Captain Marvel: Why Some (But Not All) Kree Are Blue In The MCU

The Kree are known for having blue skin, but not every member of their species in Captain Marvel shares this appearance. The Kree typically do look human, but what sets them apart is their most distinguishable trait: their blue skin; however, there are some Kree in the MCU who are identical to humans.

So far, the Kree have been the most important alien race in the MCU, with key roles in various Marvel projects. In Marvel Comics, they hail from the planet Hala and are often at war with other alien races such as the Skrulls and the Shi’ar. The Kree are governed by a super computer called the Supreme Intelligence. This is true for the MCU interpretation of the Kree, who first appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy which introduced Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and established a bit of Kree history. The Kree returned in ABC’s Agents of SHIELD and played an integral role in seasons 2, 3, and 5. The Kree were also a big part of the story for Captain Marvel, as Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) lived amongst them and got her powers from them.

In Agents of SHIELD, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Captain Marvel, the Kree are recognized for having blue skin, but there are a few Kree characters in the MCU who have human skin instead, such as Mar-Vell (Annette Benning) and Yon-Rogg (Jude Law). The movies don’t properly explain why they’re different, but the comics do. The most well-known Kree in Marvel Comics, Captain Mar-Vell, doesn’t have blue skin either. That’s because Mar-Vell is what his people call a “Pink Kree.”

It was explained in the comics that hundreds of years ago, the Kree ventured to other worlds and mingled with other species, particularly races that looked like humans. By breeding with these people, the Kree inadvertently created a second racial group of their species. At this point, there’s more Pink Kree than there are blue-skinned Kree, but despite this, it’s the blue Kree who still hold most of the power in the government. The Pink Kree are sometimes shunned, due to the fact that they’re not purebred. There are also a few biological differences between the two races of Kree, with one being that Pink Kree are more resilient than their blue-skinned cousins.

This wasn’t discussed in Captain Marvel, but it does make sense for the MCU. It seems likely that this is what happened, especially since It’s been confirmed through characters like Rhomann Dey (John C. Reilly) and Irani Rael (Glenn Close) that there are alien races in the MCU who have human appearances. Breeding with one or more of these races could have created the MCU’s version of the Pink Kree. Depending on how important the Kree will be in Captain Marvel 2, a proper explanation could be offered in the sequel.

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