It’s a real “you got your chocolate in my peanut butter” moment for Marvel Comics, as Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić are pitting Aliens Vs. Avengers for a new four-issue miniseries
Set in a non-616 timeline years in the future, and featuring “older, grittier versions of the Marvel characters,” as you might expect from Hickman this new series won’t just bring the Xenomorphs to Earth — it will also include the home of the Engineers, the massive creatures who created the aliens from the Prometheus part of the film series. Also, with it not being set in the main timeline, that probably means you can expect a few Avengers to get infected with alien eggs.
“Probably one of the coolest things about the project is how we’ve found really fun ways to ‘Avengerize’ Aliens and ‘alien-up’ Avengers,” Hickman shared with Entertainment Weekly, via a press release provided to Comic Book Club. “I think fans will be surprised at how elegantly some of those things fit together. It really turned out to be a chocolate-and-peanut-butter situation.”
Oh hey, he said the chocolate/peanut butter thing, too! Probably should have read his quote before I wrote that first paragraph, oh well!
Though Aliens has crossed over with other properties before, including Superman and Batman over at DC, this marks the first time the 20th Century property has crossed over with Marvel. It’s also a continuation of the brand synergy the Disney-owned companies have shown recently, with titles like Aliens: What If? and more.
“Hickman and Ribić are storytelling masters, and they bring a cinematic quality to this that seamlessly merges the high action and soap opera that Marvel fans expect with the deep terror and cosmic awe that the Alien universe so inspires,” Marvel editor Sarah Brunstad added. “Watching them cut loose across the entire lexicon of these two great franchises is jaw-dropping. ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN IN THIS BOOK–get ready.”
The new book features variant covers by Skottie Young, Mark Brooks, Zu Orzu, Tony Daniel, and John Tyler Christopher. The release, Marvel appropriately notes, is timed to the theatrical release of Alien: Romulus, the latest film in the series. Here’s the official synopsis:
“It’s all led to this: Xenomorphs reach Earth! The perfect organism meets a planet of superhumans. Who will be first to fall? Legendary collaborators Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić cut loose in this four-part epic unmissable for Marvel and Alien fans alike!”
Aliens Vs. Avengers #1 is on sale July 24 from Marvel Comics. The 48-page book will cost $7.99, and you can check out the full cover for the issue below:
