By Robbie Graham
Marvel’s The
Avengers has
previewed to high praise from critics, currently scoring an impressive 96% at RottenTomatoes.com.
Empire Magazine calls the movie “A joyous
blend of heroism and humour that raises the stakes even as it maintains a firm
grip on what makes the individual heroes tick.” Empire does have some minor
complaints about The Avengers, however. One of which
is that:
“The alien army... are very
throwaway, bland types who serve as little more than intergalactic
cannon-fodder. Yes, they’re from the Marvel universe (we won’t name them, but
they’re not who has been rumoured [the Skrulls]), but they display very
little in the way of unique abilities.”
Empire’s unwillingness to name the alien
race matters not, though, as the movie’s director, Joss Whedon, spilled the beans himself at a press
conference earlier this month, revealing that “The
alien race are the Chitauri — or a version of them.”
Chitauri
attack in Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
According
to Marvel
Database, the Chitauri – which exist as part of the Ultimate
Marvel universe – are:
“a shapeshifting alien species who have attempted to conquer the Earth,
most notably during World War II and again in the early 21st century...
The Chitauri were able to mimic human form and absorb human
knowledge, apparently by ingesting the bodies or brains of the humans they
imitated.”
The Marvel Database further states of
the Chitauri “claim to be part of ‘the immune system of the Universe’, wiping
out disorder and free will wherever they find it.”
Interestingly in the context of
UFOlogical conspiracy theory, when in their true form, the Chitauri “appear to
be large, and reptilian.” They prefer to “act behind the scenes, mimicking and
influencing the social and military methods of the species they are currently
infiltrating. For example, they aided the Nazis in their attempt at world
conquest by providing them with the technology to create a nuclear bomb carried
by an intercontinental ballistic missile.”
Naturally, for the UFO buff, this calls
to mind theories surrounding alleged reptilian beings described in numerous
abduction accounts, and also the popular idea that these “reptoids” have long
played a hidden part in humanity’s political affairs.
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It is notable that the Chitauri have
also attempted to quietly conquer Earth using “long-term methods of manipulation
such as will-inhibiting drugs in many nations' water supplies, influencing the
media, and R.F.I.D. (Radio-frequency identification) microchips to be implanted
in schoolchildren, among other means.”
How
much of the Chitauri’s comic book mythology has actually been incorporated into
the upcoming Avengers movie remains to be seen.
But if Empire’s “bland cannon fodder”
comments are anything to go by then, it would seem, not very much. Also, the
Chitauri as shown in the movie’s trailers (see above) and as represented in toy
form (see right) do not appear overtly “reptilian.” But then, perhaps we’ve yet
to see them in their true scaly form. All will be revealed when
Marvel's The Avengers hits cinemas on May 4.
In the meantime, if you’re hungry for more insight into the movie’s production,
here’s 20 minutes of on-set footage...
