This article has been updated since its publication.
Via Entertainment Weekly, Marvel Comics have announced 2015 “Secret Wars” creators Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic will reunite to pit Earth’s Mightiest Heroes against the most infamous movie monsters of all time. A four-part series, “Aliens vs. Avengers,” will take place in the future, nearer the Alien time frame, and see older, grittier versions of the heroes clash with the Xenomorphs after they arrive on Earth. “It’s all led to this: Xenomorphs reach Earth!,” cries the synopsis. “The perfect organism meets a planet of superhumans. Who will be first to fall?”
The book marks Hickman’s first comic starring a character that originated outside the medium. “I’ve never worked on a licensed or ‘non-superhero’ property the entire time I’ve been at Marvel,” he says, “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.”
He adds, “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.” Among the places the series will revisit will be the homeworld of the Aliens’ creators, the Engineers.
“Aliens vs. Avengers” #1 will be released on July 24, shortly before the latest Alien film, Alien: Romulus, hits theaters on August 16. It marks the second Aliens/Predator crossover for Marvel since acquiring the license, following last year’s “Predator vs. Wolverine.” Plans for a rematch between the two sci-fi monsters themselves remain unknown at the time of writing, presumably locked somewhere in the Weyland-Yutani Corporation’s most secure vault.
