Entertainment
Marvel & Star Wars’ Historic Crossover Has One Major Problem
Earlier today, Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm delivered a stunning announcement that the worlds of Star Wars and the Marvel Universe will collide next year with Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles. Hope Assembles seems to be hitting all the right notes, as its creative team consists of Kevin Smith and David Marquez; Smith is no stranger to the comic book world, having written iconic runs for Daredevil and Green Arrow, while Marquez’s work on titles like Uncanny X-Men and Invincible Iron Man is more than worth the cover price. Hope Assembles will also land on the 50th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, making it a true comic book event.
There’s one issue that might impact the crossover, and it has to do with the premise. According to the official synopsis, Hope Assembles will bring the events of Star Wars: A New Hope smack-dab into the Marvel Universe. This raises all kinds of questions, most notably: How will it affect both universes? Most people know that the movies and television shows that make up the Star Wars universe take place in a singular timeline, as do the Marvel comics set on Earth-616, aka the mainstream version of the Marvel Universe. Hope Assembles could complicate those timelines if it isn’t pulled off right.
‘Hope Assembles’ Could Radically Affect The Star Wars & Marvel Timelines
When Disney purchased Lucasfilm, it chose to establish a new version of Star Wars canon. Said canon would include the original trilogy, the prequels, the then-upcoming sequel trilogy, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, making it easier for new fans to get into the series. Future movies, comics, and other media would take place within this timeline and continue to do so; Rogue One, for example, is set right before the events of A New Hope and plays into its narrative. Crossing over these iconic characters with Marvel’s heroes could risk the integrity of that timeline, even if fans have been waiting to see such a crossover for years.
Kevin Smith and David Marquez might have found a way to blend the two franchises together. According to Entertainment Weekly, which first revealed the news, Hope Assembles is born due to a reality-warping spell that pulls the universes of Star Wars and Marvel together. Outgoing Marvel editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski said that ideas for a Star Wars and Marvel crossover had been tossed around for years:
“It’s an idea we’ve wanted to explore since getting the Star Wars license back over a decade ago, but we knew we’d have to wait with the patience of a Jedi to make it happen. The 50th anniversary of A New Hope has finally given us the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring these two universes together, in this incredible story being told by Kevin Smith and David Marquez.”
The idea of a reality-warping spell raises plenty of questions, most notably concerning the Scarlet Witch, but it also seems like the best way to bring Star Wars and Marvel together. After all, the former franchise has teetered between science fiction and fantasy, which could fit into the wider scope of the Marvel Universe. It all hinges on whether Smith and Marquez can pull it off.
A Star Wars/Marvel Crossover Poses a Problem of Scale
There’s another question that Hope Assembles has raised, and it concerns how Star Wars characters would operate in the Marvel Universe. Specifically, characters who use the Force could be a major problem. How can Captain America and the Avengers fight Darth Vader when he can choke them with the Force? Is a lightsaber powerful enough to carve through Cap’s shield or Wolverine’s Adamantium claws? It also runs the other way: given the cosmic forces that Marvel’s heroes have faced, is a Death Star or the might of the Empire really a major threat?
Fans will have to wait until next year to see how this conflict plays out, but it’s no surprise that Kevin Smith and David Marquez have a tough task ahead of them. Merging together two of the biggest pop culture franchises is a Herculean feat that could result in disaster or meteoric success. Hopefully, the latter will be the end result for Hope Assembles.
Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles #1 will be available wherever comics are sold on January 2027. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
- Release Date
-
May 25, 1977
- Runtime
-
121 minutes
- Director
-
George Lucas
- Writers
-
George Lucas
- Producers
-
Gary Kurtz, Rick McCallum
You must be logged in to post a comment Login