Avengers: Kree-Skrull War

***Avengers: Kree-Skrull War*** is a 2012 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team The Avengers. The film is the thirteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the seventh film in Volume Two. *Avengers: Kree-Skrull War* is a sequel to *The Avengers* and was written and directed by J.J. Abrams. The film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Evangeline Lilly as Janet van Dyne/Wasp, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Katee Sackhoff as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver, Paul Bettany as Vision, Andrew Garfield as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Ben Mendelsohn as Kl'rt, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Thomas Jane as Yon-Rogg, Jessica Chastain as Abigail Brand, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, Denzel Washington as Emperor Dorrek VII, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

The film was released on May 4, 2012.

## Plot

The Avengers – Tony Stark/Iron Man, Steve Rogers/Captain America, Janet van Dyne/Wasp, Thor, Clint Barton/Hawkeye, and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow – stop an illegal weapons deal in Mexico. The team returns to Avengers Mansion, where S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill welcomes them back. As S.H.I.E.L.D. gains back public favor, the Avengers host a party, attended by several close allies, including Bruce Banner, James Rhodes/War Machine, Sam Wilson/Falcon, and Scott Lang/Ant-Man. At the party, Steve and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Sharon Carter continue to get closer, but a kiss is interrupted when a security breach goes off near Stark Tower. The Mansion's security, the android Vision, leaves to check it out.

At Stark Tower, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, still in hiding, witness an asteroid-like object hurdling toward the street. Wanda uses her powers to prevent the object from landing and hurting people. Vision arrives and discovers Wanda and Pietro. The three learn the asteroid is actually Carol Danvers, though none of them recognize her. As she is unconscious, they bring her back to Avengers Mansion. Steve, seeing the twins, is hesitant to trust them, but Wanda promises she and her brother only want to atone for their actions. Tony reluctantly agrees to let them help when he sees Carol. Carol awakens and nearly attacks them, but realizes they are the Avengers. She introduces herself and reveals her alignment with S.W.O.R.D. Hill remembers Fury setting up a secret space counterpart to S.H.I.E.L.D., and realizes Carol is an ally.

Carol tells them about the Kree and the Skrulls, and how she was blown out of the sky by a new Kree weapon. The Avengers want to stay out of the war, but Hill agrees to contact S.W.O.R.D. to let them know Carol is alright. However, before she can, a spaceship lands in the mansion's backyard. The team goes to investigate and see Skrulls climb out of the ship. They are there for Carol, who comes at them slightly weakened after her fall. With everyone working together, they manage to take on the aliens, but after Carol hides herself while powering up, the Skrulls take Scott. The team decides to split up, with Tony, Steve, Thor, Carol, and Rhodey going to meet with the Kree, while Janet, Natasha, Clint, and Pietro go to rescue Scott from the Skrulls, and Wanda, Vision, Bruce, and Sam are sent by Hill to find Fury in the Arctic, as he is the only one with access to space communication projects.

While travelling, Wanda and Vision bond for the first time, before all four find Fury in a remote safehouse. Tony and his team of five travel to Hala, while Carol poses as a prisoner in their custody. They offer Supreme Accuser Yon-Rogg Carol in exchange for Earth being left out of the war. Yon-Rogg agrees, but after taking Carol, immediately captures Tony, Steve, Thor, and Rhodey. They resist capture and Carol helps them defeat the police. Yon-Rogg takes on Carol and reveals he has harnessed energy from the Cosmic Cube and is now on her level. With an even fight, Carol is still able to overpower him and escapes with the others. Meanwhile, Janet and her team's rescue mission does not go as planned, and Pietro is captured too, while the other three escape.

The team reconvenes at Fury's safehouse, where he has protocols in place that will prevent alien ships from even entering the atmosphere. Wanda is informed of Pietro's capture and she is devastated, nearly leaving to get him back. Vision convinces her to stay. Fury's protocol is deactivated by a Kree ship, and they are able to easily get through. They track Carol to the base, due to implanting a micro-tracker on her on Hala. They attack and Wanda's true power is shown as she sets off a blast that kills multiple Kree and injures Yon-Rogg. Wanda is benched, and Vision offers to look after her back at the Mansion, while Carol takes Tony, Natasha, Sam, and Bruce to stop a Kree fleet from leaving Hala, and Janet, Clint, Steve, Thor, and Rhodey return to the Skrull mothership to appeal to Emperor Dorrek.

