JOHN THE SKRULL

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Skrull)

Occupation: Government operative;
   formerly infiltrator, spy, musician

Group Membership: M.I.13 (Peter Wisdom, Captain Midlands/Sid Ridley, Maureen Raven, O/Oliver Orwell, Tink, others);
   formerly Skrull Beatles (Skrull George, Skrull Paul, Skrull Ringo)

Affiliations: Alistaire Stuart, Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Dai Thomas, Shang-Chi

Enemies: Martian Master (Earth-691), James Ransom, Skrulls, Super Skrulls, Y Ddraig Goch;
   formerly Otherworld fairies, Oberon

Known Relatives: Boko (possibly spouse - see comments)

Aliases: John Lennon, Merlyn, "unreal person"

Base of Operations: MI-13 HQ, London

First Appearance: Wisdom#1 (January 2007)

Powers/Abilities: John was a shapeshifter, capable of assuming virtually any form he desired. By growing wings he could fly. For his Otherworld mission he used a watch-shaped plasma-holoprojector which allowed him to fake magical powers. 

Height: Variable; (as John) 5'10"
Weight: Unrevealed, possibly variable
Eyes: Variable; (as John) Brown
Hair: Variable; (as John) Brown

History:
(Wisdom#2 (fb) - see comments) - John was one of four Skrull infiltrators sent to Earth to replace the band the Beatles and through that deception take over the planet; in John's case, he took on the identity of John Lennon. However, as time passed the Earth and their disguises started to rub off on them, especially after they lost contact with their superiors. While working with Skrull Paul on composing a song, John told him that he wanted to do more than just an alien invasion, noting derisively that "Gerry and the f***ing Skrull Pacemakers" could do an alien invasion. Paul told to sell the idea to their bosses, if he could find them.

   As time progressed the group began to drift apart; Skrull George decided to go on a pilgrimage with the Dread Dormammu, Skrull Ringo realized he liked money and power, and John got into a relationship with Captain Boko of the Free Kree Liberation Army.

(Wisdom#1 (fb) - BTS) - Eventually John went to work for MI-13, the arm of British intelligence that dealt with the weird, supernatural, superhuman and alien. 

(Captain Britain and MI13#4 (fb) - BTS) - He joined because there were a lot of threats to his adopted country that only he could see.

(Wisdom#1) - John was assigned to Pete Wisdom's unit. After several attacks on the U.K. from Otherworld fairies they were assigned to hit back and try to end the conflict. John listened to his fairy teammate Tink, an exile from Otherworld, mention that this would be awkward in a manner that made it clear she didn't care, John noted they had a collective consciousness back where he came from. When Tink checked that he meant the Skrull homeworld, John quipped "Liverpool, on a Friday night." After a quick briefing by Wisdom, the team were outfitted with specialized gear by the quartermaster O, who gave John a plasma-holoprojector so he could fake magical abilities.

   Deployed to Otherworld the team hit a fairy hillfort. During the assault John impersonated Merlyn, using the projector to make doves appear, and tricking the confused fairies into dropping their guard long enough for Tink to gun them down. Once the battle ended the team's telepath, Maureen Raven, tried to locate a child that had been kidnapped during one of the incursions, finally locating the infant with the fairy king Oberon, but he sensed her presence and teleported the entire team to him. Surrounded, the team began to desperately fight, but Oberon called a halt to hostilities and after a short discussion a truce was arranged via Wisdom agreeing to marry Oberon's daughter, who turned out to be Tink. Following this, the team returned to Earth.

