There has been a lot of speculation as to who the villains aside from Loki may be in the upcoming Avengers film, but it appears Kevin Fiege and Joss Whedon have debunked two of the more popular theories: The Skrulls and Red Skull. Fiege had this to say first, regarding the Skrulls:
“…It’s not Skrulls, I’ve been clear about that. Beyond that, we want to hide it. The identity of the alien race is not impactful. It exists in the comic books, but we’re not setting up the Kree-Skrull war or anything like that.”
He followed it up with this regarding Red Skull:
“Was Skull vaporised at the end of the movie, or thrust into another realm?” asks Feige. “That remains to be seen. It would be fun to see Skull in future, but he’s not in this one.”
Joss Whedon also had a comment on Red Skull, but was a little more “beat-around-the-bush-y” with his non-answer:
“I do have a comment on that, it’s…oh, you’re breaking up!”
It’s probably safe to say at this point that we will most likely not being seeing the Skrulls in the Avengers film, but I’m still a little unsure on the subject of Red Skull. Upon my latest viewing of Captain America: The First Avengeron Blu-ray a week ago I strongly believe that Red Skull isn’t completely vaporized after grasping the Cosmic Cube during his final bout with Cap. If you pay attention the effect is incredibly close to the same effect that occurs in the Thor film as our heroes are transporting between the realms, right down to the sound effect. It really wouldn’t surprise me if Red Skull was transported to one of the Nine Realms and we see him at some point in the future make a villainous return . . . Perhaps and after-credits scene in the Avengers? . . .
In any case, it’s still wide open for debate as to what allegiances Loki will make to wage war on Earth and The Avengers, but luckily we only have a few more months to wait before we find out! In the mean time you can check out Empire’s Avengers covers below!
The Avengers hits theaters on May 4, 2012, is directed by Joss Whedon, and stars Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, and Samuel L. Jackson.
[Empire]
Who from the Marvel Universe would you like to see Loki join forces with to battle the Avengers? Sound off in the comments below!