Veranke
Encyclopedia
Veranke is a fictional character
created by Marvel Comics
who serves as the queen of the Skrull
empire in the Marvel Universe
. She plays a significant role in the events of Secret Invasion
as she leads her empire to invade and conquer Earth.
Although the Jessica Drew appearing in New Avengers #1 is actually Veranke in disguise, this is not revealed until some time later.
escape from the Skrull palace, King Dorrek VII is accosted by Veranke, a princess from the Tyeranx 7 province, for not heeding the words of the Skrull prophecies, which state the attack upon the palace, then the destruction of the Skrull homeworld, the coming of a "wave of devastation" through Skrull space, and the need to take "a world of blue" as their new home. As Dorrek ignores her warnings, Veranke declares if he is unable to heed the writings of the Skrull's scriptures and the will of the Skrull people, he should be removed from the throne. For her defiance, Dorrek banishes Veranke to a prison planet, brushing her off as an insane fanatic and a traitor while acknowledging executing her would only turn her into a martyr for her cause.
, Devourer of Worlds. The next prophecy fulfilled, the Skrulls elevate Veranke, still on the prison world, to the throne of the Skrull Empire. As Queen, Veranke declares that the scriptures foretell Earth as the new Skrull homeland. As such, the Skrulls undergo a major operation to take over Earth through infiltrating the facets of Earth, thereby weakening them enough to employ a military invasion to conquer the planet. In addition, Veranke commands to be one of the agents, deciding to play a direct part in the infiltration of Earth. When she asks who among the candidates for replacement is most capable of inflicting damage, Spider-Woman
is recommended as the prime choice.
to regain her lost powers, she was placed under sedation by Skrulls posing as HYDRA agents, and replaced by Veranke, who takes Spider-Woman's place as a double agent of Nick Fury
, director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
As Jessica Drew
, she was appointed to working at the Raft
, and was at the Raft when Electro unleashed a mass break-out attempt of the prisoners inside. This event unintentionally led to the reforming of The Avengers, which she later joins after Captain America
offers membership to "Spider-Woman". Nick Fury instructs her to continue as his personal agent, now within the New Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., and HYDRA simultaneously; she eventually confesses this triple agent
arrangement to the Avengers.
During an adventure with the New Avengers, Veranke learns of the greatest threat to her rule, Dorrek VIII, also known as Hulkling
of the Young Avengers
, who is the son of the Kree hero Captain Marvel
and the Skrull princess Anelle
, and a likely heir to the throne. During the invasion, she orders him to be executed, keeping his identity a secret.
, it was revealed that she, along with all the other undercover Skrulls, knew that the world had been altered. She tries to assassinate the Scarlet Witch
, but is unsuccessful and deconstructed in a way similar to Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
; both come back afterward. In the aftermath, news reaches her that the Empire itself has almost entirely been destroyed by the Annihilation Wave, killing billions of Skrulls, further fulfilling their prophecies. Distressed, Veranke and her agents become more determined to continue their takeover of Earth.
reveals his identity to the world, Iron Man discloses her triple agent status to acting S.H.I.E.L.D. director Maria Hill. Troubled by "Spider-Woman's" potentially treasonous allegiance to Nick Fury, Hill orders her apprehended. Hiding under the name Sybil Dvorak, she is captured and taken aboard a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier
. Deploying an electro-magnetic pulse device, a HYDRA commando team disables the helicarrier and rescues her. She makes her way to the hidden base of Captain America's Secret Avengers and tearfully pleads to join the resistance, having lost her connection to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury.
