Aliens vs. Avengers

Aliens vs. Avengers (2024) #1-4

by Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribić (Artist), Ive Svorcina (Colorist)

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Face the Ultimate Extraterrestrial Terror!

From legendary Marvel creators Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic, the acclaimed duo behind the best-selling graphic novel Secret Wars, comes an explosive crossover event decades in the making!

In a future Earth ravaged by terror, the unstoppable Xenomorphs descend upon our planet, pitting the perfect organism against a world of superhumans. As the Avengers rise in defense, they face unimaginable loss as the gods of creation known as the Engineers set out to destroy what they made.

What catastrophic events led to the fall of humanity and forced the Avengers to abandon their home planet? Which heroes will be first to fall, and which will be forever changed by the encounter with the Xenomorphs? Discover the answers as Hickman and Ribić weave a pulse-pounding saga where every choice could make the difference between survival or extinction.

Collecting the complete four-issue miniseries, this adventure is a must-have for fans of both the Marvel and Alien franchises, as well as those excited for Noah Hawley’s upcoming FX television series Alien: Earth.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Horror, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Fiction

152 pages, Paperback

First published August 5, 2025

About the author

Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for creating the Image Comics series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as working on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, FF, and S.H.I.E.L.D. titles. In 2012, Hickman ended his run on the Fantastic Four titles to write The Avengers and The New Avengers, as part the "Marvel NOW!" relaunch. In 2013, Hickman wrote a six-part miniseries, Infinity, plus Avengers tie-ins for Marvel Comics. In 2015, he wrote the crossover event Secret Wars. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was bound to happen, I suppose. Since the merger of Disney, Marvel, and the Alien franchise, it was only a matter of time that someone had the bright idea to do a smash-up of Ridley Scott's fantastic horror film franchise with Marvel superheroes.

The result? Surprisingly awesome.



Jonathon Hickman's four-issue Aliens Vs. Avengers is a well-written and beautifully drawn (Esad Ribic's artwork is amazing) graphic novel series that posits a very fun (and gory) "What if?..." universe in which the aliens have spread to Earth and an aging group of superheroes must fight to protect what's left of the planet and/or avenge those they couldn't save.



Hickman wisely incorporates storylines started in Ridley Scott's 2012 prequel film "Prometheus" and his 2017 follow-up film "Alien: Covenant".

I actually liked this way more than expected, and I hope that more will follow.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short yet grand-scale dystopia which sees the majority of the universe fall to the Alien species, with the few survivors fighting for the human race. It is just the right amount of entertainingly depressing, dark, and dreary. There are a lot of gratuitous deaths, as well as odd power scaling, but it reads well and looks amazing overall. Hickman and Ribić offer a nice change of pace and a treat for fans of both franchises.

triggers: graphic violence

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

EN There’s a saying that goes something like “Comics are the cinema of the poor,” and I think this comic illustrates that perfectly.

At first glance, you might assume this is just a cash-grab crossover between two popular IPs — but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Hickman and Ribić form a powerhouse duo, and I was genuinely excited to see what they could create together.

The result is a strikingly cinematic and tightly written story that blends these two incredible intellectual properties in ways you’d never expect. I’d love to see this on the big screen, and honestly, I think it could work. The story is deliberately focused, using only a small, well-chosen cast of characters, which makes it especially well-suited for adaptation.

All in all: amazing story, amazing art. I think every Alien and Marvel fan will love this — I certainly did.

--

PT Há um ditado que diz algo como “A banda desenhada é o cinema dos pobres”, e penso que este livro ilustra isso na perfeição.

À primeira vista, pode parecer apenas um cruzamento feito para ganhar dinheiro entre duas propriedades populares — mas nada poderia estar mais longe da verdade. Hickman e Ribić formam uma dupla poderosa, e estava genuinamente entusiasmado para ver o que seriam capazes de criar juntos.

O resultado é uma história surpreendentemente cinematográfica e muito bem construída, que funde estas duas incríveis propriedades intelectuais de formas que nunca se adivinharia. Adorava ver isto no grande ecrã e, sinceramente, acho que seria possível. A narrativa é deliberadamente focada, recorrendo apenas a um pequeno grupo de personagens bem escolhidas, o que a torna especialmente adequada para uma adaptação.

