Aliens vs Avengers Preview Reveals Hulk Fighting a Xenomorph

Marvel’s upcoming Aliens vs. Avengers series will pit legendary superhero team against the galaxies most ferocious species – and today we’re getting a tease of just how intense that fight will be! 

New preview pages for Aliens vs. Avengers feature some Avengers heroes (Dagger, Miles Morales Spider-Man) on the run from a pack of Xenomorphs – and even with Hulk on their side, the Avengers look like they may not be ready for the kind of fight they’re in! 

The Aliens vs. Avengers series is being written by Jonathan Hickman (House of X, Ultimate Spider-Man), with art by Esad Ribíc (Eternals, Uncanny X-Force). The two previously worked on the 2015 Secret Wars series – so they have proven experience in crafting a grand tale of earthly heroes caught up in a cosmic clash. 

“Well, I’ve never done one of these before, and I always get excited at the idea of doing something ‘new,’” Hickman told IGN. “I also knew that I was going to be working with Esad on it, so I immediately could envision how cool this was going to be. And, obviously, he’s cooking with fire here, so it’s even better than I first imagined.”

It’s been revealed that Aliens vs. Avengers will be set in a near future when the Avengers are older and more seasoned – not necessarily in the prime of their powers. Hickman explained how that setting helped bridge the two franchises together. 

“I thought the time period stuff made it more interesting and it certainly provided a larger canvas to mix and match the mythologies of both franchises on the page,” Hickman said. “I found the necessary connective tissue very quickly, so the writing really became about writing as big, and with as much velocity, as I could. This thing starts fast and only gets faster from issue to issue.”

One of the most exciting prospects of Aliens vs. Avengers is figuring out which Marvel heroes are part of this older Avengers squad. While the preview pages and covers reveal some of the roster, Hickman teases there are more surprise appearances in store: 

“I picked a cast that had both the biggest names and some really cool surprises,” Hickman teased. “I don’t think we’ve actually said who all is in this (it’s a big cast), but I think readers will be tickled at some of the things we fit in here. We can’t wait for people to read it.”

If fans are worried that the “Marvel” aspect of this series will outweigh the horror elements of Alien – don’t. Hickman promises that this Xenomorph invasion will have real stakes to it – and not everyone may make it out alive: 

“The threat has to have a cost attached to it,” Hickman says. “And to increase tension as a story progresses you have to have an escalation in those costs. And, because it’s superheroes, you have to get creative in how those costs are paid. Which is pretty much what we’ve done.”

Aliens vs. Avengers #1 will be released on August 28, 2024.