Vision consoles Wanda as she struggles to deal with the weight of her abilities. Yon-Rogg, in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, escapes and sets up Kree stations in New York City, London, and Paris, to terraform Earth into a new Kree base to stop the Skrulls. Fury calls in Abigail Brand and her S.W.O.R.D. team. Carol and her team damage several ships in the fleet, but they still make it out in time. Carol realizes what she has to do and sends the others back, while she stays on Hala. On the Kree mothership, Janet pleads with Dorrek to help them stop the Kree together, but he refuses, as he also wants Earth as a new home for their people. As the team gets separated, Janet and Thor are replaced by Skrulls and sent back with Clint, Steve, and Rhodey.

Fury and his team try to take down the Kree station in the Avengers mansion, while Hill takes on London, and Brand in Paris. Tony, Natasha, Sam, Bruce, Clint, Steve, Rhodey, and the two Skrulls return to Avengers Mansion, where they regroup with Wanda and Vision. As they try to deactivate the station with causing an explosion, suddenly "Janet" and "Thor" use Skrull weapons to blow up the entire mansion. Only the two moles are killed, while the others recoup. Yon-Rogg is angered by the Kree station destruction and heads to the Skrull mothership and takes on Kl'rt, Dorrek's general. The two fighting allows Pietro to escape. He sends Scott back to Earth, before destroying the mothership, seemingly killing everyone on board.

The rest of the Skrull fleet retreats, while the remaining Kree try to avenge Yon-Rogg, until all of them suddenly leave in a hurry. Carol returns and reveals she destroyed the Supreme Intelligence, the only voice the Kree listen to. With it destroyed and Yon-Rogg dead, the Kree have no leader and no plan. Scott returns and reveals Pietro's sacrifice, just before Pietro returns to Earth and reveals he made it out in time. The team rebuilds Avengers Mansion, while Fury decides to join S.W.O.R.D. Carol visits Mar-Vell and Anelle's 12-year-old son Teddy Altman, who is living with Anelle's handmaiden, unaware that he is alien. Thor takes a leave of absence from the team to ensure Asgard's safety, leaving Tony, Steve, Janet, Clint, and Natasha to train the new Avengers: Bruce, Rhodey, Sam, Scott, Wanda, Pietro, and Vision.

In a mid-credits scene, Kl'rt, still alive, takes command of the rest of the Skrull fleet, until the rest of the Skrulls reveal they have crowned a new leader, Queen Veranke, a former General who was imprisoned by Dorrek as a heretic, but now her prophecies have come true, and she plans a long-term takeover of planet Earth. In a post-credits scene, Wanda dreams of destroying the entire world, until Vision awakens her, but she promises him she is fine.

## Cast

* Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
* Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
* Evangeline Lilly as Janet van Dyne/Wasp
* Chris Hemsworth as Thor
* Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
* Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
* Katee Sackhoff as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel
* Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
* Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine
* Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon
* Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
* Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
* Paul Bettany as Vision
* Andrew Garfield as Scott Lang/Ant-Man
* Ben Mendelsohn as Kl'rt
* Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
* Thomas Jane as Yon-Rogg
* Jessica Chastain as Abigail Brand
* Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter
* Denzel Washington as Emperor Dorrek VII
* Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury

## Reception

### **Box office**

*The Avengers* grossed $631.8 million domestically and $986.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.618 billion. The film had a domestic opening weekend of $202.3 million, debuting at number one at the box office.

### **Critical reception**

*Avengers: Kree-Skrull War* was acclaimed by film critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it received 94% approval with an average rating of 8.14/10 (the highest scored MCU film at that point), based on 452 reviews, with the consensus: "*Avengers: Kree-Skrull War* continues a modern classic franchise with action, humor, a strong story, and brilliant visuals, and will please traditional comic book readers and new fans alike." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score, gave the film an 82 out of 100 based on 46 reviews from critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.