Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited to see the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four sharing the screen this December for Avengers: Doomsday, but earlier today Marvel announced an upcoming crossover event that speaks to my very soul. Coming this September, Marvel will be releasing the one-shot comic The Muppets Take the Marvel Universe, where Marvel’s greatest heroes will team up with Jim Henson’s greatest creations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Muppet Show.
Last year, for the 70th anniversary of the Muppets, Marvel released a series of covers which featured the Muppets reimagined as various Marvel characters, like Sam Eagle as Captain America, Miss Piggy as Thanos, and, in a nod to Throg, Kermit as Thor. They were fun, but they were only covers with no actual Muppet stories within. Now we’ll get to see characters from each universe teaming up for a variety of short stories.
Marvel announced the creative team for the event, with writers Chip Zdarsky, Mackenzie Cadenhead, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Adam F. Goldberg, Ashley Allen, and Kyle Starks, with artists Pete Woods, David Baldeon, Áthila Fabbio, E.J. Su, Paco Medina, Mike Henderson, and Nick Bradshaw. Other names will be announced as well. The news also detailed four of the stories we’ll be getting, with some being natural, irresistible fits, and others being rather surprising. For example, one story sees Bruce Banner and Hank Pym stopping by Muppet Labs for an experiment with Bunsen and Beaker involving Gamma Rays and Pym Particles. That is a team-up for the ages, as is another featuring the crew of the Swine Trek meeting Rocket Raccoon and Groot. The other two stories, though, feature more unexpected crossovers, including one where Mojo kidnaps Rowlf the Dog and another which features Doctor Strange and the Swedish Chef. Marvel also showed off some covers featuring Kermit with Spider-Man, Deadpool with Muppet pirates and Gonzo with Ghost Rider, though those may just be covers and not based on actual stories.
There are other stories that have yet to be announced, but what they’ll be about is anyone’s guess, especially considering how eclectic some of the already announced choices are. I, for one, would love to see Wolverine and Animal spend some time together. Or, Magneto and Professor X, the two old men of the X-Men comics, trade jabs with Statler and Waldorf. Or maybe Namor gets pissed off at Lew Zealand for throwing his fish around like boomerangs. The possibilities are as limitless as Fozzie Bear’s supply of terrible jokes.
