Secret Invasion E3: The Skrulls' Connection With The Avengers Goes Way Beyond [SPOILER]

Contains spoilers for "Secret Invasion" Season 1, Episode 3 — "Betrayed"

If there is one thing that Marvel's "Secret Invasion" communicates, it's that the stakes are high. Maria Hill and Everett Ross' deaths kick off the events of the spy thriller series and it shows no signs of slowing down. As Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) continue their efforts to dismantle Skrull terrorists, they discover that the deck is stacked against them. Skrull leader Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) has infiltrated almost every conceivable level of their lives. And if the recent episodes are any indication, Rhodey (Don Cheadle) is one of them.

Episode 3 ends with confirmation that Fury's wife, Priscilla (Charlayne Woodard) is working for Gravik when she gets a call from someone who is almost certainly Rhodey. In a series where no one is trustworthy, this is pretty much expected. But even so, it has startling implications in the history of Marvel. The episode also reveals that Fury and Priscilla were involved in the Black Widow program back in the '90s. With Priscilla's loyalty called into question, the Skrulls could have been sowing seeds of rebellion for decades — and may have even been involved in the Avengers.

"Captain Marvel" paints Nick Fury's introduction to alien life forms in a specific way. After helping Carol (Brie Larson) dismantle a Kree conspiracy against Skrulls, the future SHIELD director becomes the first line of defense against the strange and dangerous. Carol's moniker as "Avenger" inspires Fury to create a team to defend the world against threats. But he doesn't do this all on his own. Talos and his Skrull team are instrumental in Fury's ventures. They are his main source of information and are most likely the ones keeping tabs on superheroes.

This would give Skrulls access to Iron Man, Black Widow, and, yes, even War Machine. Gravik's obsession with mass destruction is insidious and has been in the works for a long time. If Rhodey has indeed been impersonated by the alien race, that means any Avenger-adjacent character is up for grabs. Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) and Natasha's (Scarlett Johansson) deaths in the previous "Avengers" films pretty much take them off the board, but there is no telling who or how many superheroes have been replaced. This particularly casts a shadow on members of the initiative who aren't around all the time. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) have had stories recently, but there are some movies that they are not a part of. Could that have been the moment when they were abducted and replaced with an alien counterpart? Only time will tell.