Kree Symbols in the 'Inhumans' Trailer: What Do They Mean?

Marvel Television first started telling the story of the Inhumans three years ago, way back in #AgentsOfSHIELD Season 2. Now, with the first trailer for the Inhumans TV series released, fans are eagerly looking for how these two shows could intertwine. And they're noticing the most intriguing, subtle details...

Ancient Kree Symbols

Look at the background in this scene. You can see pretty strange markings on the walls — a series of circles and lines that will stir the memories of Marvel fans. We've seen them before ... in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

If you're going to understand these markings, you need to cast your mind back to the first two seasons of Marvel's flagship TV show. There, we learned of Project T.A.H.I.T.I., a secret program designed to resurrect an Avenger using Kree DNA. Unfortunately, it turned out that the Kree DNA had a very strange impact on anyone who didn't have Inhuman DNA; they began carving mysterious symbols, with this habit becoming a psychotic obsession. They're the same kind of symbols we see in the Inhumans trailer.

But what did they mean? Nobody could work it out — until, in a final twist, we learned that they weren't words, or a code, or anything like that. They were the outline shapes of a map, which S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to transform into a 3D topographic rendition of a mysterious subterranean city. Using this map, they were able to find their way to the ancient Kree city beneath San Juan, Puerto Rico.

And here's where things get interesting; we're seeing hints of the same Kree symbols in the Inhumans trailer. Given these markings on the wall of what looks to be the main hall of the Inhuman Royal Family, we can presume they're a Kree map of Attilan.

Here's the interesting thing, though: this isn't the first time we've seen those symbols associated with the Inhumans TV series.

A Mysterious Set Photo

Oahu residents woke up to a surprise during the filming of Marvel's Inhumans, with the statue of Saint Damien on Beretania Street replaced by a mysterious monolith. Local media checked it out and learned that the statue was still there; it had just been "covered up" for a TV show's location shot. While the press weren't able to work out which TV show was doing the filming, Marvel fans had no problem recognizing the markings. Again, it's clearly another Kree map for an ancient city.

The map is inscribed on the side of a monolith — one very similar to the mysterious Kree monolith we saw in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3. That particular monolith was actually a doorway, a portal that could be used to travel between Earth and the distant planet of Maveth. Is it possible that this is another Kree monolith? If so, the map may well be of the city it leads to.

It's an intriguing idea that all over the world, there are hidden ancient Kree cities, dating back to the time of the aliens' experiment on the Inhumans. According to this theory, the Kree set monoliths in place to travel across the world — and, presumably, to their city on the Moon. The Kree eventually left, and the bulk of the world's Inhumans moved to the Moon, although who knows?

It's possible that some other isolated Inhuman communities remain, secretly dwelling within other ancient cities. In the comics, the last few years have seen writer Charles Soule create other rival Inhuman colonies, ones with slightly different traditions to Attilan, so there's a comic book precedent.

Meanwhile, that monolith may be an important plot element. In the Inhumans trailer, Maximus seems pretty confident it won't be hard for the Inhumans to get to Earth, and I rather doubt he's depending on a teleporting dog. If I'm right, then he knows there are Kree monoliths that can be used to travel between Attilan and Earth, and he's planning to use the monoliths to launch an Inhuman invasion.

What we don't know, though, are whether some of these other Inhuman cities are still inhabited, or if they're in contact with the Royal Family of Attilan. Have the Kree monoliths secretly been used to keep Inhuman colonies on Earth and the Moon in contact with one another? Are there groups of Inhumans secretly hiding in the shadows, living in the ancient cities built by the Kree? And what attitude would the leaders of these cities take to Maximus's coup?

These alien symbols really do raise a lot of questions — and a lot of intriguing possibilities!