New Avengers #39

[Missy]

BEWARE! SPOILERS AHEAD!

SPOILER SPACE

Okay, so Echo and Wolverine fought a Skrull Echo, which led Wolverine (and later Clint) to trust the real Echo. But that got me thinking: what if the "real" Echo is a Skrull, and this fight was all a ruse to get Wolverine and The Avengers to trust Maya?

Along those same lines, her being a Skrull solves several problems:

01. Her back is often turned when others speak to her, but she's deaf.

02. The Ronin outfit seemed to indicate she was a man, that is, until she first removed the mask.

03. Her "photographic reflexes" could be akin to how Skrulls can seemingly mimic superpowers.

Thoughts?

[Stavros]

Evidence against- The name of the guy writing the comic is Bendis, not Russo.

Nah, seriously it could be that but I think thats almost a parody of a comic-book storyline. Thats like including the retcon 10 years in advance. I don't see them going in that direction.

[Missy]

You have to consider two things.

01. Bendis claims he's been laying the groundwork for Secret Invasion for years.

02. I'm not suggesting David Mack, her co-creator, intended for Echo to be a Skrull. What I am suggesting, however, is that Bendis asked Mack if he could make her a Skrull.

[Dan]

I didn't mention anything due to spoiling things, but the same thoughts occurred to me when I reviewed the issue. Bendis and Mack didn't seem like sloppy enough storytellers for the "deaf person hearing things when her back is turned" mistake to be made so many times.

It's definitely an interesting theory.

[Guest]

Oh god, I hope not. I really like Echo.

[Mull]

Not that ive read this issue but do they reveal where the real Echo has been while the imposter has been around?

[tglancy]

I think the more important question here is

How long as Daredevil been a Skrull? Was it Skrull-Devil who told Cap to put Echo on the team? INTERESTING!

[Missy]

Mull: Well, as far as we know, the real Echo has not been replaced. I'm simply speculating that what we saw here -- a fight between Echo and a Skrull -- was all a ruse to trick Wolverine and her other teammates into thinking Echo is human.

Tim: That clearly was the first time that Skrull portrayed Daredevil. It didn't know a single thing about Echo, and its speech pattern was all wrong.

[tglancy]

So that brings up my next question: where are they getting all their info from. If I remember correctly, a Skrull can look like you, but they don't neccesarily know everything about you, yet this is the second book this month that I have read this in (Ms. Marvel this week as well).

[Missy]

SHIELD, maybe?

[tglancy]

But in Civil War, a huge deal was made that Tony Stark was going to be the lone person with access to those files. So is Tony Stark a skrull? It would explain why he pushed so hard for registration.

[Missy]

A lot of this info was out there before the superhero civil war. The FF and Avengers are very public, the X-Men really don't have secret identities, Daredevil's entire life was outed and other heroes have been known to the government for years. It isn't a stretch to say the information the Skrulls have predates Civil War. And, if they have new info, they're shape shifters. It would be very easy for a low-level SHIELD agent, who's also a Skrull, to temporarily pose as Tony to gain access to his files.

That said, I don't think Tony's a Skrull. Though I used to think he was, now I realize he has to redeem himself. Pulling the mask off to uncover a green-skinned alien would be too easy a fix.