Em suma: história incrível, arte incrível. Acredito que todos os fãs de Alien e Marvel vão adorar — eu adorei.

[Machiavelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brutal, high-stakes crossover that pits Earth’s Mightiest Heroes against the deadliest hunters in the galaxy. Hickman’s plotting brings scale and dread, while Ribić’s art makes every clash feel cinematic. Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Cap push back against impossible odds, but the tension never lets up. An epic “what if?” scenario that delivers on spectacle and atmosphere. If you like these franchises I think you’ll like this. Although be warned it is definitely dark, but to me it was fun and what I was wanting from it.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book. I am not a huge fan of the Aliens/Xenomorphs. To me, it crosses over more into horror than sci-fi the principle of no heroes just survivors applies to this book.

The Xenomorphs have been unleashed. Their spread can't be stopped. People have tried to fight back, quarantining has not worked, only scorched earth seems to slow the spread. What few Avengers that are left are just barely surviving. However, even this is a losing war. Now an aged Tony Stark makes a final gamble not to win but to escape, but are they just running from the frying pan into the fire?

The story is good and excellent artwork, the only thing I think was wrong with this book is that it was a bit too short. There were a lot of things going on this should have been at least a six-issue series. The book finishes with a variant covers gallery, containing full-page and thumbnail covers.

[Benji's Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should they ever make another Aliens vs [Super hero name] title, it'll be hard to live up to this one. This not only fits right in with the tone of Alien (dark and depressing), but actually serves as a great sequel to Prometheus/Covenant.

It's a very somber look at the last few, remaining heroes as they face off against an overwhelming amount of Xenomorphs, the very same creatures that David 8 was keeping at the end of Alien: Covenant. I know a lot of people (despite not liking the film), were rightfully curious and left wondering what happened after David 8 was revealed to have plans to set them loose on Planet Earth and this shows that he actually got around to doing so.

Again, it's very bleak, but takes both properties seriously and that's what I love about it. The Xenomorphs are a real threat here. There's no fan-service, no cheesy anti-Xenomorph armor made by Tony Stark, only a very well-done story by Jonathan Hickman, with fine artwork by Esad Ribic. Then again, that's something I've always come to expect from this duo.

Highly recommended.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Ok story. It falls into that plot of "how can we kill off the heroes in interesting ways". A few neat surprises. Recommended

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

Didn’t like the story. Loved the artwork.

[Mario V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peak

[Jeremiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts off so well but kind of flops at the end. Beautiful art though.

[Wyatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

The premise was intriguing — the opening was cinematic — but then the story started to unwind in an anticlimactic way that was not as interesting or cinematic. I liked the concept of Mr. Sinister harvesting a more powerful xenomorph but I think this should’ve been introduced in the beginning of the story in order to raise the stakes. The xenomorohs alone aren’t much of a threat to the avengers but merging with the DNA of super humans would make them a HUGE threat.

I think them being bred from powerful marvel characters by one of the avengers villains would’ve been a great start to the story, making the stakes feel higher for them. From there they could put together a team of avengers around the globe to stop the xenomorph spread worldwide. I think this would’ve made better than what we ultimately got. It wasn’t bad but could’ve been better.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing to harness their existing license for the Aliens franchise, Marvel Comics assembles the superstar team of Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić to deliver on a four-issue limited series where an aging Avengers team must serve as the final resistance against human extinction. Set decades into the future, the remnants of Earth's Mightiest have holed up in the last stronghold of humanity, whilst Xenomorph hordes devour all else and have dismantled all of society. A fun enough premise for Hickman and Ribić to sink their teeth into, and most of it works well.

Characterization and setup work by Hickman is pretty much top notch. The opening issue is suitably grandiose and Hickman's penchant for cinematic sequencing pairs well with Ribić's painterly art style. The dialogue is equivalent to that of a war epic, where the urgency and desperation of the Avengers are very much felt. Ribić contributes to the bleak tone well with his art featuring aging Avengers looking morose frequently, and a muted color palette to sell the doom of humankind.