(Wisdom#2) - The team was sent to Pantagruel Army Camp in Wiltshire, where top secret weapons were being tested, because there and in the nearby Pantagruel Village residents were suffering from repeated horrific dreams it was driving everyone out. John and teammate Captain Midlands met with the Parish Council, who blamed everything on the military, but the meeting was disrupted when a squaddie outside started firing a machine gun wildly. The two agents ran outside to stop him, but Wisdom brought him down first. The team accompanied the squaddie to the hospital, where he informed them that he had thought he was dreaming. Raven tapped into the man's mind to learn more, but this triggered intense waking dreams on everyone else, with John recalling his days with the Skrull Beatles, prompting him to wonder about giving Skrull Paul a call, then reject the idea. Resisting the dream, Wisdom learned that the weapon being tested, a sonic weapon which had been blasting into the ground had disturbed the ancient giant Pantagruel, and her dreams were broadcasting out to everyone in the vicinity, triggering the illusions; Raven's psychic probe had then kicked things into overdrive. Wisdom organized the team to try and combine minds and broadcast in the other direction to send Pantagruel back to sleep, but John wanted to do more than just keep a sleeping giant sleeping, and instead woke Pantagruel. Unfortunately, as Pantagruel rose from the ground, she took the village built on top of him with him, and additionally two other giants who had been buried by whomever contained Pantagruel also woke, intent on stopping her. As the giants began battling, unlucky bystanders caught on them as they rose began to fall, so John grew wings and joined Tink in rescuing them. Winning the fight, Pantagruel wandered into the sea, heading towards Greenland and taking army base, the village and villagers with her. Once she hit international waters Wisdom announced she was out of their jurisdiction and the MI-13 team took a helicopter back to the mainland, with John insisting on singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" as they watched the giant wading through the sea.

(Wisdom#3) - MI-13 was sent to deal with the problem of Y Ddraig Goch, the ancient Welsh dragon of myth who had taken human form, forgotten his true identity and become a crimelord. Sending in their ally Shang-Chi into the pub where the dragon was to waken his memories, Wisdom assigned John, Tink and Captain Midlands to watch from a nearby bed and breakfast, the "Gruffydd Yonge," serving as "observation post one" while he and Maureen took up position in "observation post two." With it being increasingly obvious to everyone that Wisdom was having an affair with Maureen behind Tink's back, as the two teams headed to their positions John noted that about "what a coincidence" it was that Tink was with his group; annoyed, she told him to shut up, "unreal person." In the room Tink confessed to her teammates that she wished Wisdom would just tell her about the affair, but she suspected he was worried she'd tell her father and so restart the war, and complained that he thought so little of her it was like she wasn't real. Waxing philosophical, John told her that being real wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and that living like Wisdom, always worried about potential repercussions to his actions, was not living like a real person. Realizing how deep he'd just been, he joked that they should put a copy of him in every hotel room, then told Tink that the only decision she had to make was for the fairy to leave the boy who wouldn't grow up. That, and whether Tink thought shagging him was out of the question.

   Back in the pub, Shang-Chi was fighting Y Ddraig Goch, a battle that triggered the latter into transforming back into his dragon form, draining energy from everyone in the surrounding city to do so. As a result John and all the others abruptly fell asleep, but woke a few minutes later as the fight headed out into the skies above the city. Again growing wings, John joined Tink in flying to where the dragon had just crash-landed into the hotel Wisdom and Maureen had been in; while no one was injured, the smashed roof provided a clear view of Wisdom and Maureen waking up from sleeping spooned together, prompting her to take John's advice and break from Wisdom (though she didn't tell Oberon, in order to maintain the peace).

(Wisdom#4 (fb) - BTS) - On the rebound, Tink apparently began a casual sexual relationship with John. 

