Can We Expect A Major Marvel Cameo In 'The Avengers'?

I'm not talking Stan Lee here — there is a report floating around that suggests that one of Marvel's major heroes could end up having a cameo in Joss Whedon's The Avengers. What makes this particular rumor so attention-getting is that the character is one Marvel Studios does not own the screen rights for. But that's also what makes it seem like something we should be very skeptical of, at best.

We know that Jenny Agutter has a minor role in The Avengers, and for fans of An American Werewolf in London, that's a pretty great thing. (In that film, Agutter played the nurse who cares for and then falls for David Naughton's lycanthropy-stricken character.)

The actress recently gave an interview to The Radio Times (pointed out by Bleeding Cool) and in it she mentions something startling:

As for Agutter, she's about to metamorphose again to appear alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson in upcoming Hollywood blockbuster The Avengers.

"I'm sworn to secrecy! I wasn't allowed a script until I got there, and when I did I felt like a complete child being on big sets and a huge parking lot full of Winnebagos."

She does let slip that two of these housed Spider-Man and Iron Man; we suspect Agutter won't able to avoid sci-fi conventions for much longer.

What was that about Spider-Man? Did Agutter make a mistake? Perhaps the Radio Times did. One of those two explanations is the most likely, though I haven't been able to verify if either one is really the culprit here.

But if by some amazing chance Marvel and Disney did broker a deal with Sony to use the likeness of Spider-Man in The Avengers, it would be a Marvel dream for a many viewers. The Avengers opens on May 4, two months before The Amazing Spider-Man's July 3 opening. While a cameo in The Avengers wouldn't exactly be big marketing for Sony's movie, it couldn't hurt.

Just to be clear: I'm very wary of this, but because I'm also hopeful, I'm passing it along.