It's unfortunate though that this series doesn't really feel conclusive or cohesive by its end. Hickman, per expectation at this point, sets up imaginative conditions for the Avengers to be fighting Aliens, and yet the reader is left a little cold by the climax. It feels almost tongue-in-cheek at this point that Hickman can't quite close on stuff since his last few outings with Marvel have all felt prematurely completed, and it feels particularly egregious for it to happen with a four-issue miniseries. Aliens vs. Avengers is a pretty fun time, but it feels like with Hickman and Ribić involved, there should have been more staying power to this.

[MannyLikesPie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took forever to end but like nothing I’ve ever read. Spectacular the art and the writing, so many ideas I never saw coming. The ending left me a little disappointed but it could mean another story. Or what I hope is it just ends, would work so well with how the alien movies are as well

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book somehow ended up being the best sequel to Prometheus/Covenant that we have received so far, a surprisingly gnarly Marvel vs Aliens book, and maybe even something like Hickman’s finale chapter of his decades long Marvel work. I know he’s been doing other stuff, but I think we can all agree that he’s been phoning in most of it. It’s just hilarious that his best work since Inferno is here in this crossover.

Esad Ribic is a generational talent, and I’m very glad he was given enough time to complete this fully. Of course I wish it was longer, but I’m very happy with what we got here.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a What If style story featuring, as the title suggests, Aliens vs. Avengers. They could have called it Aliens vs. Marvel Universe because the X-Men and others show up as well. It's tied heavily into the Aliens/Prometheus universe, at times almost too much because some of it got confusing. Very dark story. Slight spoiler alert, the ending wasn't very satisfying, at least to me. Overall not a bad read though.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was boring, but the art was cool!

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun but not especially groundbreaking as a crossover. I loved some of the concepts which felt like a clever thought on what the Marvel universe would be like if it crossed over with Xenomorphs, but it could have done with another issue or two to properly flesh it out.

[Ramón S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

an awful dystopian story. I don't like it at all. I hate aliens

[Daniel Kibblesmith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal and beautiful and gut churning. Reminded me of reading Martha Washington for the first time and learning that my world had become big enough that I was encountering comics that didn’t follow the rules, where everything was not going to be okay.

[Keenan Mcclelland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spider-Man & Venom cool posing: It looks like we were almost too late.

*Armor's blood filling up inside her suit of armor lying within dead as a doormat* .....

[Johan Haneveld · Rating 5 out of 5]

9 - My only complaint is that this is too short. Six issues would have given Hickman the opportunity to build up the tension even more and explain more of what is going on. But I'm very happy wiht the condensed four issues we have. The art is fenomenal and makes this book a worthwile read in itself, but I liked the story as well. This is the kind of superhero/franchise-story I like best - not part of an ongoing story (that will never end by design), but a story in an alternative setting, with no status quo to protect, where consequences can be explored. This also provides a place to explore the original ideas of the characters more fully. The crossover aspect works well too, as this is not only a Marvel-story but also the best sequel to Prometheus/Covenant so far - with especially the cosmic horror themes of the Aliens-mythology teased out (the androids and the engineers in a battle over existence itself). All the time reading this I felt a sense of dread in my belly (the sign of the best horror, in my opinion), that didn't go away until the very end. This is, however short, filled with great ideas (among others the role of Venom and the plans of Mr. Sinister). But I also loved the depiction of Bruce Banner a lot. This works as a high concept SF-horror story very well, even if you do not have much of a connection to the Marvel-universe. And the horror-aspect will satisfy the fans of that genre. So, yes, I can recommend this - even if you (like me) have soured a bit on the repetitiveness of the super hero-genre.

[Bryan Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was so much potential for this to be an amazing book, but it never lived up to it. Even my favourite part, the art, had some issues in the details.
The plot is typical Hickman, which is unfortunate since I’m not a huge fan of how big he makes everything. I think the story bit off more than it could chew. I’ve seen all the Alien movies (and show) and I still didn’t really understand the world building he was doing/playing off of. But at the heart of it, there was a narrative that anyone could pick up and read and enjoy.
Really loved the art style and will definitely keep Ribic in mind when looking for new books. But there was some continuity/errors in the details of the art which bugged me.
There were a few “cameos” and surprise moments that were sprinkled in which helped my enjoyment too.