After the Civil War
, Veranke travels alongside the New Avengers to Tokyo, where the team fights Elektra
- also a Skrull impostor - and The Hand, and is unable to prevent Echo from killing Elektra, revealing the Skrull infiltration. As the team ponders its next move, Veranke attacks Wolverine and takes the Skrull corpse. She delivers the corpse to Tony Stark in a move designed to sow distrust amongst the superhero community, which at this point is not difficult as there is already a great deal of distrust on all sides of the superhero community due to the Civil War and its aftermath, leaving bad feelings on many fronts. Afterwards, she also joins the government sanctioned Mighty Avengers, under the guise of throwing the Skrulls off balance.
transport ship in the Savage Land. Unbeknownst to Tony, she in turn tips off Luke Cage about this information, telling him that she trusts him over Stark. A meeting among the Skrull agents on Earth is held where Jessica is apparently in attendance, referred to as "Empress" by the Skrull posing as Edwin Jarvis
.
After the first wave of the Skrull invasion of Earth begins, Veranke is seen in the Savage Land, where she confronts and attacks Echo, repeatedly blasting her with venom blasts and then slamming her into a nearby tree trunk. She then finds Tony Stark and insinuates that he is a Skrull sleeper agent, which he denies. She kisses him, informing him that he has "earned the queen's love." Black Widow plans to attack while Veranke talks to Iron Man, but is distracted by Skrulls posing as Beast
and Jean Grey
, and Veranke disappears and escapes while Black Widow kills the Skrulls.
Queen Veranke arrives at Camp Hammond and the Shadow Initiative attempt to assassinate her. Thor makes his presence known and she assembles her troops for the final battle. The New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Nick Fury & his commandos, the Young Avengers, the Initiative, the Hood's crew, Thor, the new Captain America, and the Thunderbolts all assemble. Queen Veranke later reveals that "He", a figure mentioned repeatedly by skrulls throughout the storyline in the phrase 'he loves you' is a reference to "God" as she leads an army of Super-Skrulls against the superhumans of Earth. During the fight, Wolverine confronts Veranke and a fight begins. Wolverine quickly gains the upper hand and impales Veranke through the shoulder with his claws. Moments later, Young Avenger Hawkeye is injured, prompting Clint Barton as Ronin, to pick up her bow. Clint then kills four Skrulls before seemingly killing Veranke with a shot to the head. This leads to the Skrull posing as Hank Pym to activate the device inside the Wasp's body, which he says will end it all. The Wasp starts growing to enormous size, but Thor transports her to another dimension so she can die.
Queen Veranke however is revealed to be still alive. As the heroes go to attack her, Norman Osborn
shoots her in the head from his helicopter, killing her. Her death is seen around the world helping Norman Osborn's rise to power. Veranke is later seen in Erebus
when Hercules
travels to the Underworld.
While posing as Jessica Drew, she displayed Drew's powers which include:
As Jessica, she initially had only limited gliding ability, enhanced by the small wings that are part of her costume. After losing her powers, HYDRA further tampered with her metabolism, providing her with self-powered flight. The range of her flying capabilities is still undetermined.
As Jessica, she displayed powers that helped her and the other Avengers escape from Doctor Doom
's technological device by creating a Venom blast explosion — this use of Spider-Woman's powers was noted as inconsistent with her S.H.I.E.L.D. files.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
created by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
who serves as the queen of the Skrull
Skrull
The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....
empire in the Marvel Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. She plays a significant role in the events of Secret Invasion
Secret Invasion
"Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008....
as she leads her empire to invade and conquer Earth.
Publication history
Veranke's first appearance is a cameo appearance as a cloaked figure at the beginning of Secret Invasion #1. Her character is named and fleshed out in New Avengers #40 as she is seen rising to the Skrull throne.Although the Jessica Drew appearing in New Avengers #1 is actually Veranke in disguise, this is not revealed until some time later.
