How Long Do Skrulls Live & Are They Immortal?

Skrulls are quite notable villains from Marvel Comics. They are an advanced race of aliens famous for their shapeshifting abilities and waging war against the Kree in what seems to be a millennia-old conflict. Now that we’ve gotten a better look at ‘Skrulls’ in the MCU, it’s hard to miss the fact that Skrulls seem to have better physiology than humans, having superpowers by default and being slightly stronger, but what about their lifespan? How long are Skrulls able to live, and are they immortal? 

Skrulls are not immortal but have significantly longer lifespans than humans. In the comics, Skrulls are able to live up to 210 years on average. In the MCU, Skrulls are able to reach at least 300 years. Despite their rather long lifespan, Skrulls are only slightly more durable than humans and can be dealt with quite effectively via weapons or other means, meaning it is possible to kill them. They are, however, notably resistant to radiation. 

Now that we’ve given you the answer to the main question, it’s time to explore Skrull physiology in more detail. If you’re interested in more, stay with us and keep reading! 

Skrulls are not immortal, but they are able to live for a long time 

Skrulls have been a topic of discussion in the comic community for ages now, and they are usually represented as villains and warmongering people notable for their infiltration techniques provided to them by their shapeshifting immortality. 

Now that ‘Secret Invasion’ premiered, we’ve gotten a better look at Skrulls in the MCU as well, and we couldn’t help but notice that Skrulls are better prepared for war against humans than vice versa. 

Skrulls are not carbon-based, like all other life forms on Earth. They are not “mammals” or what would be the equivalent of mammals on Skrullos. Instead, they are reptilian in nature, which provides them with a plethora of advantages compared to human physiology. In the comics, Skrull younglings are hatched from eggs. Still, female Skrulls are able to breastfeed.

They are slightly stronger, faster, and more durable than humans, and as we’ve mentioned, they have the peculiar power of being able to shapeshift or “sim” whichever being they want, including the clothes.

One more biological advantage that Skrulls have is their lifespan, Skrulls are not immortal, and they are not especially resistant to other forms of damage, but they do live longer than average humans, and we’ve already seen several examples of this in the ‘Secret Invasion’ series. 

Skrulls age more slowly in the MCU & in the comics 

Talos and Nick Fury met back in 1995. During the events we’ve seen in ‘Captain Marvel’ despite this over all these years, Talos remained vital, able to move faster, more durable, and stronger by far than Fury. Fury was wondering how this physical shape is possible for someone who is supposed to be 136 years, then Talos corrected him by saying that he is not even 40 in human biological years, meaning that Talos hasn’t even reached “middle age” in Skrull years, despite being far older than the oldest human being. 

This led us to believe that Skrulls can, in ideal conditions, live for at least 300 years, which is several times longer than humans, but they are still not immortal. 

Another piece of evidence that Skrulls age far slower than humans is the scene that took place in 1997 when Fury met Gravik for the first time. 

Varra presented Gravik to Fury and told him how Gravik lost his parents in the Kree onslaught. He managed to pilot the ship by himself to save his life, meaning he is resourceful and a survivor, and Fury’s plans to protect the Earth by using Skrulls could easily include Gravik due to his natural talents and the will to live. 

Fury then comments on how Gravik “is just a child.” Varra corrected him by saying that Gravik seems like a child to human eyes, implying that Gravik is far older than he seemed in human years. It’s quite possible that he is as old as Fury or even possibly older than Fury by several decades. 

It’s possible that Skrull longevity can be attributed to their reptilian physiology, which affects the rate at which their cells decompose and regenerate, making their lifespan long. 

Skrulls have the same lifespan in the comics. They are known to live up to 210 years in ideal conditions. However, it’s important to note that there did exist one subspecies of Skrulls that was, in theory, immortal. 

Back on Skrullos, Celestials did the same experiments on Skrulls that they did on humans, meaning that at one point in time, Celestials created two additional types of Skrulls, Deviant Skrulls and Eternal Skrulls, the original Skrulls that weren’t tampered with were named Prime Skrulls. 

Prime Skrulls were wiped away completely soon after a resurgence of Deviant and Eternal Skrulls, and Deviant Skrulls rose to be the most dominant species of Skrulls on Skrullos, eventually killing all Eternal Skrulls in the process.

It’s possible that Eternal Skrulls were immortal in the same way that humanoid Eternals were, meaning that they had no capped lifespan and were created in limited quantity, unlike the Deviants, who could reproduce easily with pretty much anybody else.

One fun fact is the last Eternal Skrull, Kly’bn, was killed during the ‘Secret Invasion’ storyline on which the Disney+ show is based on. 

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