The Skrull who plays the villain at first
Skrulls can copy any face and voice they see, which makes them perfect infiltrators and terrible neighbors. When we meet Talos in Captain Marvel, the film sets him up as the enemy. The Kree warriors Carol Danvers serves with describe the Skrulls as a threat to be wiped out, and Talos spends the first half of the movie chasing her across 1990s Earth, sometimes wearing the face of a S.H.I.E.L.D. boss.
The longer the film goes on, the less that picture holds up. Talos is a refugee commander protecting what is left of his people, including his own family. He is tired, wry and practical, a soldier who would much rather negotiate than fight.
Where Talos appears
He has three MCU appearances on our timeline:
- Captain Marvel (film, essential): his introduction, the Kree-Skrull war and his first meeting with Nick Fury.
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (film, recommended): the end-credits scene, which reveals a surprise about him and Fury.
- Secret Invasion (series, optional): decades later, a splinter group of Skrulls has gone rogue on Earth, and Talos works with Fury to stop them.
Between those two stories, the Skrulls stay hidden on Earth waiting for a promised new home. That unpaid promise is the engine of Secret Invasion.
Key moments in his story
In Captain Marvel, the turning point is a conversation that changes how Carol sees her own side of the war. It is the kind of twist that works best unspoiled, so if you have not seen the film yet, go in cold.
Secret Invasion is a quieter, darker spy story. It puts Talos under pressure from both directions: humans who see Skrulls as a threat and younger Skrulls who think he has been too patient. The show is careful about how it treats him, and his choices in it carry real weight. It is also the series where his relationship with his daughter, G'iah, takes center stage.
Talos and Nick Fury
The heart of the character is his partnership with Nick Fury. Their first meeting is hostile. Over time, it turns into an alliance and something close to friendship between two old spies who trust each other more than they trust anyone in their own organizations. Fury owes Talos a debt, and Secret Invasion is largely about whether he can repay it. Carol Danvers is the third figure in this triangle, since she is the one who first promised the Skrulls help.
Ben Mendelsohn behind the makeup
Mendelsohn is an Australian actor with a gift for unsettling characters. He played the crime-family uncle in Animal Kingdom, the Imperial officer Orson Krennic in Rogue One and the troubled brother Danny Rayburn in Bloodline. As Talos, he keeps his own Australian accent for the Skrull and switches to a flat American voice whenever Talos is disguised as a human, a small touch that tells you who is really talking.
How to watch Talos's story
Captain Marvel is the must-see. It sets up the Skrulls, Talos's family and his friendship with Fury, and it is essential for the wider MCU anyway. Secret Invasion is optional on our timeline: it adds a lot to Talos and Fury, but later films do not depend heavily on it. If you like espionage stories and these two characters, watch it after the Infinity Saga. The full character list points you to Carol Danvers and other Skrull-adjacent heroes.