Marvel’s ‘Alien vs. X-Men’ Looks Like a Must Read Comic in New Preview Pages

The X-Men are about to face their most dangerous threat this September when they meet the Xenomorphs. Following last year’s grimly delightful Alien Vs. Avengers, Marvel is pitting the Children of the Atom against the universe’s perfect killing machine. A new preview of the upcoming limited series shows off just how bad things are about to get, and I couldn’t be more excited.

Alien Vs. X-Men will be written by legendary X-Men writer Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Geraldo Borges. The limited series will also have a four-part bonus story from Chris Claremont that pits the Xenomorphs against the Brood, Marvel’s very own hive-minded alien species that loves infecting hosts and murdering people. The main story will see the X-Men biting off more than they can chew when they go looking for a Phoenix egg and find something far more dangerous that they bring back to Earth.

The preview pages released by Marvel show what seems to be the moment the X-Men first come into contact with the Xenomorphs in their egg stage. We see Wolverine and Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man) restrained by alien growth before the latter is attacked by a facehugger. The team composition, including Kitty Pryde, Beast, Emma Frost, Wolverine, and Cyclops as well as the specific costumes they all wear seem to place the series during Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men.

Talking to Collider, Gillen said the extraterrestrial connections of this era easily fit into an Alien crossover.

The fun of crossovers like Alien Vs. X-Men is that they are not beholden to established canon. Because of this, Gillen is far more free to lean into the horror of the Alien franchise and kill off fan-favorite mutants as he sees fit. “Heroes can still be heroes and act like themselves,” Gillen told Collider, “but they’re in a story where their luck often runs out.”

Gillen pointed to Storm being one of the most important characters in Alien Vs. X-Men despite the weather witch not appearing in any promotional material for the series so far. He equates Storm to the Ripley of the story, implying she’ll be the protagonist and — if she’s lucky — survivor of the X-Men’s encounter with the Xenomorphs. Storm’s power level posed a problem for the creative team, but Gillen teased that they had found a solution that made her presence in the story feel earned.

Whatever that may be, fans will be able to find out for themselves when Alien Vs. X-Men #1 is released on Sept. 16.