After much speculation about Loki's alien army in The Avengers -- are they Skrulls, or something else entirely? -- we have our first good look at one of Loki's soldiers, courtesy of a C2E2 presentation from toy company Diamond Select.

Diamond is marketing a 7-inch figure of one of the baddies, simply called "Loki's Army Footsoldier." It has grey skin and gold armor, and looks distinctly un-Skrull-like.

Fortunately, Joss Whedon himself has settled the ongoing debate about the invading army: they're the Chitauri, a shapeshifting race from the Ultimate Marvel Universe that has been referred to as "Skrulls" on some other planets.

So, they're not exactly Skrulls. More like Skrulls-plus.

[superherohype.]

Pre-release photos of Heroclix figures for The Avengers may have spoiled one of the movie's most-discussed plot points.

Along with some choice quotes from our heroes -- Spoiler: Nick Fury says "You better save me, I'm the boss!" at some point -- there's also a figure for a major villain.

Here's where you stop reading if you want to go into the movie unspoiled.

So, it looks like Loki's alien army, which Marvel has said is definitely not the Skrulls, is the Skrulls after all. One of the Heroclix is a Skrull Infiltrator with the ability "I can look just like you."

Spoiled by a toy! Ah well, at least it wasn't a Pez dispenser this time.

The Avengers hits theaters on May 4th.

[comicbookmovie]