There are a broad range of colorful, chaotic, and occasionally criminal alien races in the MCU. One of the most formidable of those races is the military empire of the Kree. These guys and gals are blue-skinned (but not always), hammer-wielding (but not always), and terrifying (always).
Though the Kree have been around for a decade in the MCU, they came to the forefront in Captain Marvel and will take center stage again when The Marvels arrives this week. The Kree have given us some of the most devious and deadly MCU characters so far, and we expect plenty more to come from these heavily-armed warriors. Here’s what we know about them in the MCU and why they’re so frightening.
Kree in the MCU explained
Kree in the MCU are fearsome warriors locked in a seemingly endless war with the shape-shifting Skrulls, and we learned their backstory through Captain Marvel in 2019.
The Marvel series Agents of SHIELD gave us the first reference to the blue-skinned aliens, laying the table for Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014 to introduce the renegade Kree fighter Ronan the Accuser. Like most of the Marvel villains at that time, Ronan had made a deal with Thanos. He would give the mad titan the Power Stone, in exchange for wielding its power to take out long-time Kree enemies the Nova Corps.
Ronan returned in Captain Marvel (set before Guardians, as you’ll know from our Marvel movies in order guide), which gave us more detail on the MCU’s version of the Kree and their war with the Skrulls. Initially, Carol Danvers referred to them as “noble warrior heroes” fighting against the evil, shape-shifting Skrulls from their home planet of Hala.
In that film, we learned that the Kree were at the head of a fascist empire and, when the Skrulls refused to submit to their rule, the Kree destroyed their planet and began to ruthlessly hunt down the survivors. Kree scientist Mar-Vell turned on her comrades to protect the persecuted Skrulls, vowing to find them a new home.
The Secret Invasion finale saw Nick Fury invited to broker peace talks between the Kree and the Skrulls. We expect to see more of how that plays out in The Marvels, which will also introduce another Accuser in the shape of the villain Dar-Benn.
Kree powers and abilities explained
The Kree have enhanced strength and are equipped with highly advanced weapons due to their status as one of the most technologically advanced races in the universe.
In terms of actual superpowers, the Kree aren’t the most intimidating folk in the MCU by any stretch. They’re stronger than humans and resistant to toxins, but it’s their technology that really makes them formidable opponents.
The Kree Empire was built on technological genius, and that extends to the sturdy body armor they wear in battle, as well as the sophisticated and dangerous weapons they wield. Most notably, we will see Dar-Benn wield the Universal Weapon in The Marvels, which is essentially a souped-up version of the Cosmi-Rod that Ronan used.
As well as being a badass war hammer, the Universal Weapon in the comics has the power to “create and destroy physical matter.” That’s an incredible ability and one that puts the Universal Weapon right up there, with Mjolnir and Stormbreaker among the most impressive tools in the MCU.
Here’s hoping we see what Dar-Benn can do with the Universal Weapon in The Marvels, and we expect that some of the upcoming Marvel movies will show us even more of the Kree arsenal. A race this powerful will definitely stick around in the MCU for a while yet.
Are the Kree good or bad?
The Kree have been portrayed as villains within the MCU, pursuing the expansion of their brutal empire at all costs, pitting them against the likes of Captain Marvel and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
There’s a fascist flavor to the Kree, who used propaganda to hide the motivations behind their unjustified brutality towards the Skrulls. Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) kept Carol Danvers’ true origins secret from her in order to turn her powers into yet another weapon for the Kree Empire. He even installed an implant to suppress her abilities and control her.
Ronan the Accuser was also very much a bad guy, teaming with Thanos to act out his own brutal vengeance against the Nova Empire. With the exception of the remorseful Mar-Vell, we’ve seen precious little evidence of the Kree being anything other than the worst. Sorry, blue guys.
Was Captain Marvel a Kree?
Carol Danvers became a Kree-human hybrid when she received a Kree blood transfusion after an accident involving the Light-Speed Engine created by Mar-Vell.
For most of her life, Carol Danvers believed that she was a Kree warrior called Vers. However, during the course of Captain Marvel, she learned that she was actually born as a human being. She crash-landed while testing a Light-Speed Engine with her mentor Wendy Lawson, who was actually the Kree scientist Mar-Vell.
In the wake of the crash, Carol was caught up in the explosion of the Light-Speed Engine, which gave her superhuman powers but wiped her memory. She received a blood transfusion from Yon-Rogg, making her a Kree-human hybrid. So while she’s not a “pure” Kree, she’s not a pure human any more, either.
What is the Supreme Intelligence?
The Supreme Intelligence is the AI creation responsible for ruling the Kree people as a deity.
In Captain Marvel, the Supreme Intelligence appeared differently for every Kree, taking the form of the person they most admired. Each Kree kept that manifestation a secret, ensuring it remained personal to themselves. For Carol, the Supreme Intelligence took the form of Lawson/Mar-vell, played by Annette Bening.
At the end of the movie, Carol sends Yon-Rogg back to Hala to warn the Supreme Intelligence that Carol is coming for it.
At least one teaser for The Marvels (above, right) features a version of the Supreme Intelligence more similar to the depiction in the comics. That suggests Carol will be making good on her warning, and we can’t wait to see Carol wreak havoc on the Kree homeworld.
That’s everything we know about the Kree for now, but we expect them to play a big role in the remainder of Marvel’s Phase 5 and into Marvel Phase 6. There are plenty of new movies to come, and the Kree loom large over the entire universe, so we’ll be seeing them again.
As for the best movies to come, we’ve got detailed guides to Deadpool 3 and the Captain America 4 release date. Alternatively, read our open letter to Kevin Feige about the future of the MCU.