When Disney purchased 20th Century Foxit seemed inevitable that the company would find a way to make Marvel crossover. Extraterrestrial or Predator. It took a while, but thanks to the comics, it came to fruition last year with Wolverine fighting the Predator (because who else would?), and now it continues with pitting the Avengers against the Xenomorphs.
In the next Aliens vs. Avengers mini-series by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are called upon to deal with the Xenopmorph threat after they crash-land on Earth. From there, things will go…well, if you’ve seen any Extraterrestrial film, the Avengers have their work cut out for them. They’ve fought off alien invasions many times before, but not like this. (The X-Men might be better suited for this, given the Brood, but that’s probably why they’re not here in the first place.)
Talk to Weekly Entertainment, Hickman explained that he had never done any licensed work during his tenure at Marvel, but he jumped at the chance to do so. Be a Extraterrestrials a fan who loves its mythology and “how atmospheric and well-designed everything is,” bringing the two properties together was an exciting challenge for him and Ribic. “We found some really fun ways to ‘revenge’ Extraterrestrials and “extraterrestrial” Avengers,” he continued. “I think fans will be surprised at how elegantly some of these things fit together. It turned out to really be a chocolate and peanut butter situation.
In the past, the Alien has specifically crossed over with DC Comics, including fighting Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern, as well as Judge Dredd, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Vampirella. Even Star Trek would have participated in the crossover action, if the comic announced in 2016 had not been canceled. (Plus, there’s all that Fortnite company, which is canon for every universe it touches.) While this is just par for the course IP, it will be interesting to see what comes of this: will any Marvel heroes end up on Planet of the Apes, For example? Or could Marvel take a page from DC’s book and adapt this comic for an animated film/miniseries?
Aliens vs. Avengers begins its four-part broadcast on July 24. The following month, Xenomorph returned to theaters with Extraterrestrial: Romulus on August 16.
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