When a big geek project goes into development, fans are eager for any scrap of information they can find. Inevitably, rumors begin to pop up in the film’s early days, and we report them on the off-chance that they could be true. Some information may have been true at the time, but then the script changed. Perhaps wishful geeking was misinterpreted as real information. And then there’s always good, old-fashioned subterfuge on behalf of the production.
The Avengers was a blockbuster over four years in the planning, and plenty of rumors had time to surface over the course of its production. The film has finally been released (to a record-breaking $200 million opening weekend), and now we know which rumors turned to be true, false, or somewhere in between. Hit the jump for the rumor recap.
[This article contains major spoilers about The Avengers]
“Will the Skrulls Be the Villains in THE AVENGERS (May 20, 2010)
Here’s what we reported:
According to ComicBookMovie.com several insider reports” that say the Skrulls will be setting up an infiltration in the first film with a planned sequel heralding a full-on invasion. It was previously rumored that the plot would have Thor’s villain, Loki, casting a spell on Hulk so that he would be facing off against the Avengers. If this new rumor is to be believed, the Skrulls would brainwash Hulk for the same purpose. Additionally, the alien race, “The Kree” will be allied with Earth against the Skrulls.
True or False: Mostly false.
The Reality: No one casts a spell on Hulk, although Loki did cast spells on other characters. The Kree are nowhere to be found in the movie. Most importantly, while the Skrulls are never mentioned in The Avengers, the Chitauri are another name for the Skrulls in the Ultimate Marvel Universe. However, the “full-on” invasion is apparently attempted in The Avengers, and doesn’t go so well for the Chitauri. It’s worth mentioning that Whedon said in March 2012 that the Skrulls aren’t in the movie, so I guess he doesn’t really identify the Skrulls with the Chitauri.
Marvel to Introduce Second-Tier Superheroes Through Short Films (June 21, 2010)
Here’s what we reported:
Now, according to a rumor that Latino Review attributes to a well-placed source, executives at Disney/Marvel are considering making short, ten-minute films that introduce lesser known superheroes (like Luke Cage or Dr. Strange) that would play before features like Thor or Captain America: The First Avenger. Until we see the press release, this report is more speculation than anything else.
True or False: False
The Reality: We haven’t heard anything about short Marvel films since. I assume this idea was probably kicked around the Disney/Marvel offices, but never gained any real traction.
Joss Whedon Promises Black Widow “Will Not Be the Only Female Character” in THE AVENGERS (August 23, 2010)
Here’s what we reported:
Joss Whedon says “It is true that the movie is only going to have one female Avenger. But she will not be the only female character.”
True or False: Technically true.
The Reality: Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) was the only female Avenger. However, the film did have two other named female characters: Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). Sadly, those other two female characters were so insignificant that this rumor was only technically true.
Gwyneth Paltrow Says Pepper Potts Will NOT Be in THE AVENGERS (December 11, 2010)
Here’s what we reported:
Paltrow was doing press for Country Strong, and Steve asked her directly if Pepper Potts was going to be in The Avengers. Paltrow responded:
Surprisingly, she said, “no. no Pepper.” I then asked if this was for sure or was it a maybe. She said, “I think it’s a for sure. I think they’re starting shooting soon and they probably would have asked me by now.”
True or False: False
The Reality: Pepper Potts is in three brief scenes in the movie. It’s likely that Marvel asked her to be in the movie between this interview and when cameras started rolling.
Will THE AVENGERS Battle the Skrulls and the Kree? (December 26, 2010)
Here’s what we reported:
The Albuquerque Journal [via AICN] printed the following in a recent writeup of the Avengers‘ planned visit to Albuquerque Studios:
“The Avengers script will blend Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger story lines as the Avengers battle with two alien races, the Skrulls and the Kree.”
True or False: False
The Reality: There are no Kree in The Avengers. The Skrull-Kree war was a story arc in The Avengers 1970s comics. And as we said, the Skrulls are technically in the movie, but they go by the name of the Chitauri.
Marvel Shot a Secret AVENGERS Trailer Featuring the Villain of the Film? (March 2, 2011)
Here’s what we reported:
AICN is reporting that Marvel recently shot a teaser trailer with Loki, Thor’s brother (played by Tom Hiddleston in Kenneth Branagh’s Thor). Now, you may remember that back in Steve’s video blog for his Thor set visit, he mentioned that the ending of that film hinted at setting Loki up as the villain for The Avengers. It looks like this all may turn out to be true.
