The Avengers: More Alien Speculation

Who are the (apparent) aliens who make up Loki’s army in the upcoming film version of The Avengers by Firefly creator Joss Whedon? It’ such an enduring mystery that some have begun to speculate the whole thing might be a ruse. Still, in case it’s not, it’s worth wondering (yet again) who these villains are, in light of a recent screen grab that gives viewers their best look yet by far.We sat down with an old copy of Marvel Chronicle and pulled out some villains who seem like, with a little tweaking, they could be a match for what we’re seeing on the screen and the front of the toy boxes.The SkrullsNo, no, wait–hear us out. It’s already been pointed out that the Skrulls are one of those weird situations where it would be plausible to see them as part of the Fantastic Four deal over at Fox. That may or may not be the case, but if it is it could explain some things. What if early drafts of the script were written using Skrulls (who, you’ll remember, were much more a focus of the comics around the time this movie was announced) and then, when it became clear that there might be rights confusion on the characters, that idea was scrapped in favor of using some other race, but with Skrull-like characteristics retained? It may sound far-fetched, but it’s happened before. It’s how Marvelman was created!By the way, a reboot of Fantastic Four looks to be all but a sure thing, with Chronicle director Josh Trank circling the flick the last anyone heard.UltronOne of the most popular Avengers villains among the fans, he’s been known to create an army of duplicates of himself, all controlled by the “main” Ultron, in the comics (he once took over a small country in Europe using this strategy). he’s also a character whose appearance has changed a lot over the years, and so with whom the filmmakers might feel somewhat free to take creative license. Add in the fact that Brian Michael Bendis’ Avengers swan song is a massive Ultron story, coming this summer, and you’ve got a fairly decent circumstantial case as to why he might be a good candidate.All that said, while the demonic features are right up his alley, anything looking even a bit like organic flesh (which these baddies at least seem to have) isn’t really Ultron’s bag. He’s more of a straight-up robot type, not like…