(Wisdom#4 (fb)) - While half-listening to O explain to them that his instruments were showing the barriers between their universe and another was weakening, Tink made a cutting joke about Wisdom's dishonesty and John asked her if she was doing anything later; she responded "you, probably, unless I'm happy and sober." Apparently fine with being the rebound sex, John responded that all donations were gratefully accepted. O concluded his briefing by informing the team that there was something triggering the devices that traced the same route around Whitechapel in London several times a week. Visiting the area the team realized that the pattern fitted the Rippermania Walking Tour that professional guide James Ransom regularly held. As the team followed him on his tour, Maureen took umbrage at how he disparaged the Ripper's victims so she confronted him; as she did, the energy detector O had given Wisdom spiked, confirming Ransom to be the source. Wisdom dismissed the team, telling them he'd give O the readings to interpret, but back at their residences the two female team members were attacked by alternate reality versions of Jack the Ripper. Concluding Ransom had somehow sent them, the team took him into custody, but back in the lab O confirmed the energy readings were continuing and growing, concluding that Ransom was unconsciously using powers he didn't know he had to bring Rippers from across the multiverse to their reality. With dozens of energy spikes detected across London, Wisdom ordered the team to split up and hunt down as many Rippers as possible. Arriving in Oxford Circus, John dealt with one of the more unusual ones, an ape with a razor blade. As he manifested tentacles to capture it, he opined that fighting a monkey in Oxford Circus was like a metaphor for when he was in the band, adding that thought he was beginning to miss Skrull Paul.

(Wisdom#4 - BTS) - While they were dealing with the Rippers, Maureen telepathically interrogated Ransom, shutting down his powers temporarily to prevent more coming through, but then discovering he had been given his powers by tentacled beings from another reality.

(Wisdom#5 - BTS) - MI-5 kidnapped Maureen because her discovery tied to intelligence MI-5 had obtained some time ago but kept to themselves relating to a possible incursion from Martians invaders from another reality. Unable to track her down another way, the next morning Wisdom decided to use the link she'd forged with Ransom to locate her, but when he took Ransom out of custody the Ripperologist demonstrated his increasing control of his powers by using them to break out.

(Wisdom#5) - Unaware of all of this, John joined Tink and Captain Midlands in the MI-13 Ops Room, waiting instructions while Wisdom was elsewhere. Though he hadn't told them the situation, each sensed something was wrong in the world. Concerned that something alien was happening, John called Skrull Paul, asked him if they liked Earth enough to defend it, and suggested they get the band back together.

(Wisdom#5 - BTS) - Ransom took Maureen from MI-5 and used her telepathic powers to open a portal to Earth-691, allowing the Martian Masters who had conquered that world to launch a full scale invasion of Earth-616.

(Wisdom#6) - The Skrull Beatles reformed and assisted MI-13 in fighting the Martian Masters. Growing wings, they attacked the Martian war machines from the air, but were driven back by heat rays. As they dodged the attacks, one of them told John that they were meant to be the alien invaders, adding that the Martians were taking a right liberty by jumping in. As the battle progressed they worked together to topple war machines, and Skrull George asked the others if they would still be the Skrull Beatles when it was all over; to this John stated he quite fancied becoming the Skrull Monkees for a bit, Ringo agreed that the dialogue would be easier, and Paul agreed only so long as he could be Peter Tork.

   Wisdom and recently arrived hero Captain Britain rescued Maureen from the Martians but the link she had forged between realities remained open. With the Martians' seemingly endless numbers slowly winning the day for them, John and the other Skrulls assembled with the MI-13 team in a warehouse to discuss what to do. O confirmed that they could not shut the gateway unless Maureen died, so she asked Wisdom to take her to the roof so she could say farewell before he killed her. With Maureen's death the Martian tripods all immediately disappeared back to their reality, leaving behind a devastated London. Watching sadly as Wisdom cradled Maureen's corpse, John quoted real Beatles' song The End, "And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make."

(Captain Britain and MI13#2 (fb) - BTS) - Tink quit MI-13 and went back to Otherworld.

