It Finally Happened: Marvel and Star Wars Are Having Their First Crossover
It was probably inevitable. Once Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd. were brought under the same umbrella, it was only a matter of time before Disney greenlit a Marvel/Star Wars crossover. That day has now arrived, as Marvel Comics has announced Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles.
As revealed by EW, Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles is a five-issue limited series that brings together the heroes and villains of both universes. The series is written by noted Marvel and Star Wars superfan Kevin Smith, with art by David Marquez (Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man).
The series looks to unite the contemporary Marvel characters with the classic, A New Hope-era Star Wars cast. That makes sense, given that the series is designed to take advantage of the 50th anniversary of Episode IV. Interestingly, the series is said to take place specifically within Marvel's mainline Earth-616 continuity, meaning this crossover will be part of Marvel's official canon. How that's meant to reconcile with the fact that Star Wars exists as a movie franchise within the Marvel Universe remains to be seen.
“Back in the early ‘80s, I had a subscription to Marvel’s Star Wars comics. And as fun as it was to follow the continuing adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han, I always wished that Spider-Man or Doctor Doom could cross over into their cinematic saga,” Smith told EW. “So when the opportunity arose to actually tell that story, nobody had to Force my hand! I’m ecstatic to be writing Hope Assembles for the 50th anniversary of Star Wars! Many thanks to Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm for trusting me to fly the Falcon and the Quinjet!”
“With Hope Assembles, Kevin Smith has written a true love letter to Star Wars, to Marvel, and to comics in general,” said Michael Siglain, creative director at Lucasfilm Publishing. “And combined with David Marquez’s incredible art, we’ll see the heroes and villains of Star Wars team up and battle with the heroes and villains of Earth-616. Hope Assembles is exciting, unpredictable, and heartfelt. In short, it’s comics at its best, and we can’t wait for readers to experience both franchises as never before.”
Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles #1 will be released in January 2027. You can preorder a copy at your local comic shop.
In other Star Wars news, Marvel will soon kick off Star Wars: The Fall of Kylo Ren, a series that continues exploring Ben Solo's journey in between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.