MARVEL´S FIRST SECRET INVASION TURNED THE SKRULLS INTO.. THE BEATLES?

An early invasion by the Skrulls resulted in four of the aliens becoming the Beatles -- and defenders of Earth...

The Skrulls have long been one of the most contentious and dangerous races within the Marvel Universe. Capable of shapeshifting into any form, they typically conduct infiltrations against enemy worlds before trying to conquer them. This includes Earth, which has proven over the years to be a particularly difficult challenge for the Skrull Empire to overcome. When our superheroes and normal defenses prove ineffective, there's also the chance that Earth's culture will be strong enough to protect it from danger. This was the case for four Skrulls who came to Earth in 1963 and disguised themselves as one of the world's most popular bands year, the Beatles -- as revealed in Wisdom by Paul Cornell and Trevor Hairsine.

While hiding among humanity disguised as The Beatles, the four Skrulls quickly discovered that they actually quite liked Earth culture. It wasn't long before they decided to forget about their mission and leave it to other Skrulls. Within a few years, the group had split up and taken different paths in life -- with John the Skrull dating Captain Boko of the Free Kree Liberation Army, George the Skrull deciding to go on a pilgrimage with Dormammu, and both Paul and Ringo deciding that they liked money and fame too much to consider turning on humanity. Over the years, the four quietly found their own lives in Britain -- with John becoming the most prominent after he joined MI: 13, Britain's premier paranormal and supernatural agency. He served on multiple missions where his shapeshifting and combat skills came in handy.

John served with Pete Wisdom, Tink the fairy, Captain Midlands and Maureen Raven against a number of threats -- even reuniting with his former "bandmates" to help fight against an invasion from parallel dimension Martians. But it wasn't long before the band would be put down for good. During Secret Invasion, the four were all captured by a Skrull impersonating Grimsdale, a higher-up in MI:13. Paul, Ringo, and George were all killed, with John only being saved at the last minute by Pete Wisdom. The pair worked with other heroes like Spitfire and Tink to fight their way into occupied Avalon and help free it from the might of the Skrull Empire, only to be captured. John was defiant to the end against his captors but was shot dead for his insolence.

Granted a magical boon by the demons he was forced to unleash to save Avalon, Wisdom used it to blast every Skrull out of Britain, saving the nation from the invasion. Notably, John's body didn't disappear as a result of the spell. Instead, Wisdom was able to take it home and lay it to rest with honors, noting that while John the Skrull might have never been a soldier, he was still an English hero. Even to the forces of magic, the Skrull Beatles were more English than Skrull.