(Captain Britain and MI13#1 (fb) - BTS) - When a long-term Skrull plot to infiltrate Earth's institutions and superhero teams was exposed, the Skrull "secret invasion" went hot, with Skrulls forces attacking worldwide. John's infiltration mission pre-dated this newer one by decades, and Wisdom trusted that his loyalties now resided with Earth and MI-13. However, Wisdom suspected others might be Skrulls, in particular his boss, Joint Intelligence Committee chair Sir Mortimer Grimsdale. With regular detection devices useless, Wisdom decided to use John to test Grimsdale, but needed to lure him close enough to John for the Beatle to be able to sense if he was a fellow Skrull.

(Captain Britain and MI13#1) - Faking being a prisoner, John was visited in his cell by Grimsdale. When Grimsdale stepped up to shoot John himself, the Beatle confirmed Wisdom's suspicions were correct, and Wisdom killed the infiltrator on the spot. As John was released from his restraints Wisdom confirmed the other infiltrators had all come out of hiding when the war started, but Grimsdale had not, intent on killing the "traitor" John.

   John later joined Wisdom, Captain Britain and Alistaire Stuart at a briefing with the Prime Minister. Hearing the invaders seemed to be concentrating on the Cheviot Hills, Captain Britain realized they were targeting the Siege Perilous, through which they could access Otherworld. John noted that "your new extremist model Skrull" was all about taking for themselves what others had, and Wisdom concluded that they must be after Britain's magic, which they could take for themselves if they controlled Otherworld. The Prime Minister immediately deployed John, Wisdom, Captain Britain and the speedster superhero Spitfire to stop them. They took a helicopter to the site, but it was shot down by enemy Super-Skrulls, forcing John to grow bat-wings to land safely. As one of their assailants stated the extremist Skrull mantra "He loves you" John responded "yeah, yeah, yeah," and asked them whether they were copying the powers of anyone he could fight, like Abba or Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The Earth heroes battled and killed the two Super-Skrulls, but then John heard one of their communicators mention that a missile had been launched, and realized their foes had been trying to keep them there to be killed by the incoming strike. Spitfire snatched John up and carried him away at high speed to a safe distance away. Trying to prevent the Siege Perilous being destroyed, Captain Britain attempted to stop the missile and was killed.

(Captain Britain and MI13#2) - With the main access to Otherworld destroyed, Wisdom called on Tink for aid. Teleported in, she took John, Wisdom and Spitfire to her realm, which like Earth was under Skrull attack. Tink took them to her father, who was closing the doors to other realms so the Skrulls could not use Otherworld to attack them too. Oberon told them that a small hope had materialized, and directed them to a cave which proved to contain a rock in which Excalibur was impaled. Wisdom suggested they try to pull it out, so John attempted, but as expected it didn't budge, which John attributed to it not being willing to work for aliens or Scousers (people from Liverpool). John made an unsuccessful attempt to, just before they were found and attacked by more Super-Skrulls.

(Captain Britain and MI13#3) - Moving at superspeed Spitfire evacuated Wisdom and went back for John. Now facing dozens of Super-Skrulls solo, John defiantly told them he could change back into Skrull form and try and hide among them, maybe surviving for a few more minutes, but he refused to die looking like them, one of the fascists who'd made Skrullkind look like morons. Spitfire returned to help, and as they desperately fought a powerful wind rose up momentarily, heralding Merlyn bringing Captain Britain back to life. Massively outnumbered, John and Spitfire were about to be shot when someone else entered the cave, diverting the invaders' attention.

(Captain Britain and MI13#4 (fb)) - The new arrival was the reborn Captain Britain, who pulled Excalibur from the stone and used it to kill the Skrulls threatening John and Spitfire. After checking on their welfare he raced back to Earth to retrieve Otherworld's stolen magic and stop the invaders there. Unfortunately, as John and Spitfire exited the cave they were confronted by more Skrulls and captured.      

