What anda Need to Know to Watch Marvel's Inhumans 

Everything We Know About the Inhumans in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is growing bigger all the time, with The Inhumans being the latest addition to this massive superhero franchise. This new limited series will introduce MCU fans to Black Bolt, Medusa and the rest of the Inhuman Royal Family as the kingdom of Attilan finally makes itself known to the world.

While these characters are new to the MCU, the Inhuman race itself has been a prominent fixture in Marvel\'s Agents of SHIELD in the last few years. Here\'s everything we know about how this group fits into the larger MCU picture.

Agents of SHIELD has established the origin story for the Inhumans in the MCU, revealing them to be the result of genetic experimentation by the alien race known as the Kree. Desperate for new, more powerful soldiers, a group of Kree scientists came to Earth centuries ago and began experimenting on human test subjects. They knew that humanity\'s vast genetic potential could unlock a new race of super-soldiers.

Those experiments were shut down before completion, and the Kree left Earth believing the project to be a failure. However, these experiments led to the birth of the Inhuman race. And while Inhumans appear no different from regular humans at birth, they carry the potential to manifest amazing powers. The catch is that the only way to bring forth those powers is to expose the Inhuman to a substance called Terrigen.

The Kree left behind several objects called "Diviners," containers which house Terrigen crystals and which are used to reveal an Inhuman\'s true form.

The sinister organization known as Hydra served as the primary antagonist in the first two Captain America movies. But while Hydra has basically dropped out of the picture in the MCU movies, it remains a major force to be reckoned with on the TV side of things. Agents of SHIELD has even revealed that the origins of Hydra are closely intertwined with the rise of the Inhumans.

The Kree came to fear the Inhumans after realizing their experiments had ushered in a potential new enemy that could destroy the entire galaxy. Those fears nearly came to pass with the rise of a powerful Inhuman named Alveus, who united the Inhumans in an uprising against the Kree. The Kree used a device called the Monolith to banish Alveus to a remote world and cut the Inhuman resistance off at the knees.

Soon after, a group of Alveus\' most fanatical followers formed a secret society dedicated to the goal of bringing their leader back to Earth. That secret society eventually morphed into Hydra.

The Inhumans in the MCU serve a role similar to that of mutants in Marvel\'s comic book universe. They\'re hated and feared by the world at large because of the potential danger their powers pose. Because of that, Inhumans are forced to either blend in with humanity or live apart from it.

For most Inhumans, blending in is easy. Terrigen is rare enough that few Inhumans ever transform and manifest their powers. Many aren\'t even aware of their Inhuman heritage in the first place.

But for those that have undergone Terrigenesis, hiding is the only option. The lucky few dwell in Attilan, a kingdom built on the moon and ruled by the Inhuman king known as Black Bolt. But the rest band together in earthbound settlements like Afterlife.

The climax of Agents of SHIELD Season 2 came as an Inhuman named Jiaying attempted to hijack a Helicarrier and use her synthetic Terrigen crystals as a weapon against SHIELD. While Jiaying was ultimately defeated, a portion of the Terrigen leaked into the ocean, starting a chain reaction that sparked a new wave of Inhuman transformations.

Season 3 dealt heavily with the fallout of that battle and a new wave of Inhuman manifestations. SHIELD Agent Daisy Johnson (an Inhuman herself) was tasked with forming a team of Inhumans called the Secret Warriors. Daisy\'s team frequently clashed with Hydra, who finally succeeded in their goal of tracking down the wayward Alveus and bringing him back to Earth. Now known as Hive, the parasitic, body-stealing villain attempted to build a Terrigen bomb that would both wipe out humanity and transform all Inhumans at the same time. Instead, an Inhuman named Lincoln Campbell sacrificed himself in order to sabotage the bomb and destroy Hive once and for all.

Hive confronts SHIELD Director Phil Coulson.

While Hive\'s defeat is a victory for humanity and Inhumanity alike, the conflict has done nothing to alleviate the growing tensions between the two races.

While the Inhuman race has been dealing with its struggles on Earth, Black Bolt and his fellow Inhumans have remained quiet and aloof in the kingdom of Attilan. Few Inhumans are even aware of Attilan\'s existence, and fewer still have ever seen Black Bolt or the rest of the Inhuman Royal Family in person. However, that\'s beginning to change as Marvel\'s Inhuman\'s TV series gets underway. The series will deal with political unrest in Attilan as Black Bolt\'s brother, Maximus the Mad, usurps the throne and attempts to bring an end to Attilan\'s policy of peaceful isolation.

The series will follow Black Bolt and his family as they escape to Earth and attempt to stop Maximus\' uprising. In the process, it seems that the world will finally awaken to the existence of these powerful beings who have been secretly watching them from above all these years.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.