How Long Do Skrulls Live For?

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WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Secret Invasion season 1, episode 1.
Marvel’s Secret Invasion revisits the MCU’s Skrulls in a story set three decades after Captain Marvel (2019), raising the question of how long Skrulls live. The Skrulls are among the most important alien races in Marvel Comics, yet they only joined the MCU toward the end of Phase 3. Captain Marvel went for a different approach with the Skrulls, with Talos and his family asking for the help of Carol Danvers in the war against the Kree Empire.
Captain Marvel’s story has led right into Secret Invasion season 1, episode 1. While Talos continues to be Nick Fury’s friend, not every Skrull is now on their side. The MCU's Secret Invasion timeline can be tricky, especially because the Skrulls’ lifespan is different from humans'.
Skrulls Live For Around 200 Years In The Marvel Comics

In Marvel Comics, the Skrulls, which are technically Deviants who evolved on the planet Skrullos, live for over 200 years. The Skrulls’ unique Deviant physiology allows them to shapeshift into whatever solid thing they want, from another living organism to an inanimate object. The Skrulls’ shapeshifting ability has no limitations other than they have to transform into something solid. In other words, the Skrulls’ bodies have unlimited elasticity and plasticity. As such, hundreds of years can go by with no signs of aging in a Skrull’s face.
The Skrulls can also alter the size of their bodies, another reason why it is very much impossible to tell a Skrull’s age just by looking at them. In Marvel Comics, it is rare for a Skrull character to look old, even in their natural forms. The Skrull’s lifespan also helps explain why the Skrull Empire grew so strong and managed to hold its power for so long. To put things in perspective, the Skrull vs. Kree conflict, which the MCU incorporated in Captain Marvel, went on for thousands of years. It can be assumed that the MCU’s Skrulls have a similar lifespan to their Marvel Comics counterparts.
How Old Every Major Skrull In Secret Invasion Is

Marvel’s Secret Invasion revolves around a few different Skrulls. This includes Talos, Ben Mendelsohn’s MCU character. Talos was introduced in Captain Marvel, set in 1995, and he has since appeared in Spider-Man: Far From Home and Secret Invasion. Soren, Talos’ wife, was played by Sharon Blynn and died offscreen somewhere between Far From Home and Secret Invasion. G’iah, Emilia Clarke’s Secret Invasion character, debuted in the MCU as a child in Captain Marvel. Finally, Gravik, played by Kingsley Ben-Adi, is shaping up to be the major Secret Invasion villain. Comparing the characters’ apparent human ages with the Skrull’s lifespan, their actual ages in the MCU can be estimated as follows:

Talos: ~136 years old, as confirmed by Nick Fury.
Soren: ~130 years old, assuming she was around the same age as Talos when she died.
G’iah: ~85 years old.
Gravik: ~85 years old.
Beto: ~70 years old.

Beto, Secret Invasion’s new Skrull recruit played by Samuel Adewunmi, is treated by both G’iah and Gravik as if he is from a younger generation compared to them. It makes sense for Talos and Soren to be relatively old in Skrull years, as they were considered to be leaders among their people. Likewise, the Skrull revolution that is infiltrating Earth goes against what Talos wanted for his people, so it makes sense for Gravik to be at least a generation younger than Ben Mendelsohn’s character. The same applies to G’iah, who was still a child during the events of Captain Marvel.
New episodes of Secret Invasion release every Wednesday on Disney+.
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