In addition to Loki, Latino Review is reporting that Thor’s archenemy will get a hold of the cosmic cube seen in Hugo Weaving’s hand in the Captain America trailer in order to summon the Skrulls to help him take over Earth.
True or False: True
The Reality: The teaser trailer after the credits of Captain America: The First Avenger show Loki being escorted through the interior of the Helicarrier. Additionally, Loki did get his hands on the cosmic cube (although we didn’t know it would be called the “tesseract” in the movie), but he arguably used it to “summon” the “skrulls” since they couldn’t have invaded Earth if he didn’t use the cube to open the portal.
Another Major Villain May Be Starring in THE AVENGERS [Potential Spoilers] (May 27, 2011)
Here’s what we reported:
According to Latino Review, Thanos would appear in The Avengers but LR wouldn’t say in what capacity.
True or False: True
The Reality: Thanos appears in a brief scene midway through the credits of The Avengers. Click here to learn more about the character. (As a side-note, I’m thrilled that I forgot this story when I went to see the movie).
Clark Gregg Discusses the Possibility of an Agent Colson Spin-Off Movie (July 17, 2011)
Here’s what we reported:
Collider: What about your own superhero spinoff flick?
CLARK GREGG: You know, I certainly think it’s a great idea. I’m just trying to get the Marvel guys as excited about it as I am. They seem to be weirdly more open to it. There’s more talk about seeing Agent Coulson in some other mediums, lately, and I’m open to the idea.
True or False: Mostly false.
The Reality: Since filming was well underway when Gregg gave this interview (Gregg said he was almost completely wrapped on the movie), he probably knew his character was going to die. Granted, the “Agent Coulson in other mediums” did come to fruition in the short films “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer” and “The Consultant”. There’s always the possibility of prequels or flashbacks, but we’ve probably (and sadly) seen the last of Agent Phil Coulson.
Joss Whedon Says THE AVENGERS Will Be from Captain America’s Perspective (January 13, 2012)
Here’s what we reported:
In the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, Whedon explains,
“I set out with a very simple problem: There is no reason for these people to be in the same movie. So that’s what my movie has to be about. So much of the movie takes place from Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) perspective, since he’s the guy who just woke up and sees this weird ass world. Everyone else has been living in it.”
True or False: False
The Reality: When the director says something about this movie, it doesn’t really qualify as a rumor. However, this statement didn’t come to pass. The Avengers isn’t from any one perspective. It’s possible that Whedon intended to make the movie from Steve Rogers’s perspective, but decided not to go that way after getting in the editing room. As we recently reported, there are 30 minutes of deleted scenes and they focus on Captain America.
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Hey, what about Hulk dying?
I’d say out of all the characters, Avengers focused most on Black Widow. Not by much, but just enough
Agent Phil Coulson dies!?! That’s just so not right. Sad now…..
Coulson might not actually be dead, the chest/closet he went to might of had a LMD and his LMD picked up the gun.
Nah…Coulson’s gone.
He wasnt at the sit down dinner scene at the end…& he was damned battered & bloody.
I hate that too…great for the films.
To be fair, I would imagine he’d have to be in a hospital for quite some time recovering from that chest wound, so that would explain his absence from the dinner scene. I’m still holding out hope that Fury was lying not only about the trading cards being in Coulson’s jacket but also about him being dead. It’s overly manipulative, but I think Coulson dying would be more of a motivator than an injury.
that’s my secret Goldberg, i’m always angry.. falcon punch!
I read a rumor a month or so ago that there was going to be a Spiderman cameo to help promote The Amazing Spiderman….this also didn’t come to pass or it was cut.
Since ASM is made by a completely different studio (Sony owns the film rights to Spidey), there’s no way this was ever going to happen. Sony, and the ASM movie, are in direct competition with Marvel/Disney/Paramount.
I don’t know if Marvel gets an actual cut from the Spidey movies or not… The rights have already been paid for, I would imagine.
@ Shaun
When it comes to making money, there are always agreements that can be made. You don’t think Sony would at least consider the benefit of having Garfield, a guy who isn’t really widely known, show up on screen in the one of the biggest movies ever….even if for only a few seconds? I think they would at least consider it, so to say “no way this was ever going to happen” seems a little silly. Also…….
