Mahr Vehl is a member of the Kree, an alien race. He is a "Pluskommander"—described by him as being equivalent to captain—in the Kree's interstellar fleet, the Kree Void Navy. Mahr Vehl is also a member of the Halason family, who according to Kree religion are God's chosen. Mahr Vehl denies this view and insists that his ancestor, Hala, was not a God—rather simply a man who believed that all that innocent life was worth saving. Initially a spy sent to Earth in an attempt to prevent humans from developing interstellar travel, Mahr Vehl abandons his mission and adopts the identity of physicist Dr. Philip Lawson. Under this guise, Mahr Vehl aids the human scientists in the development of an interstellar engineering program at a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. installation in New Mexico.