5 Things That Won't Be in The Avengers, According to Joss Whedon

Avengers director Joss Whedon spent much of his weekend in Austin at SXSW pounding the pavement for The Cabin in the Woods (that is, when he wasn't busy dancing into the wee hours of the night) but he also managed to mostly deflect the laser geek gaze of the bloggerati when it came to divulging information about his upcoming Marvel superhero pick. That said, he did offer up one huge clarification on a matter Avengers fans have been trying to root out via various clues and tea leaves: Who are the villains under Loki's command?

“I will say only this: It is not the Kree or the Skrulls," said Whedon during his SXSW panel. "Those two aliens are Marvel mainstays and have enormous backstories. They have a big life of their own that just could not be contained in a film where I already had seven movie stars."

“The Skrulls — they can shape change. That’s a whole thing. I’ve already got Loki. He’s got magic. Once you got magic along with your Iron Man and your Black Widow — it’s a real juggling act.”

He's got a great point; Loki's magic plus the appearance of alien races like the Kree and Skrull might feel a tad too fantastical for this Avengers outing. But wait, that's not all! What else won't The Avengers be/feature/include (via Collider)?

• A too-short runtime:

"My first cut was three hours long, and it’s now down to 2 hours and 15 minutes, and I’m extremely proud of that. I had always intended to go over two, under two and a half. There was no way a movie with this many great actors and this much epic scope was gonna clock in under two and not feel a little anemic. Somebody wasn’t gonna get their moment if that happened."

• An overlong runtime:

"But at the same time, I get very angry that romantic comedies run over two hours long, it’s like ‘Guys, that’s not OK.’ More isn’t more. I don’t want anything in the movie that shouldn’t be.”

• Nods at Whedon properties outside of the Marvel universe, which would be weirdly conspicuous anyway:

"I am not a fan of referencing your own work when it’s in a different universe than what you’re doing. That, to me, is a wink at the audience and winking isn’t actually cool when you’re not, like, 10."

• That Jeff Beck cover of that one Stevie Wonder/Syreeta song “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers,” which was too expensive to include in a Tony Stark scene.

Stay tuned for more from SXSW.