When Disney purchased 20th Century Fox back in 2019, with it, came the rights to both the Alien and Predator franchises. After seeing much success for Dark Horse comics over the years, this buyout of the Alien IP actually made a lot of sense, especially given the opportunity to see the Xenomorph eventually make its way into Marvel comics.
Then in 2021, Marvel had done just so with a comic run by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artists Salvador Larroca and Julius Ohta back in 2021 called Alien: Bloodlines, and later, Alien: Revival. In those stories, we’d seen a more contemporary adaptation of the franchise where ex-security officer Gabriel Cruz, now retired from working for Weyland-Yutani, had to deal with PTSD after a close encounter alien attack; then soon after, found himself back in the thick of it (meaning yet another alien encounter) once his son became involved in some corporate espionage.
It was a well-received revival though really stretched out both the lore and realm of possibilities in the Alien franchise. So when Marvel announced a newer and little bit more grounded project in the “Alien” series by Declan Shalvey (Moon Knight) and Andrea Broccardo (Star Wars: The High Republic), it was no surprise fans were ecstatic in anticipation.
Intended to “Channel the mood and atmosphere of those films while doing something new,” according to Shalvey, this new story will be set on an icy fringe moon at the edge of nowhere where a family of scientists researching important methods of water conservation becomes hunted as prey by none other than the classic: Xenomorph!
“It’s incredibly exciting to take on such a brilliant franchise …the potential for great stories is limitless,” Shalvey said in a Marvel press release. “I feel like the themes from the films remain quite relevant to today, which makes me feel like we’re able to tell contemporary stories set in that iconic universe. I’m very much hoping to channel the mood and atmosphere of those films while doing something new and Andrea has done an incredible job of putting the reader in that recognizable world. With this new series, I think we have a really interesting addition to the lore of Alien.”
