There are many theories of whose army Loki has under his command. These include various alien races such as the Badoon, Phalanx and Knights of Wundergore. However, one of the most prevalent and common theories regards Thanos. These theories then go on to conjecture that Loki promises to give Thanos the Cosmic Cube in return for Thanos lending him his army.
What seems completely bizarre to me is once Loki gets the Cube why would he give it to Thanos despite whatever supposed deal many people think the two have with each other? In addition, Thanos is no dope and he has to realise that not only will Loki betray him but also that Loki will never give him the Cosmic Cube. Why would Loki even think about sharing or giving such power to Thanos? If you were Loki and you have the Cube in your possession would you go to Thanos and say:
“Thanks for the army, man, here is the Cosmic Cube I promised you”.
Loki must realize the power of the Cube and he would be insane to give it to Thanos because he is smart enough to understand the implications of such power in the hands of the Mad Titan. I cannot even begin to imagine a scenario where the two come together to make the deal with both of them acutely aware that the other is not to be trusted. It is ludicrous. Loki wants control and he wants to rule – something that was denied to him in Asgard. He is one individual, and as far as I can see he has no cronies or allies (not including the army). Remember, Thor always had backup in the form of the Warriors 3. Loki does not. No one trusts him. He has no friends. He knows that once he takes control, in order to keep it, he is going to have to make sure he has some sort of weapon or tool to keep it - a weapon such as the Cosmic Cube. Or better yet, the Infinity Gauntlet. Loki would never dream of giving the Cube to Thanos, therefore why would he even begin to promise Thanos the Infinity Gauntlet. What does Loki think is going to happen when he doesn’t hand over the Cube to Thanos? Loki would have to be beyond arrogant and over confident to think that he could get away with promising Thanos the Cube and then betraying him. And over confidence is hardly a good thing.
The Universe is vast and some may think that Thanos and his army would utilize ships to get to Earth. The problem with this is the time and energy required to make send an armada of ships across the galaxy. Using a portal to do so is a far more logical and direct approach. However, Thanos in any conquest of a civilization, must realize that you don’t launch such an attack at one point. I know that if I was in command of an army sent to conquer another world I would certainly have a multi pronged attack from various locations. The best strategy would be to launch attacks at various military bases and cities simultaneously. As far is evident from the trailer is that only one portal is open allowing for the emergence of the invading army. One reason I can imagine for only one solitary portal is that the Cube can only open one portal at a time which is a slight disadvantage.
My theory on who the alien army is:
I was researching the Kree when I came across an image of an alien called Earthquake. Not only does he look remarkably like the aliens in the trailer but his race does connect to some of the major alien races in comics. Earthquake is part of the Shi’ar who are comprised of a variety of alien races – kind of like the Federation in Star Trek. Earthquake is/was part of a special group of bodyguards called the Imperial Guard who protect the Inhuman royal family. Although in the comics the Imperial Guard originally battled the X-Men, they have also gone against the Avengers.
(From
Figure Realm)
Joss stated the following a short while ago:
"It is not the Kree or the Skrulls. 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."
Earthquake comes from a race within the Shi’ar collection which does not have any history or back-story at all. In fact, the race and planet from which he comes are not ever named. This means Joss Whedon can use the race as he sees fit because he does not have to rely on any history - he can simply make it up to suit the context of the movie. Also, Joss mentioned that the race is not important. To me this implies that the race is expendable and whatever species Earthquake is from are perfectly expendable. Joss therefore can create a back-history as well as technological capabilities for this unnamed race without tinkering with the comic book continuity and invoking the ire of fans. Also, the Shi’ar fit into the grander scheme of aliens and politics in the Marvel universe. Think of it all being linked like this:
This does fit with what Joss said about the aliens already existing in the comics. This theory is just that, a theory. Please let me know what you think.