'Avengers' Assemble For Empire Cover, Kevin Feige Talks Villains

For a movie that's only four months away, "Marvel's The Avengers" has shown us next to nothing. Most of the promotional photos and the one trailer that we've seen have taken place mostly in two scenes, the initial meet-up in the helicarrier and the fight outside Grand Central. Hopefully with Sunday's Super Bowl commercial, we'll get something new and worth getting excited about.

Two months ago, Empire delivered with its "Dark Knight Rises" cover that came with a bevy of new info and pictures, and this month's issue, features some of Earth's mightiest heroes for a big "Avengers" article and brand new photos.

Unfortunately, the pictures don't offer anything incredibly new or exciting, sticking with the pattern set by most of the "Avengers" material so far. Thankfully, Marvel's Kevin Feige addressed some of the internet's more popular rumors and added a definitive word.

Take a look at the cover and some of the pictures after the jump.

Once again avoiding scenes that involve action, most of the new pictures just show characters talking to each other. Oh, and we get Nick Fury standing in the helicarrier...again.

The most intriguing stuff from the new issue of Empire comes via Kevin Feige. When asked about a potential "alien" villain, Feige outright denies that the Skrulls will be in the film.

"'Who said they were aliens?' he teases. Beings from the Nine Realms, then, ventures Empire? '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.'"

Next Feige tackled recent rumors that Red Skull would make an appearance.

"'Was Skull vaporised at the end of the movie, or thrust into another realm?' asks Feige. 'That remains to be seen. It would be fun to see Skull in future, but he's not in this one.' Whedon though is a little more circumspect when Empire confronts him. 'I do have a comment on that,' he says, before pulling a move worthy of Loki himself. 'It's...oh, you're breaking up!'"

Feige's quotes bring up some intriguing questions, but the pictures don't inspire much excitement. You could argue that the lack of footage is saving us from spoilers and saving the good stuff for the actual movie, but at a certain point, it would be nice to get a little insurance that's there's more to this movie.

Thanks to ComingSoon.net for the heads up.

What do you think of the Empire photos? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!