It’s a rumor that’s been discussed to death already. People continue to say that yes, the Skrulls are in. No, the Skrulls aren’t in. Yes, the Skrulls are in, but they have another name. Let’s take it from the horse’s mouth and see what news we get, shall we?

In the upcoming issue of Empire, which hits the stores on January 26th, we’ll be treated to an interview with The Avengers producer and Marvel Executive Kevin Feige, according to SuperheroHype. In it, he reveals that the Skrulls may not actually be the adversaries in the upcoming film after all. Feige asks who said the army Loki (Tom Hiddleston) brings with him were aliens? When the Empire representative tries to dig deeper, asking if the army in question could be somebody from one of the other nine realms – similar to the Frost Giants we met in Thor - he said that this was closer to the truth, but not quite there yet.

Closer … 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.

Okay; so it’s not something they’re making up for the movie, there’s some solace in that, at least. Still, it brings up the very relevant question as to who they could be bringing along for the ride. Let’s take a look at a list of alien races that appear in Marvel Comics and talk about how likely they are on a scale that goes ‘impossible’, ‘unlikely’, ‘probable’ to ‘very probable’. The major ones are:

• The Badoon. These guys are way older than both the Kree and the Skrulls, have no powers but a great deal of technology. They’ve never been involved with the Avengers in the comics, even though one of them (Czar-Doon) has worked with Thanos, which – through the Loki connection – could be brought in. Still, I feel it might be a little too convoluted. I’ll call this one as unlikely.
• The Beyonders. Extra-dimensional beings powerful enough to collect planets, they’ve been unable to leave their own dimension. I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I’m going to call this one impossible.
• The Brood. Insectoid aliens, they were primarily enemies to the X-Men. On the whole, I’m going to call this one unlikely.
• The Celestials. These guys, called “space gods”, are silent, armored, humanoids that visit Earth every two thousand years or so. Considering that they’re about 2,000 feet large (610m), I find this quite unlikely.
• The Dire Wraiths. Shapeshifting, super strong, magicians, the Dire Wraiths are one of my favorite candidates. Magic doesn’t usually translate very well to the screen, but I’m sure they could do something good out of this. Still, connecting Loki to them might prove to be difficult, even though a connection via Agent Brand’s research in S.W.O.R.D. could work. I’m going probable for this one.
• The Evolutionaries. Another X-Men villain, the Evolutionaries were genetic ‘cousins’ to us, made more powerful by the Eternal Phastos and branching off from us early on in the evolution of our species, protecting us as we evolved. All things considered, I’m going to say this one is unlikely.
• The Kree. Since the Skrulls aren’t going to be in here, I’d like to say the Kree aren’t either, but they’ve never actually said anything about them. While I don’t think it’s likely, I think it’d be pretty damn cool if this was the twist. Still; unlikely.
• The Phalanx. A cybernetic species, the Phalanx are – again – an X-Men villain which I’m doubting they’ll use. Unlikely.
• The Rigellians. A technologically advanced species that has only appeared in the comic Thor. All in all, unlikely.
• The Shi’ar. Humanoids of avian descent, these guys are high-tech villains that have appeared in a couple of X-Men-related stories. I’d think they were interesting to include, but I think it’s quite unlikely.
• The Skrulls. We all know this one by now, they’ve said it’s not them. Impossible.
• The Symbiotes. Nope, not going to be them; we’ve already had Venom show up in Spider-Man, and I doubt they’ll include them in The Avengers. This one’s going to have to be impossible.
• The Space Phantoms. The Space Phantoms are the servants of Immortus, the Master of Time, and have appeared as enemies of The Avengers in the past. I’m not going to say it’s them, but it’s definitely not impossible. In fact, it might even be probable.
• The Technarchy. The Technarchy is a race of giant techno-organic entities with very aggressive natures. They travel the universe looking for things on which to feed, which can be organic or mechanical. Unlikely.
• The Watchers. Yeah, I’m not going to go there. Impossible.

So, all in all, I’m going to have to say that if it isn’t the Skrulls, it’s going to be a toss-up between The Dire Wraiths and The Space Phantoms. We’ll see!

(via Super Hero Hype)