With the pending release of the comic book movie event of the year, The Avengers, one thing continues to linger and kept in a shroud of secrecy…what is the alien race that Loki is using as the army that attacks Earth in the movie? Early speculation pointed towards the Skrulls. With these shape shifting aliens invading the Marvel universe the past several years, culminating in Marvels “Secret Invasion” story line, bets were it would be them. Then some Marvel execs came out and said…No, No it’s not Skrulls. So the theory’s continued to come and go. It was Ice Giants, then it was the life long enemy of the Skrulls, The Kree. Then it was an alien horde straight out of Asgard. Then it was a race specifically made for the movie. Then the Super bowl Trailer runs and right there for all to see, our first look at the aliens in the film. It’s a 1 second look but it’s there. And guess what? You still can’t tell who they are. Although, through further study of stills and freeze frame, it comes full circle…looks like it might be Skrulls.
Is this the first appearance of a Skrull in the up coming Avengers movie?
So why all the secrecy? Marvel and Disney have totally maximized this part of the film to get the fan base and viral community up in a frenzy discussing The Avengers. Bloggers, websites, Facebook and Twitter are constantly lighting up on a daily basis about who these aliens are. Does it matter? Maybe not, but it would be great if it was the Skrulls, wouldn’t it? Now, Marvel isn’t shy of combining their universes (The Avengers…duh) If this alien race did wind up being the Skrulls, many different scenarios could be conjured. Imagine the new Fantastic Four film crossing over into the Avengers films because Skrulls are messing with the FF. (Yeah, I know, 20th Century Fox has the Fantastic Four franchise…but you never know) Then of course you have all the shape shifting that would add intrigue and confusion amongst the heroes and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Another plus that the aliens might be Skrulls, is the persistent rumor that Thanos will also be in the film.
No word yet if it might be in a flashback scene or as a companion villain to Loki, but that would possibly mean Captain Marvel might be in the film. (Marvel is about to announce his potential return in comic books) That would heavily influence the presence of Skrulls. No one should dismiss the appearance of extra characters in the movie as Marvel seems to be using The Avengers film as a tent pole if you may, for other franchises in the Marvel Universe. Marvel has talked about The Guardians of The Galaxy being on their radar screen as a potential movie vehicle going forward. The Avengers film would be a perfect segway for that franchise. Skrulls, Thanos, Captain Marvel, how perfect is that? Lastly, with all this talk of the aliens identity, does it really matter at the end of the day if it is or isn’t the Skrulls? Will people be less entertained if it’s some alien race just made up for the movie? Is the Disney machine going to go all out to satiate the fanboys, or just be satisfied enough to say, “Hey lets not get to bogged down with such overt detail…one alien race is as good as another.” We have recently seen Disney will change property characteristics when need be (John Carter…not “John Carter Warlord Of Mars”) The way I see it, they can then market a new character race they would own outright and use in said movie franchises mentioned earlier. I give it to Marvel/Disney for keeping the lid on this thing. Although several toys have depicted inclusion of Skrulls in them, still no word. We will find out soon enough. Again, maybe Marvel/Disney are putting their best Skrull face forward and fooling all of us.
