We’ve known even before we saw it in the trailers that the Avengers would be facing off against some alien invaders. There’s been lots of speculation as to which one of Marvel Comics many alien races would fill the bill, and much of it has been contradictory. Marvel Studios, for their part, have played coy with the answer and so the debate has carried on.
And as we wait for the new Avengers trailer to hit later today, we have the latest clue as to who those alien invaders may be. In the below report from this past weekend’s Toy Fair in Manhattan, one of the reps from Lego lets slip with a name that may sound familiar to die-hard Marvel Comics fans. If you don’t want to sit through the entire report (and the reporter’s way-too-perky reportage), the relevant quote comes at the 3:50 mark.
“An alien Ord character.”
Could the Lego rep be misspeaking slightly and referring to an alien named Ord who appeared in Avengers writer/director Joss Whedon’s run on the comic series Astonishing X-Men?
Ord was a warrior from a planet called Breakworld and he caused a fair amount of trouble for Marvel’s mutant heroes. Take a look at Ord as he appeared in the comics and a screen grab of the aliens briefly glimpsed in the Avengers Super Bowl trailer. Wardrobe notwithstanding, there is definitely a bit of a resemblance there.
Could the rep have been referring to Ord as a singular character, the leader of the alien army that Loki will summon to wreck vengeance on Earth?
Now I know what you may be thinking – If this guy appeared in an X-Men comic, shouldn’t their movie rights be tied-up over at Twentieth Century Fox with the rest of the X-Men character rights? Well, Fox secured the rights to the X-Men characters back in the mid-1990s and Ord didn’t appear in print until 2004. Since these rights contracts are VERY specific as to what characters are included, I doubt that Fox has just a blanket agreement that would allow them access to any character to appear in an X-Men comic even after the signing of the initial contract.
The Avengers hits theaters on May 4.
Via Comic Book Movie.
I think he’s saying “alien horde character.”
Or, it could have been “alien whore character” which takes the film in a whole new dimension.
Or, “Harrison Ford character” which would be an even bigger scoop.