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a fun book with some Avengers fighting some aliens. If that's all you're looking for, you'd be satisfied. There are a few trademarks of comics from Jonathan Hickman that I recognized here. There's some scenes of the creators of the xenomorphs or whatever, but they're not really important to this story. Maybe their from the Prometheus movie or one of the other ones I haven't seen. IDK, doesn't matter. The choice to have this set in the future was interesting. It's not the current Avengers you think of; they're all old. And not every Avenger is here, but you get a decent amount. One thing I felt was missing was the horror aspect. When I think of the Alien movies, I think about a xenomorph hunting someone in a dark hallway or something like that. There's none of that here.
The artwork is solid.

[Xander Haan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aliens vs Avengers - 3.5 / 5 Stars

A pretty solid read!! I’m pretty back and forth on Hickman but I enjoyed this. It had some neat action & drama that I was definitely looking forward to.

I feel like it could’ve gone farther though! I would’ve loved to see a slower build and for the climactic moments to last longer. It felt so quick for me. It very well could’ve been an ongoing series and I would’ve loved it! A marvel zombies type deal.

I was torn on the futuristic setting but by the end I dug it. I’m inconsistent on when I like stuff like that but generally I do. Take old man Logan for instance… one of the best comics ever written imo! I think it depends on the story.

This was pretty dope. Makes me want to look into predator vs spiderman and stuff like that. Maybe eventually!

Onto the next book!

[Mike Hviid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This shouldn't work. It really shouldn't. Yet Hickman manages to fit the xenomorphs into his version of the Marvel Universe, the one he's been building since he started writing Fantastic Four, continuing through Avengers, Infinity, Secret Wars, and X-Men.
I don't always like looking like a blind follower of Jonathan Hickman, because not everything he writes is good, like some of his X-Men work, but when he's really let loose on the Marvel Universe, he's really on fire.
Books like this and G.O.D.S. will look awesome on my shelf eventually.

[Bloko Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para lo que es, está bastante bien. La premisa es muy interesante: hay una plaga de aliens que están asolando tanto la tierra como el universo entero y unos vengadores ancianos se las tienen que apañar para sobrevivir. Empieza muy bien y el tono de la historia es oscuro y serio. Pero no sé por qué motivo, en los dos últimos capítulos deciden meter humor y eso me ha desentonado bastante. Si te gustan ambas franquicias es una lectura entretenida e interesante.

[Daniel Etherington · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disjointed. Poorly contextualised. Over-reliant on exposition instead of in-story dialogue. Disney, with its ownership of Fox and Marvel, missed a trick with this one. Disappointing.

[Brandon Geurts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bizarrely high-talent lineup for a crossover that would have probably gotten third or fourth-tier creative teams in the 90s. I don't love the way it ends, figure all the other deadline pressures Jonathan Hickman had got to him. Vindicating to know he's a Prometheus-head, though

[Dave Whalen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent. Initially, I tried reading this as single issues upon release, but I realized that this is not your average media tie-in or crossover comic. This is something special, something thoughtful. So I waited for all four issues to release, which spanned the majority of the past year, from August 2024 to June 2025. Agonizing. Yet it was worth the wait…

The series marries the Marvel multiverse with the cerebral elements of the Alien prequels. I won’t say much more than that for risk of spoiling the rest. My only gripe is that the series overall felt slightly rushed, simply because I wanted to witness every encounter between Marvel’s heroes and the Xenomorphs. I am desperate for more, and that’s how I know this is a nearly perfect comic

[Luke Costin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why waste money making The Eternals when they could be making this film?

Comic franchise crossovers are nothing new, I have very fond memories of checking out “Alien vs Predator vs The Terminator” from the library many years ago and have been hooked on these type of crossovers since. Are these type of comics usually good? Not really. Are they fun schlocky peanut butter and jelly kinds of mash ups? You bet.

This story is much more high concept that your usually crossover, which is expected with it being penned by Jonathan Hickman. I was frequently surprised with where the story went next and characters you wouldn’t expect to be core to this find a way to shine.

I’ve waxed lyrical about Esad Ribic’s art before and I don’t need to go on about it more regarding this comic. He is just outstanding.

Overall, just a great crossover story