NARRATOR: Believe it, Bessie.
Because, today, we're talking about a Secret Invasion that
almost changed the world forever on Marvel's "Long Story Short."
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
What makes this cow so important?
Well, it wasn't always a cow.
Oh, wow, I was a Skrull this entire time.
NARRATOR: Skrulls are an alien race known
for their green skin, bumpy chins, and their ability
to shapeshift.
It comes in handy when you're trying
to infiltrate other planets, or playing Celebrity.
NARRATOR: One of their first attempted invasions of Earth
involved them pretending to be the Fantastic
Four, which the actual Fantastic Four wasn't too happy about.
And so Reed Richards hypnotized them into thinking they
were cows.
You're getting sleepy, very sleepy.
Also, you have black spots, and udders, and love being milked.
NARRATOR: Which made them actually turn into cows.
This news didn't go over well back on the Skrull homeworld.
No one turns my subjects into hamburger meat.
NARRATOR: But things just kept getting worse for the Skrulls.
They kept fighting with their arch enemies,
a rival alien race called the Kree.
Tony Stark created a secret group
called the Illuminati just to boss the Skrulls around.
TONY STARK: Stay off of Earth.
NARRATOR: And their homeworld got turned into a midnight
snack for Galactus.
And so the Skrull princess, Veranke, decided it
was time to find a new planet.
And, hey, look at this convenient ancient prophecy
I found.
It says Skrulls are destined to take over Earth.
What a lucky break.
NARRATOR: Meanwhile, back on Earth,
Tony Stark was feeling pretty good after being put in charge
of SHIELD and the Avengers.
Uh, the Mighty Avengers, TM.
Things were seemingly getting back to status quo
after the events of "Civil War."
But then Spider-Woman showed up with a surprise.
Who's that?
Elektra.
Was she always green?
NARRATOR: She was not.
While a team of Avengers was fighting
the Super secret criminal organization the Hand,
it was discovered that their leader, Elektra,
had been replaced by a Skrull.
If Electra is a Skrull, that means anyone could be a Skrull.
Tony called two of his best science buds,
Reed Richards and Hank Pym, in for help.
These Skrull are different.
They can't be detected by magic, super senses,
telepathy, or even my armor.
[ALARM]
Oh, shoot, that's my Skrull ship is crash landed
in the Savage Land alarm.
You go.
We'll examine the Skrull.
Yeah, neither of us is a Skrull.
You could totally trust us.
JK, I am a Skrull.
Bet you're sorry you turned us into cows, now, dude.
NARRATOR: While Reed was busy getting turned into Silly Putty
by Skrull Pym, Tony headed to the Savage Land
with some other Avengers to check
out the crashed Skrull ship.
But Luke Cage was there too with some
of his rival team of Avengers.
Whoa, we're the real Avengers.
No, we're the real Avengers.
Did someone mention the Avengers?
Why did you have to go and make things more complicated?
NARRATOR: All of these heroes looked,
acted, and had the memories of the real people.
So who was who?
Which Avengers were authentic?
And which were Skrulls?
Quick, say something only the real Tony Stark would know.
I dye my goatee.
Everyone knows that.
NARRATOR: But it was about to get worse.
Because this was all a distraction to launch even more
attacks.
A Skrull Sue Storm activated a portal
and started sucking the Baxter building
into the negative zone.
A Skrull Captain Mar-Vel attacked Norman
Osborn a Thunderbolt Mountain.
And a Skrull Jarvis uploaded a virus at Avengers tower
that took out all of Tony's defenses,
including the SHIELD helicarrier, as well as Tony
himself.
While the Avengers fought the Avengers, and also
the other Avengers, Tony dragged himself to an abandoned
science lab in the Savage Land.
I'll have to rebuild my suit using nothing more
than the scraps I find here.
If I hadn't already done the same thing in a dirty cave,
this might be hard.
NARRATOR: But then Spider-Woman shows up with another surprise.
I'm actually the Skrull princess Veranke.
Gotcha!
And you're a Skrull too.
No, that's not true.
That's impossible-- I think?
This is really freaking me out, man.
NARRATOR: Meanwhile, the Skrulls continued to attack Earth.
But they tried to convince everyone it was cool by airing
a bunch of phony celebrity testimonials
about how great it is to be part of the Skrull empire.
The Skrulls are fantastic!
Doom approves of his new Skrull overlords.
NARRATOR: Back in the Savage Land,
Skrull Spider-Woman was still messing with Tony.
You are a Skrull.
- No, I'm not. - Yes, you are.
- No, I'm not. - Yes, you are!
- Yes, I am! - No, you're not!
Wait--
NARRATOR: Once he came to his senses, Tony fixed his suit
and went to help the fighting heroes while Veranke headed
out to lead the Skrull army.
All right, let's figure this out.
Raise your hand if you're a Skrull.
If no one's going to fess up, I'm just going to use my Skrull
identifying cannon on everyone.
This is awkward.
NARRATOR: Reed Had escaped the skrulls,
and in the process, discovered that they were undetectable
because of info they gathered during the Illuminati's mission
to the Skrull homeworld.
Back in NYC, Nick Fury led a team of Earth's heroes
in a battle against the Skrulls.
Avengers, assemble!
Wow, that really worked.
NARRATOR: But, now, Tony, Luke, and everyone
else who ever called themselves Avengers was here.
Even some villains showed up, united in their fight
against a common enemy.
Good to see you, buddy.
Don't talk to me.
NARRATOR: Well, almost united.
A lot of people were still upset at Tony about Civil War.
But they still fought side by side.
The Skrulls suffered significant casualties
but still refused to concede.
You'll never be able to fully stop us!
We'll keep coming back again--
Whoa, crack shot.
Whoever did that should be running the show.
Norman Osborn!
What was that you were saying about me running the show?
NARRATOR: That's right, the shot that finally put Veranke down
was delivered by none other than Green Goblin himself,
Norman Osborn.
Maybe I should take back what I--
NARRATOR: Norman's act of heroism made him so popular
that the government fired Tony and put
him in charge of SHIELD.
Don't worry, I won't abuse this power.
We'll all abuse it.
Norman changed SHIELD to HAMMER
and secretly led a bunch of villains on the payroll,
kicking off a dark reign that would
make things even more complicated
for the Marvel universe.
COW: Moo?
NARRATOR: It's true.
But we'll have to save that tale for another episode
of Marvel's "Long Story Short."