“Many of the sites trumpeting the rumor as fact point to the announcement that Walt Disney Company (which owns Marvel Entertainment) and Sony Pictures (which owns the rights to make Spider-Man movies) settled on an agreement back in November 2011 to share the rights to “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Sony would own the movie rights to Spidey, while Disney would own the merchandising rights to the character and his movie incarnations.”
Either way, I was just pointing out that it was a rumor that was out there.
“Joss Whedon says “It is true that the movie is only going to have one female Avenger. But she will not be the only female character.””
How is this “technically” true? It’s exactly as Whedon said.
I thought Agent Coulson was the principal at Peter Parker’s school in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. That’s another medium.
Coulson isn’t dead. Maria Hill goes “Director Fury, those cards weren’t on Coulson… they were in his locker,” and Fury goes “They needed something to get them started,” or something to that effect. Pretty sure they were implying that he wasn’t dead, and that they only faked his death in order to get the Avengers to finally come together.
no, he’s dead. they were implying that Fury went to his locker, got the cards, and then pretended they were on his dead body in order to give the team a jump start.
Correct
True, but I thought Smulders bringing up that little fact up was kind of dumb. But would make sense if she had a suspicion Coulson wasn’t dead. Also interesting is Coulson’s last words which were something like “they needed this”, which I took to mean his own death spurring them on to become a team at last.
Which means Coulson could have wanted Fury to write him off as ‘dead’, for the purposes of bringing the team together. And that would have given Fury the idea of adding the cards too. We also need to remember Coulson facing up to Loki was technically suicide, which means he might have wanted to sacrifice himself so the team would more likely be formed.
i agree with you on that fully, he knew he would be the catalyst to bring the team together – they needed it to save the world, at that point in the film the team had collapsed. Smulders mentioned it bc they wanted to show Fury as a smart/strong leader.
Phil isn’t dead.
http://www.craveonline.com/film/articles/173736-clark-gregg-on-the-avengers-marvel-one-shots-iron-man-3-and-more
CraveOnline: Joss Whedon is also a master of killing off beloved characters. I’m actually a little worried about you.
Clark Gregg: Yeah, I’ve read this! I’ve read this. I’m flattered that people care, but I wish they would stop saying this because they’re going to put it in somebody’s mind! I’m talking to them about doing Iron Man 3 right now, and somebody’s going “Maybe Agent Coulson should die,” and I’m like, “Hey, hey, hey! This is the best job I’ve ever had! Stop talking about killing Agent Coulson off.”
CraveOnline: (Laughs) – Fair enough.
Clark Gregg: No, no, no. I talked to Joss Whedon early on. I said “Hey, why is everyone saying this?” And he said, “Yeah, I’ve done that before. Don’t worry. You’re safe.”
read that one too.. you’re still wrong
Phil Coulson, just a thought, The Vision maybe?
Thats exactly what I had thought of. He would be perfect as Vision. Introduce him in the Ant Man film.
YES! Totally agree with you. I would love to see Agent Coulson as Vision.
Actually it was Downey who insisted that Tony Stark have that emotional tie to Pepper and that she be in the film
if you are still enjoying the trailers…then i must say fellas..watch it as fast as you can….i am sure you will enjoy it..!!
The Chitauri in this are definitely not even a version of the Skrulls. They used the name, nothing else.
Coulson is not dead
I really wish I could believe that.
Why didn’t Hulk say,”Hulk Smash!”? I wanted that so much.
And who thinks Chris Nolan should do Wonder Woman?
WW needs a great story, IMHO, and not some Michael Bay BS. I really hope if WW gets made it is made with a great narrative like the Batman movies.
I’d be so on board a Wonder Woman movie. If only they could get a right script and not think its too cheesy. They made Thor so why not WW?!
She’d kick everyone’s butt.
[quote] The Reality: No one casts a spell on Hulk, although Loki did cast spells on other characters. [/quote]
He didn’t use his staff, but he clearly influenced the HULK while on the Heli-carrier. That’s why Fury and Widow we’re so intent on him getting off the carrier, and why Banner randomly grabbed the staff in the lab. It’s also why the HULK was unable to control himself on the carrier when he squares-off against Thor, while he *could* control himself in the Battle of New York.
There are so many outs for Coulson’s “death” that the only reason he would be is because Clark Gregg doesn’t want to do it.