Fictional character biography
After the group of Earth superheroes known as the IlluminatiIlluminati (Marvel Comics)
The Illuminati are a group of comic book superheroes who joined forces and secretly work behind the scenes in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. The group was formed very shortly after the Kree-Skrull War...
escape from the Skrull palace, King Dorrek VII is accosted by Veranke, a princess from the Tyeranx 7 province, for not heeding the words of the Skrull prophecies, which state the attack upon the palace, then the destruction of the Skrull homeworld, the coming of a "wave of devastation" through Skrull space, and the need to take "a world of blue" as their new home. As Dorrek ignores her warnings, Veranke declares if he is unable to heed the writings of the Skrull's scriptures and the will of the Skrull people, he should be removed from the throne. For her defiance, Dorrek banishes Veranke to a prison planet, brushing her off as an insane fanatic and a traitor while acknowledging executing her would only turn her into a martyr for her cause.
Planning the Secret Invasion
Years later, the Skrull throneworld is destroyed by GalactusGalactus
Galactus is a fictional character appearing in comic books and other publications published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character debuted in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue story later known as "The Galactus...
, Devourer of Worlds. The next prophecy fulfilled, the Skrulls elevate Veranke, still on the prison world, to the throne of the Skrull Empire. As Queen, Veranke declares that the scriptures foretell Earth as the new Skrull homeland. As such, the Skrulls undergo a major operation to take over Earth through infiltrating the facets of Earth, thereby weakening them enough to employ a military invasion to conquer the planet. In addition, Veranke commands to be one of the agents, deciding to play a direct part in the infiltration of Earth. When she asks who among the candidates for replacement is most capable of inflicting damage, Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)
Spider-Woman is a fictional character, a superheroine in the Marvel Comics Universe. The character first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #32 , and 50 issues of an ongoing series titled Spider-Woman followed...
is recommended as the prime choice.
Becoming Spider-Woman
When the real Spider-Woman went undercover into HYDRAHYDRA
HYDRA is a fictional terrorist organization in the Marvel Universe.Despite the name's capitalization per Marvel's official spelling, the name is not an acronym but rather a reference to the mythical Lernaean Hydra...
to regain her lost powers, she was placed under sedation by Skrulls posing as HYDRA agents, and replaced by Veranke, who takes Spider-Woman's place as a double agent of Nick Fury
Nick Fury
Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional World War II army hero and present-day super-spy in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 , a World War II combat series that portrayed the...
, director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
As Jessica Drew
Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)
Spider-Woman is a fictional character, a superheroine in the Marvel Comics Universe. The character first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #32 , and 50 issues of an ongoing series titled Spider-Woman followed...
, she was appointed to working at the Raft
The Raft (comics)
The Raft is a fictional island prison facility in New York City for psychopathic superhuman criminals appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics...
, and was at the Raft when Electro unleashed a mass break-out attempt of the prisoners inside. This event unintentionally led to the reforming of The Avengers, which she later joins after Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
offers membership to "Spider-Woman". Nick Fury instructs her to continue as his personal agent, now within the New Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., and HYDRA simultaneously; she eventually confesses this triple agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
arrangement to the Avengers.
During an adventure with the New Avengers, Veranke learns of the greatest threat to her rule, Dorrek VIII, also known as Hulkling
Hulkling
Hulkling is a fictional comic book superhero and a member of the Young Avengers, a team of superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. Hulkling's character is patterned on the Hulk...
of the Young Avengers
Young Avengers
Young Avengers is an American comic book series written by Allan Heinberg and published by Marvel Comics. It follows a group of young superheroes, each of whom patterns themselves after a member of the long-established Marvel superhero team the Avengers....
, who is the son of the Kree hero Captain Marvel
Mar-Vell
Captain Marvel is a fictional character owned by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and designed by artist Gene Colan and first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) is a fictional character owned by Marvel Comics. The character was created...
and the Skrull princess Anelle
Anelle
In the fictional Marvel Comics Universe, Anelle was a Skrull princess, the only child of Emperor Dorrek VII and Empress R´Klll, and the heir to the Skrull Empire.-Fictional character biography:...
, and a likely heir to the throne. During the invasion, she orders him to be executed, keeping his identity a secret.
