Marvel Studios’ upcoming release of “The Avengers” has quite a bit to live up to. By the time it’s released, the movie will mark the culmination of four years and five films worth of build up. Joss Whedon wrote and directs the superhero team-up, which will feature the heroes of “Iron Man,” “Thor,” “The Incredible Hulk,” and “Captain America: The First Avenger” all joining forces.
Official images, concept art, and spy photos from location shoots have been leaking onto the net at a steady pace, but finally there’s something more official. The new 2 minute trailer has gone live on Apple.com. The clip gives each of the heroes a few moments to shine and hints at how some of them will or won’t get along together. However, there’s still quite a bit left unanswered.
All of the heroes get at least a little bit of face time. This includes Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Scarlet Johansson as the Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and Mark Ruffalo as the Incredible Hulk. Not a great deal of story is revealed; this is more of an extended teaser trailer than anything else. The purpose is to highlight all of the heroes who will be taking part and throw in a few explosions for good measure.
The biggest question somewhat unanswered by the trailer regards the villain. Thor’s wicked brother Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, is featured fairly prominently and was also teased in the post-credit sequence of “Thor” as being the troublemaker. However, it has long been suspected that Loki will not be working alone. Simple logic says it wouldn’t make sense for Loki to be the only threat. He’s already been beaten by Thor alone, so though he’s a formidable opponent he doesn’t warrant all these heroes joining together.
There have been whispers for some time of Loki either summoning or joining forces with some new villain. The most prominent theories of late have been it will be either the alien race known as the Skrulls (recently featured in the “Secret Invasion” comic event) or the death-worshiping immortal known as Thanos. Either one would represent a significant enough threat to require the assembly of the Avengers
Thanos has a rather long history in the comic books of nearly conquering the universe. At times literally every hero (and some villains) on the planet working together was required to defeat him. Some fans took the appearance of the Infinity Gauntlet as a background item in “Thor” to indicate the coming of Thanos, since it’s a powerful tool he has used before.
There is a precedent for this, as Captain America’s shield appeared in the background of “Iron Man” and the character was later granted his own feature. However, it could just as easily have been a background Easter egg.
The Skrulls are a race of shape shifters usually associated with the Fantastic Four. Though the rights to the Fantastic Four and all affiliated characters are held by Fox, Marvel retained the rights to this alien race as a whole. The Skrulls might make a little more sense, as an invading alien force is a substantial threat that requires little additional explanation.
Also, the species’ recent crossover event in the comics has them more at the forefront of fans’ minds. The Skrulls have been rumored to be included in “The Avengers” as far back as May 2010. It’s also interesting to note that both Thanos and the Skrulls have a similar general appearance, though Thanos is purple while the Skrulls are traditionally green.
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