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Veranke is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The queen of the Skrull Empire, first introduced under the guise of Spider-Woman ( Jessica Drew), she is the main antagonist of Secret Invasion in which she leads her empire to invade and conquer Earth.
Years later, the Skrull throneworld is destroyed by Galactus; believing that only Veranke can lead them, the Skrulls rescue her from exile and she is anointed as their Queen. Veranke declares that the scriptures foretell Earth as the Skrull's new homeland, thus the Skrulls undergo a major operation to take over Earth through infiltrating Earth's facets, thereby weakening Earth enough to employ a military invasion to conquer the planet. To set an example for her people, Veranke also decides to participate in the invasion and asks which of Earth's heroes would be ideal for her to impersonate. Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman is recommended as the prime choice thanks to Skrulls posing as HYDRA agents having learned of her status of a double agent of Nick Fury. New Avengers #40. Marvel Comics.
After successfully assuming Drew's identity, Veranke takes up the latter's new position at the Raft and was stationed there when Electro unleashed a mass break-out attempt of the prisoners inside. This event unintentionally led to the New Avengers's reformation, which she later joins after Captain America offers membership to her. New Avengers #3. Marvel Comics. Fury instructs her to continue working for him as a personal agent, now within the New Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., and HYDRA simultaneously; she eventually confesses this Double agent arrangement to the Avengers.
During an adventure with the New Avengers, Veranke learns of her rule's greatest threat: Hulkling of the Young Avengers and the son of the Kree hero Mar-Vell and the Skrull princess Anelle who is a likely heir to the throne. During the invasion, she orders Dorrek VIII to be executed; unbeknownst to her, he survives.
Afterwards, Veranke travels alongside the New Avengers to Tokyo to fight Elektra and the Hand, but is unable to prevent Maya Lopez / Echo from killing the Skrull Pagon which reveals the Skrull infiltration. As the New Avengers ponders the next move, Veranke defeats the Skrull posing as Wolverine in front of Iron Man in a move designed to sow distrust amongst the superhero community, leaving bad feelings on many fronts. Mighty Avengers #6 (2007). Marvel Comics. Afterwards, she also joins the government sanctioned Mighty Avengers under the guise of throwing the Skrulls off balance. Mighty Avengers #7 (2007). Marvel Comics.
A meeting among the Skrull agents on Earth is held where Veranke is apparently in attendance, referred to as "Empress" by the Skrull posing as Edwin Jarvis. Mighty Avengers #14. Marvel Comics.
After the Skrull invasion of Earth begins, Veranke is seen in the Savage Land, where she confronts and attacks Echo, repeatedly striking with venom blasts and then slamming her opponent into a nearby tree trunk. She then insinuates Iron Man is a Skrull sleeper agent, and kisses Iron Man for supposedly having "earned the queen's love". Secret Invasion #3. Marvel Comics. Black Widow plans to attack while Veranke talks to Iron Man, but is distracted by Skrulls posing as Beast and Jean Grey, and Veranke disappears and escapes while Black Widow kills the Skrulls. Secret Invasion #4. Marvel Comics.
Veranke arrives at Camp Hammond and the Shadow Initiative attempt to assassinate her. Thor's presence is known and she assembles her troops for the final battle. The New Avengers, the Mighty Avengers, Nick Fury's commandos, the Young Avengers, the Initiative, the Hood's crew, Thor, Bucky Barnes, and the Thunderbolts all assemble. Veranke later reveals that "He" (a figure mentioned repeatedly by Skrulls throughout the storyline in the phrase 'he loves you') is a reference to "God" as she leads an army of Super-Skrulls against the superhumans of Earth. Secret Invasion #6. Marvel Comics. During the fight, the real Wolverine confronts Veranke and quickly gains the upper hand by impaling the Skrull Queen through the shoulder with his claws. Moments later, Hawkeye is injured which prompts Ronin to kill four Skrulls before seemingly killing Veranke with a shot to the face. Veranke's apparent fate results in Criti Noll posing as Hank Pym to use a device which has the Wasp grow to enormous size while deadly to humans nearby until Thor transports the doomsday weapon's unwilling carrier to another dimension to seemingly die. However, Veranke is revealed to be still alive until Norman Osborn kills her. Secret Invasion #8. Marvel Comics.
The "Devil's Reign" event revealed that Veranke's body was secretly preserved. She is revived and set loose by Mayor Wilson Fisk to get revenge on Spider-Woman. Spider-Woman vol. 7 #18 (2022). Marvel Comics. Veranke, despite some difficulty, is defeated by Drew and Carol Danvers. Spider-Woman Vol. 7 #19 (2022). Marvel Comics.
She displayed Spider-Woman's powers which include superhuman physical abilities, flight, and the ability to generate electricity and pheromones.
As Jessica Drew, she initially had only limited gliding ability, enhanced by the small wings that are part of her Spider-Woman costume which HYDRA further tampered with her metabolism, providing her with self-powered flight. The range of her flying capabilities is still undetermined. New Avengers #14. Marvel Comics. She displayed powers that helped her and the other Avengers escape from Doctor Doom's technological device by creating a Venom blast explosion — this use of Spider-Woman's powers was noted as inconsistent with her files on S.H.I.E.L.D. Mighty Avengers #11. Marvel Comics.
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