With the last of Dark Horse Comic’s Alien/vs/Predator comics now released, Marvel Comics has officially announced the creative team behind their first venture in Alien, as well as brief synopsis of what to expect.
Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson (EMPYRE: CAPTAIN AMERICA) with art by Salvador Larroca (DOCTOR DOOM), ALIEN #1 will be a thrilling addition to the incredible legacy that began with the groundbreaking 1979 film. Featuring both new and classic characters from Earth and beyond, this bold take on the Alien mythology will entertain both longtime fans and newcomers to the legendary horror/science-fiction saga.
The new story will feature a Weyland-Yutani mercenary named Gabriel Cruz as he battles a deadly new breed of xenomorph with the survival of his child hanging in the balance. No stranger to infusing horror with the classic Marvel storytelling, Phillip Kennedy Johnson most recently shocked readers in the terrifying MARVEL ZOMBIES: RESURRECTION series.
Both are new names to the expanded universe of Alien, but as the press release points out Johnson has experience writing for the darker side of Marvel, having written their recent Marvel Zombies series, Resurrection.
The series has no subtitle yet, and there’s no news as to if this will be a limited release or an on-going, but talking to Games Radar last September about his next project (which was this), Johnson told the outlet that he hoped “to be writing it for a long, long time.”
The first issue of Marvel’s Alien is currently slated for release in March of 2021!
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We called it! Wow 14 variant covers! Also I like that it's a 40 page issue!
https://aiptcomics.com/2020/12/23/march-2021-marvel-comics-solicitations/
I was right, the character is
Spoiler
That's my guess as well.
But it wasn't really its own IP when the movie was promoted as having answers for the Alien franchise within. He should've just had his own engineer story in it and left out everything else related to the franchise if that is what he wanted to do in the firstplace. I like Scott, he's got four of my favorite movies of all time: Alien, Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down and Kingdom of Heaven, but he's weighing the progression of the franchise down.
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia0.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2FUTFiHeDL8cOSA%2Fgiphy.gif&hash=16c64ea93a412f61d081d1b4396f6cdcff734a02
It certainly seems that way. One would guess he just can't announce precisely what he's doing yet - what that returning character is. Can't let the Jonesy out of the bag.
It doesn't sound to me like he's going to be contradicting anything in Alien 3 here. Just that he's not going to explicitly acknowledge it, in case it doesn't stick, so that it doesn't "date" his story.
The interviewer asks if we'll see any returning characters from those movies. He answers yes.
So unless the returning characters are the salvage crew, medical staff, boardroom execs, or Jonesy, it sounds like he's already going against Alien 3.
Indeed. And that boredom shows (to me) in the last act of Covenant.
However, I wouldn't mind a episodic spinoff, either in comics or television. Say Guy Pierce as a young Weyland in pre-Goldmember makeup. More in line with the TED 2023 speech, etc. I would enjoy that. Or the chronicles of a synthetic that is not about creating the Xenomorph. Stop making the universe so darn small Ridley!
Tbf, he sort of tried that with Prometheus... before bottling it and having something pointlessly burst out of something else right at the end.
If Scott wanted to make scifi epic alien exploration movie and not include the alien, he should've just started up another IP.
I don't know why so many people want him in the Alien franchise anymore when it is clear he's bored with it.
If it's 'near future', though, it might just retcon both.
EDIT:
Clearly I thought this was the thread about the new TV series. Point still stands, however. It might retcon both.
I'm with you. The grandiose ideas and visuals were great... flawed ... but ambitious nonetheless ... which is why it took me a while to warm up to covenant as it felt too small.
Yep, same
I personally can't stand Prometheus, its only saving grace was David.
And Noomi.
Waits for applause...
Jonesy will feature heavily in the comic.
Very excited to check out this comic and delve into our new Alien future!
It will be telling if they can get Scott onboard the tv series as a producer though. I think he wouldn't go for it if Prometheus and Covenant were nuked.
The only selling point I think Disney would have is if they promised Scott a redux on the movies because of the new continuity OR a different series for him to helm.
- This is a new continuity in the Alien comics.
- Only Alien and Aliens matter for his story, as the writer isn't confident that any of the other movies will matter for the "canon" once the dust settles over at Disney.
Not watched yet, but another interview.
Totally missed this interview, but listening now and it seems like he's hitting a lot of notes that interest me. He has an interesting take on the prequel stuff, he actually likes Alien 3, is intrigued by Call/Autons in Alien: Resurrection despite not liking the film, and I appreciate that he pushed back a bit on the Aliens influence. I adore Aliens, it is a damn near film, but it shouldn't be the sole reference point of the series.
What I find most interesting, though, is that he's drawing from a well of Giger art outside of his Alien work as well...
I'm starting to feel a bit more optimistic about this comic than I had been.
Not gonna lie, listening to Johnson talk about this is getting me really excited for what he's bringing to the table! Thanks for sharing that podcast!
That could be a good thing. Guess we'll find out.
New breed? Great, back to dumb lol.
This exactly. Defiance, Labyrinth and the like worked without 2 IQ mutant stories.
They had to bend the inner jaw...guess they never saw Alien...always a bad sign.
Lol.
As it should be. Doubtless there will be a half dozen variant covers so hopefully some of them will avoid "tongue-gate".
The Fiorina creature fires out the tongue after Dillon wrestles Kevin from it.
And that one on the Auriga used it to press a button.
I hated the idea of the bendy tongue since I saw it in Resurrection but you've made a really pertinent point there that could actually be used in a really interesting and Gigerly pertinent way. Would just seem a bit odd for them to start using the inner mouth so differently after all these years. Unless of course it's down to some DNA trickery of a new strand of Alien based on some other alien biology?
Because in canon and the 3 alien movies we know:
Facehugger + human: big chap and later warrior design.
facehugger + ox/dog: runner alien
facehugger + space enginner: what we saw int he comics.
Spoiler
It's nice that Engineers are at least on the mind of the writers. Not saying we'll see them anytime soon, but it's good to see them recognized as part of the lore.