1) LMD’s introduced as a concept (a Closet full of Coulsons)
2) Original Human Torch in Captain America and Fury’s statement about losing his “good eye” leads to Project: Vision.
3) He was stabbed by a magical weapon, so..you know..magic.
4) Fury lies. It was stated over and over again, and despite what you think you saw, we didn’t see Coulson die. We see his eys close as medical techs run up. He shows up in Iron Man 3 and just says “I got better” and they move on.
I could see him doing it just like that. Him walking in, Tony practically falling down, and Coulson nonchalantly saying “I got better.”
Coulson is not dead. There is a scene showing from another characters perspective (Black Widow, I think) the spot where he “died”. There are bloody handprints/smudges on the corner of a panel that give the impression that he crawled into the panel. I think. I’ll need to see it again, but the way his death was designed gave me the specific impression (the cards being taken from the locker, the second- otherwise unneccessary- shot of where he “died”) that his death should be questioned.
Seriously, guys? Coulson dies ONSCREEN. We see it. We see the characters in the scene react to it. We see him stop speaking in the middle of a sentence and lie there unmoving with his eyes still open and glazed over; that’s not something living people usually do. Plus? This is a JOSS WHEDON MOVIE. Take a look at his track record and then try to tell me with a straight face that he didn’t kill off the character. Jesus.
Totally agree he is dead. Joss Whedon is famous (infamous?) for killing off beloved characters. And he is a genius for doing it.
FACT: I saw the movie Monday evening (7:00pm est) and the theatre was rocking and loud w/anticipation. When the trailer for TDKR came on and you first see the DC insignia, the audience became deadly quiet. It was like a dang EF Hutton commercial from back in the day. It was eerie, you could hear a pin drop. The anticipation for this movie is off the charts.
By the way, the Avengers was freaking awesome. I am 45 and looking at the Hulk, Iron Man, Cap, Hawkeye, Widow, and Fury made me weepy because I remember as a child w/friends fantasizing about how these characters would look in a believeable way if technology would permit it. Dammit, Wheadon and the studio pulls it off. Thank God, I have been able to see these characters that I have spent so much time with as a kid and an adult, come to life. Many kudos to Marvel, Joss, and the phenomenal cast assembled.
my theater got dead quiet for the Dark Knight Trailer also.. as a side note everyone busted up laughing at the horrible looking Battleship movie.
I’m 44 and really, REALLY enjoyed this movie. There was at least 4 times where the audience broke into spontaneous applause. At one point I thought I was going to black out when the Hulk picked up Loki by feet and started smashing him on the floor like a wet towel. Just amazing.
Come on, guys. I also would like to see agent Coulson again, but this is Joss Whedon! He LOVES killing off characters! It’s kinda his thing…
They’re gonna make Coulson into Ultron.
Pepper Potts an irrelevant character in the film??
Are you kidding me? Sure it’s the interactions of the main characters that make this movie fly, but what makes it feel more deep and interconnected is the fact that the secondary characters are there even if most of them are just mentioned.
Coulson is dead because it would be illogical for him to turn up alive in future movies. For a movie that features the Hulk, Cpt America, Iron Man, a magical portal up in the sky that allows aliens to travel through space to try and conquer Earth, and a flying aircraft carrier with a cloacking device, suddenly LOGIC comes into play.
Right.
The movie played as clear as day that Coulson is not in any way dead. They went out of their way to inform us that he was indeed alive.
as Billy explained I didnt know that a stay at home mom able to get paid $7613 in a few weeks on the computer. have you read this webpage N u t t y R i c h dot c o m
ok guys, as a medical professional let me just put this out there to make it easier to grasp.
when fury goes something like, “the medics came, they called it.”
that means they called the code. meaning phil didn’t make it. when doctors or paramedics ‘call it’ it means they’re resigning life-saving attempts because the person is beyond the accepted threshold for saving short of a spontaneous act of god or the team’s attempts have been exhausted.
so nevermind the obvious glass-eyed thing and the obvious reactions and even though this is a film universe where anything outlandish is possible, it would be a terribly uncharacteristic cop-out if he was brought back.
While Fury states the Medics called code, there is no line of dialog from the medics saying that.
I kind of like the ‘Vision’ idea, that would be cool.
What about the rumor that the film “looked like television”. FALSE!