As Marvel’s Empyre crossover draws to a close, the dramatic new cosmic order of the Marvel Universe has been reaffirmed by an ex-Avenger.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Empyre #6 by Al Ewing, Dan Slott, Valerio Schiti, Marte Gracia, & VC’s Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
After a few months, Marvel’s Empyre crossover event is winding down. While the fallout of the event is still becoming clear, the main story’s ending has set a new precedent for two of the universe’s most powerful empires” the Kree and the Skrulls. The unification of the Kree and Skrull Empires was one of the central pillars of the Empyre storyline, and it now looks like they’ve been reunited for good.
The two cosmic empires have been famous enemies of each other for decades, but they banded together under the Young Avengers’ Hulking. Hulkling inherited the united empire because his born name is Dorrek VII because his mother was a Skrull princess and his father was a Kree war hero, Captain Mar-Vell. For one of thier first major tests as a united empire, the Kree and the Skrull teamed up with the Avengers and the Fantastic Four to battle the plant-like aliens of the Cotati on Earth. By working together, Earth’s heroes and the united alien Empyre were able to take down the Cotati, with Hulkling’s benevolence and the Avengers’ code cementing the Kree/Skrull alliance for good.
Empyre #6 saw all of the fronts of the war come together for one final assault. While Iron Man found a solution to deal with the Pyre, Captain America and Mister Fantastic led the ground forces against the Quoi, Swordsman, and the Death Blossom. After a few perilous moments, She-Hulk and Black Panther were both restored to their former selves and were on the front lines fighting to defend Earth once again. Meanwhile, in the Kree/Skrull flagship, Teddy battled his maternal Skrull grandmother, R’Kill, to regain his throne.
R’Klll used her shapeshifting powers to infiltrate Hulkling’s inner circle and subdue Teddy with a power inhibiting iron mask. After the mask was knocked loose during a fight with R’Klll, Teddy smashed the mask onto her face which nullified her powers and cemented Teddy as the true ruler of the Kree/Skrull Empire. R’Klll wanted to make her grandson hate his human side because she thought it would make him a strong ruler, but Teddy’s human side eventually won the war for both parts of his empire.
With these actions, Hulkling coalesced his power and legitimized himself as a leader for both the Kree and the Skrulls. While those two alien empires fought for countless years, the Kree/Skrull War is truly over, thanks to Hulking and what he did in this crossover.
One of Teddy’s earliest decisions in the crossover ended up saving the day — his lending the Sword of Space to Black Panther. While he was temporarily defeated, Black Panther came roaring back to life thanks to a lifetime of martial arts training that allowed him to surprise the Cotati and deal a final blow to the Cotati Swordsman and the Death Blossom, which essentially ends the war. Even though lending the Space Sword left him vulnerable, he did it to lift up his teammates and giving them any advantage they need.
Teddy’s trust in his human ally T’Challa and the rest of the Avengers was a crucial move in winning him the war. He also entrusted Carol Danvers as his Supreme Accuser and followed her intuition, even if she had to disobey his orders at times. Teddy’s faith in the Avengers way is what truly left the Kree/Skrull empire united under his command. Where Teddy’s grandmother R’Klll erred by relying on the old Skrull ways of deception and hate, the power of the Avengers was ultimately what saved the day. Now, a united Kree/Skrull empire under Teddy’s command will leave the universe in a more peaceful place than its been in some time.
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