House of M
During the House of MHouse of M
House of M is an eight-issue comic book limited series and crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics in 2005. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel, its first issue debuted in June 2005 as a follow-up to the events of the Planet X and Avengers Disassembled...
, it was revealed that she, along with all the other undercover Skrulls, knew that the world had been altered. She tries to assassinate the Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch
The Scarlet Witch is a fictional comic book character that appears in books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in X-Men #4 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
, but is unsuccessful and deconstructed in a way similar to Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
Hawkeye (comics)
Hawkeye , also known as Goliath and Ronin, is a fictional character that appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Tales of Suspense #57 and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck. Hawkeye joined the Avengers in Avengers Vol. 1 #16 Hawkeye...
; both come back afterward. In the aftermath, news reaches her that the Empire itself has almost entirely been destroyed by the Annihilation Wave, killing billions of Skrulls, further fulfilling their prophecies. Distressed, Veranke and her agents become more determined to continue their takeover of Earth.
Civil War
Soon after Spider-ManSpider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
reveals his identity to the world, Iron Man discloses her triple agent status to acting S.H.I.E.L.D. director Maria Hill. Troubled by "Spider-Woman's" potentially treasonous allegiance to Nick Fury, Hill orders her apprehended. Hiding under the name Sybil Dvorak, she is captured and taken aboard a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier
Helicarrier
The Helicarrier is a fictional flying aircraft carrier specifically designed to be capable of independent powered flight in addition to the conventional functions of aircraft carriers...
. Deploying an electro-magnetic pulse device, a HYDRA commando team disables the helicarrier and rescues her. She makes her way to the hidden base of Captain America's Secret Avengers and tearfully pleads to join the resistance, having lost her connection to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury.
After the Civil War
Civil War (comics)
Civil War is a 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline built around a self-titled seven-issue limited series written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time...
, Veranke travels alongside the New Avengers to Tokyo, where the team fights Elektra
Elektra (comics)
Elektra Natchios, usually referred to only by her first name Elektra, is a fictional character in publications from Marvel Comics.Elektra is a kunoichi – female ninja assassin – of Greek descent. She wields a pair of bladed sai as her trademark weapon. She is a love interest of the superhero...
- also a Skrull impostor - and The Hand, and is unable to prevent Echo from killing Elektra, revealing the Skrull infiltration. As the team ponders its next move, Veranke attacks Wolverine and takes the Skrull corpse. She delivers the corpse to Tony Stark in a move designed to sow distrust amongst the superhero community, which at this point is not difficult as there is already a great deal of distrust on all sides of the superhero community due to the Civil War and its aftermath, leaving bad feelings on many fronts. Afterwards, she also joins the government sanctioned Mighty Avengers, under the guise of throwing the Skrulls off balance.
Secret Invasion
Tony Stark informs the false Jessica of the crash-landing of a SkrullSkrull
The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....
transport ship in the Savage Land. Unbeknownst to Tony, she in turn tips off Luke Cage about this information, telling him that she trusts him over Stark. A meeting among the Skrull agents on Earth is held where Jessica is apparently in attendance, referred to as "Empress" by the Skrull posing as Edwin Jarvis
Edwin Jarvis
Edwin Jarvis is a fictional supporting character in the Marvel Comics titles, The Avengers, Iron Man, and Spider-Man.-Publication history:...
.
After the first wave of the Skrull invasion of Earth begins, Veranke is seen in the Savage Land, where she confronts and attacks Echo, repeatedly blasting her with venom blasts and then slamming her into a nearby tree trunk. She then finds Tony Stark and insinuates that he is a Skrull sleeper agent, which he denies. She kisses him, informing him that he has "earned the queen's love." Black Widow plans to attack while Veranke talks to Iron Man, but is distracted by Skrulls posing as Beast
Beast (comics)
Beast , Dr. Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy, is a comic book character, a Marvel Comics superhero and a member of the mutant team of superheroes known as the X-Men...
and Jean Grey
Jean Grey
Jean Grey-Summers is a fictional comic book superheroine appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix, and Dark Phoenix and is best known as one of five original members of the X-Men, for her relationship with Cyclops, and for her...
