We gaan er al een tijdje van uit dat Joss Whedons aanstaande verfilming van Marvels The Avengers het pad zal gaan volgen van de originele comic reeks. In dit geval neemt de groep superhelden het op tegen Loki. Wikipedia geeft de volgende informatie rondom de verhaallijn van de reeks:

“Loki’s schemes eventually came to include Earth itself and these schemes often drew some of Earth’s superhuman heroes to defend Earth and, often, Asgard itself. He first battled Thor on Earth in modern times after escaping from the tree by making Heimdall shed a tear. Loki was then able to manipulate the Hulk into wreaking havoc in an attempt to lure Thor to Asgard, which inadvertently led to the formation of the Avengers. Thor was one of the founding members of this superhuman team, and Loki often found his goals frustrated by them, even when they appeared close to success.”

Maar nu gaat het gerucht dat Loki plaats zal moeten maken voor voor een stel andere antagonisten, namelijk de Skrulls. Dit zijn aliens die in staat zijn om van gedaante te veranderen. Comic Book Movie heeft twee bronnen dichtbij de productie van de film die het volgende claimen:

“The Skrulls will ‘brainwash’ and use the Hulk in a similar fashion Loki did in the comics. Don’t expect a full on alien invasion, though; that will have to wait for a sequel. The Skrulls’ role will be largely clandestine, similar to the way S.H.I.E.L.D. operates. … Apparently, the Skrulls won’t be the only alien race to be introduced in The Avengers; their enemy, the Kree, will also have a presence as Earthly allies. This isn’t surprising information, considering a young actor by the name of Kevin Pennington has been rumored to portray a character by the name of Noh-Varr; who just so happens to be a Kree. Though I couldn’t get confirmation that Noh-Varr is Pennington’s role, at his point, all signs are pointing to ‘yes.’”

Lang niet iedereen zal weten wie of wat de Skrulls zijn. Hieronder staat de informatie die Marvel geeft over het alienras:

“The Skrulls are an extraterrestrial humanoid race who have created a vast interstellar empire, the oldest known empire still in existence, within the Andromeda Galaxy.. A Skrull can mentally cause the unstable molecules that comprise his or her body to become pliant, enabling him or her to assume other forms through muscular expansion and contraction. Once a new shape has been assumed (human, animal, alien), it takes a conscious act of will to assume another form or revert to natural.. Although the Skrulls became aware of Earth (due to its nearness to a natural warp-space access point) eons ago, it was not until recent times that they considered Earth’s threat. Their first regular surveillances of Earth began in the 1930s. To date most of the Skrulls’ excursions to Earth have been extremely small-scale, with no more than a handful of soldier-infiltrators being dispatched at any given time. It is not yet known how the death of the current ruling family will affect official policy toward Earth or the government of the empire in general.”

The Avengers, waarvan het scenario overigens geschreven wordt voor Zak Penn, moet in Nederland uitkomen op 3 mei 2012 (bioscoopagenda).