It was only a matter of time. When Disney acquired 20th Century Fox a few years back, the comic book rights to Fox franchises like Predator and Alien ended up in the hands of Marvel Comics – and given the fact that Predators and Aliens battled DC Comics heroes like Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern in the days when Dark Horse Comics held the comic book rights, it seemed obvious that Marvel would eventually get to making them face off with their heroes as well. Last year, we got Predator vs. Wolverine, and now Entertainment Weekly has revealed that a limited series called Aliens vs. Avengers is set to start reaching store shelves on July 24th!
Set “a little into the future,” Aliens vs. Avengers has the following synopsis: It’s all led to this: Xenomorphs reach Earth! The perfect organism meets a planet of superhumans. Who will be first to fall?
The series is coming our way from writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Esad Ribic.
Hickman told Entertainment Weekly, “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. Probably one of the coolest things about the project is how we’ve found really fun ways to ‘Avengerize’ Aliens and ‘alien-up’ Avengers. 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.“
As EW points out, there were creatures very similar to the Xenomorph in Marvel Comics already. They’re called The Brood, and these clearly-Xenomorph-inspired beasts have previously gone up against the likes of the X-Men and Ghost Rider… but it’s cool to see the real deal Xenos get dropped into the mix now.
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