, and Veranke disappears and escapes while Black Widow kills the Skrulls.
Queen Veranke arrives at Camp Hammond and the Shadow Initiative attempt to assassinate her. Thor makes his presence known and she assembles her troops for the final battle. The New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Nick Fury & his commandos, the Young Avengers, the Initiative, the Hood's crew, Thor, the new Captain America, and the Thunderbolts all assemble. Queen Veranke later reveals that "He", a figure mentioned repeatedly by skrulls throughout the storyline in the phrase 'he loves you' is a reference to "God" as she leads an army of Super-Skrulls against the superhumans of Earth. During the fight, Wolverine confronts Veranke and a fight begins. Wolverine quickly gains the upper hand and impales Veranke through the shoulder with his claws. Moments later, Young Avenger Hawkeye is injured, prompting Clint Barton as Ronin, to pick up her bow. Clint then kills four Skrulls before seemingly killing Veranke with a shot to the head. This leads to the Skrull posing as Hank Pym to activate the device inside the Wasp's body, which he says will end it all. The Wasp starts growing to enormous size, but Thor transports her to another dimension so she can die.
Queen Veranke however is revealed to be still alive. As the heroes go to attack her, Norman Osborn
Green Goblin
The Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....
shoots her in the head from his helicopter, killing her. Her death is seen around the world helping Norman Osborn's rise to power. Veranke is later seen in Erebus
Erebus
In Greek mythology, Erebus , also Erebos , was often conceived as a primordial deity, representing the personification of darkness; for instance, Hesiod's Theogony places him as the first five beings to come into existence from Chaos...
when Hercules
Hercules (Marvel Comics)
Hercules is a fictional character that appears in publications by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Journey into Mystery Annual #1 and was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby....
travels to the Underworld.
Powers and abilities
Like all Skrulls of Deviant heritage, Veranke is capable of shape-shifting her form into whatever she chooses, be it humanoid, non-humanoid, or even inorganic. Recent unspecified developments in genetic engineering within the Skrull race has allowed the Skrulls, including Veranke to go undetected in human form from Iron Man's technological scans, Charles Xavier's mental scans, Spider-Man's Spider-Sense, Wolverine's animal senses, or any other conceivable forms of detection. So subtle and powerful is this form of concealment neither Doctor Strange at his Sanctum Sanctorum could detect her with the Spell of Tartashi (though it apparently inflicted some degree of physical pain), nor could the Elder God-powered Scarlet Witch using Xavier's psychic powers delve into Veranke's true mind, as shown when Veranke was granted Jessica Drew's desires, not her own. Veranke's shape-shifting abilities also allow her to form weapons such as blades on her body. Veranke also has a great deal of knowledge concerning Skrull prophecies.While posing as Jessica Drew, she displayed Drew's powers which include:
- Flight
- Superhuman strength, endurance, reflexes, and speed.
- Bioelectric Energy Blasts "venom blasts"
- Immunity to all poisons and drugs, and is totally immune to radiation.
- Pheromones generation to attract human males while repulsing females, though she uses a chemical "perfume" that can nullify this effect. Recently emerged with her powers restored greater than ever.
As Jessica, she initially had only limited gliding ability, enhanced by the small wings that are part of her costume. After losing her powers, HYDRA further tampered with her metabolism, providing her with self-powered flight. The range of her flying capabilities is still undetermined.
As Jessica, she displayed powers that helped her and the other Avengers escape from Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom
Victor von Doom is a fictional character who appears in Marvel Comics publications . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 wearing his trademark metal mask and green cloak...
's technological device by creating a Venom blast explosion — this use of Spider-Woman's powers was noted as inconsistent with her S.H.I.E.L.D. files.