(Captain Britain and MI13#4) - They were imprisoned alongside Wisdom and Tink. The Skrull force's commander informed them that they would need local leaders willing to work with them to run Earth and Otherworld, and told them that if they swore allegiance to the Skrull Empire he would let them live. John derisively noted that "terms and conditions" applied to this offer, and demanded to know if there was a place for silliness in their fascist world, asking the commander if they had anything for him. In response the Skrull shot him dead. Moments later dark magical forces including the demon Satannish that Wisdom had unleashed while separated from the others attacked and slaughtered the invaders. Seeing John's murderer among the dead, the still bound Spitfire damned him for being dead, saying she'd wanted to kill him. Wisdom chastized her for saying that, glanced at John's corpse, and noted "He was mine." As a boon for being released by Wisdom Satannish offered one wish. Making it clear that if he'd been given two he would have resurrected John or his other dead loved ones, Wisdom asked for the Skrulls to be gone, and Satannish incinerated all the Skrulls in the British Isles. Returning to Earth with John's body, Wisdom wondered what would honor him, especially now he'd killed all of John's people.

(Captain Britain and MI13#7) - When the demon Plokta tried to trap Wisdom with in an illusion of an ideal world where his wishes came true, he found himself in a world where the people he cared about who had died were all alive and well, including John. Snapped out of the illusion by the Black Knight, Wisdom told his rescuer he'd just been thinking of an old friend.

(X-Men Legacy II#14) - Some time later the mutant Legion assailed Wisdom with psychic visions of everyone he'd ever loved and lost, which included John.

Comments: Created by Paul Cornell, Trevor Hairsine and Paul Neary.

   Since the flashback in Wisdom#2 was a waking dream / illusion triggered by the sleeping giants it's impossible to be sure these were completely accurate memories; they may have been distorted, or even outright fictions. 

   She's only mentioned in the flashback in Wisdom#2, but since Captain Boko of the Free Kree Liberation Army fills the same role in the Skrull Beatles as Yoko Ono did with the real Beatles, it's possible she and John got married, just like the real John Lennon did with Yoko Ono.

   This profile was completed on 09/28/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25^th anniversary's celebratory event to represent

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
John the Skrull has no known connections to:

• LENNON, JOHN - former member of the Beatles, husband of Yoko Ono, assassinated--Marvel Super Special#4
  
• LENNON, JOHN impersonator - member of Beatles cover band--Strange Tales I#130
• LENNON, JOHN imposter - member of gang of Beatles-themed crooks--Strange Tales I#130
  
• LENNON, JOHN of Earth-47366 - pulled to Earth-616 from Abraxas' anomalies--Fantastic Four III#47
  
• any other "John" or "Skrull" characters

images: (without ads)
Wisdom#6, p7, pan2 (ain image)
Wisdom#1, p14, pan2 (as Merlyn)
Wisdom#4, p16, pan1-2 (capturing the ape Ripper)
Wisdom#6, p14, pan4 (downing a tripod)
Captain Britain and MI13#1, p17, pan4 (with batwings and tentacles)
Captain Britain and MI13#4, p7, pan2-4 (death)
Wisdom#6, p3, pan1 (Skrull Beatles)
Wisdom#2, p9, pan4 (Boko)

Appearances:
Wisdom#1 (January 2007) - Paul Cornell (writer), Trevor Hairsine (pencils, inks), Paul Neary (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Wisdom#2 (February 2007) - Paul Cornell (writer), Trevor Hairsine (pencils), Paul Neary (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Wisdom#3-6 (April-July 2007) - Paul Cornell (writer), Mark Garcia (pencils, inks), Mark Farmer (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Captain Britain and MI13#1-2 (July-August 2008) - Paul Cornell (writer), Leonard Kirk (pencils), Jesse Delperdang (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Captain Britain and MI13#3 (September 2008) - Paul Cornell (writer), Leonard Kirk (pencils), Jesse Delperdang  & Scott Hanna (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Captain Britain and MI13#4 (October 2008) - Paul Cornell (writer), Leonard Kirk (pencils), Jesse Delperdang (inks), Nick Lowe (editor).

First Posted: 09/29/2026
Last updated: 09/28/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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