Over the years, the Alien franchise’s Xenomorphs have battled everyone from the Predator to Batman and Superman, but this summer – thanks to a new Marvel Comics series written by Jonathan Hickman with art from Esad Ribic – they’ll be tackling one of their most powerful foes yet: the Avengers
Yup, as revealed this morning by Entertainment Weekly, it’s Aliens vs. Avengers.
Comic fans are likely already familiar with the work of Hickman and Ribic. As Entertainment Weekly notes:
“That creative team last worked together on the Secret Wars event comic (which has been teased as a potential future Marvel Cinematic Universe film) and are two of Marvel’s most accomplished creators. Ribic handled art on Marvel’s recent Eternals comic (which was miles better than the movie), while Hickman has been busy with all kinds of projects over the last few years, from revitalizing the X-Men to bringing back the Ultimate Universe.”
Says Hickman:
“I’ve never worked on a licensed or ‘non-superhero’ property the entire time I’ve been at Marvel, so when all of this came together almost two years ago, I kind of jumped at the opportunity. I love the Aliens universe and the mythology, and obviously just how atmospherically and well-designed everything is has always gotten my creative juices flowing. It was tricky finding a way to make these two things work together, but I think Esad and I landed on something that works for fans of both franchises.”
It will indeed be curious to see how these two properties mash-up with one another (question: could the Hulk smash Xenomorphs indiscriminately without fear of their acidic blood eating through his flesh?), and who knows? Maybe if this thing proves popular enough, it’ll get its own episode of Disney+’s animated What If…? series.
The title’s official plot synopsis is, perhaps unsurprisingly, very light on details, but here’s what it says:
“It’s all led to this: Xenomorphs reach Earth! The perfect organism meets a planet of superhumans. Who will be first to fall?”
If you’re as curious about all this as we are, be aware that the first issue of Aliens vs. Avengers will hit stands on July 24th. Stay tuned for further updates on this one if and when they become available, folks.
