Stop here if you want to walk into The Avengers as fresh as a newborn colt, spring daisy, April morn, or what have you.

Latino Review has the scoop — the entire plot, really — as to who will be The Big Bad of The Avengers.

There he sits to your right.

Well, that’s not a huge surprise, is it?  Loki is who originally brought the Avengers together by manipulating the Hulk.

Joss Whedon’s story doesn’t stray too far from that origin team-up tale.  Latino Review reports that instead of Loki manipulating the Hulk, he’ll be using the Cosmic Cube to call up something else mean and green.

Did you guess Skrulls, as Devin did so long ago? Right you are.

Ain’t It Cool News also confirms the scoop with one of their own, saying a teaser trailer for The Avengers was shot quite recently, and it features Loki very prominently.

Given the fervent fan speculation that’s been taking place over the past two years this feels less like news than a confirmation of all our geeky hopes and dreams.   But that doesn’t make it any less exciting.    I haven’t let myself get too wound up over the Avengers — it was so damn far away — but I’ll be damned if little tidbits like this don’t have me mentally projecting myself into a 2012 theater.

Yeah, that’s a little nerdy and sad. I’ll stop now, and let you talk.