Is this the next Honda NSX Spider?

You have the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.) to thank for the picture you see above. And at first glance, you might think it is the new Honda NSX Spider.

Except of course, it isn't. S.H.I.E.L.D's not real either, just to confirm. No, this is a one-off built specifically for the upcoming move The Avengers (or Avengers Assemble over here). We first saw this drop-top with Robert Downey Jr - aka Tony Stark - behind the wheel a few months back, but now Acura (Honda's luxury US arm) has revealed this new pic on its website. No fanfare, no party poppers, no dancing monkeys with hats on: just a small note to say fictional S.H.I.E.L.D. agents get to drive a range of Acura vehicles, including a "convertible sports car", that looks an awful lot like a new NSX Spider.

This tickles us greatly because the new NSX promises to be a proper TG car. Sans roof? Fine by us. Naturally, there aren't any details on this, and considering the real thing - the coupe version - is still a few years off production, expect many lips to be fastened. Honda UK confirmed as much when they told us there are no plans for them - or Acura - to build a drop-top NSX.

At the Detroit motor show earlier this year, we did at least get a chance to speak to Honda who confirmed the new NSX coupe will look a lot like the concept on display. And that's a Very Good Thing. That concept used a mid-mounted V6, along with two little electric motors on each front wheel, making it a hybrid NSX.

See more pics of the NSX supercar concept

Of course, because the real car is still around three years off, things might change. Read the full story on the upcoming supercar here. Acura says its official vehicle selection for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in The Avengers will help "leverage excitement for the new NSX supercar concept announced earlier this year".

Has your excitement been leveraged by this picture?