WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Empyre: Avengers #0 by Al Ewing, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia and VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
As Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers are almost always a force for good. However, the team might have been tricked into fighting in a war on the side of the Cotati, an alien race that may turn out to be the villains of the Empyre crossover event.
First introduced in Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema's Avengers #133, the Cotati have been primarily depicted as a peaceful race of telepathic, plant-like beings. The species co-inhabited the Kree homeworld of Hala at the time they were first visited by the Skrull and were a major component in the ensuing Kree-Skrull War that erupted as a result of that encounter, as well as its first casualties.
When responding to a distress call presumably from the Cotati located on the moon, the Avengers are quickly enamored to the Cotati, due in no small part to their history in dealing with the race. Former Avenger Mantis and a Cotati/Swordsman hybrid parented the Cotati's Celestial Messiah, who has developed a friendship with Thor, and Iron Man experiences something akin to a religious experience upon arriving on the Moon. Captain Marvel notices her team's swiftness to side with the Cotati against the approaching Kree and Skrull and voices an objection, only to be countered by Iron Man, who rallies the troops explaining that the Cotati needs someone to defend them in their upcoming battle with the newly allied forces of the Kree and Skrull.
Although Captain Marvel's arguments are quickly put to rest by a fired-up Iron Man, the Armored Avenger's quick rebuttal makes the Captain's position no less viable in reality. level of possible manipulation at play here seems to suggest truth of the matter is that the Cotati are far less innocent stance than the Celestial Messiah would have the Avengers believe.
As revealed in the Incoming! one-shot, a Kree and a Skrull had started working together toward brokering peace between their races. The Kree was found murdered, and left a cryptic message for his Skrull ally: "Beware the trees." Believing the Kree and Skrull to still be opposed to one another, a small team of heroes including Captain Marvel and Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four confronted the Skrull. Just as he was revealing the truth to the heroes, he was killed by way of a strange-looking tree erupting from his body.
With Captain Marvel being one of the heroes who witnessed the death of the Skrull, it's no wonder that she was the one to voice an objection to the Avengers' automatic assumption that the Cotati are the good guys. However, the Avengers are too taken by the appearance of someone wearing the face of their old friend and emerging to fight beside them, along with the reappearance of Sequoia, the Celestial Messiah, to believe anything different.
With the Cotati having a highly documented history of telepathy, it is possible that they have some kind of mental hold over at least some of the Avengers. This theory would begin to explain Iron Man's experience of religious reverence upon meeting the Cotati on the Moon. However, none of this explains why a Kree/Skrull armada is heading towards Earth or why the Fantastic Four is leading it.
Regardless, the Avengers' decision to stand with the Cotati will no doubt have lasting ramifications, especially since a battle with their longtime friends, the Fantastic Four, seems to be in the immediate future.