During World War II, Steve Rogers helped save the planet from the most evil people to ever live. The fight wasn’t easy, and, towards the end of the war, Captain America and Bucky Barnes both lost decades of their lives after they stopped a plane from hitting an army base (read 1963's Avengers No. 4 for that story).
As time has gone on, Marvel has published comic books flashing back to Cap and Bucky’s time during the war. For example, Daniel Way wrote an amazing story in Wolverine Origins titled Our War. This is where Logan was tricked into working with Baron Zemo and Strucker (he eventually helped Bucky and Cap). Long before that, in Uncanny X-Men No. 268, readers learn the story of the first time Steve Rogers and Logan met. This time, they were on the same side.
During the San Diego Comic-Con's Retailer Panel, another trip down memory lane was announced, and this will be a big one. Writer Frank Tieri (Sabretooth: The Dead Don’t Talk) and artist Stefano Raffaele (Star Wars: Legacy of Vader) are teaming up for Cap’s most random and dangerous battle to date. He’ll take on the Xenomorphs in Alien vs. Captain America.
Frank Tieri gives fans something to be excited for, saying they can expect “a nice mix of horror and heroics… and more than a few surprises thrown in for good measure." That could mean a lot of things. However, the one part that’s a given is someone ending up with a facehugger on their mug. Since Alien vs. Captain America likely doesn’t affect the main continuity, it could be anyone, even Steve Rogers. How cool would it be to see that even the Xenomorphs aren’t a match for Cap’s willpower.
Tieri reveals what audiences can expect from it:
"I mean, here you have two of the most iconic properties in entertainment—Captain America, who is basically the ultimate hero, going against Alien, one of the ultimate names in horror. As a writer, what more can you ask for than that?"
I’ve been a fan of Frank Tieri since his run of Wolverine and Weapon X. His combination of brutal and deep characters leads to memorable stories. Having Stefano Raffaele's art is the perfect complement to his writing style. Raffaele's violence has beauty to it (something easily accomplished), and the facial expressions while it's happening are always spot on.
Alien vs. Captain America will be the latest Marvel Comics crossover with the Xenomorphs since writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Esad Ribic teamed up for Aliens vs. Avengers. With Marvel doing more crossovers than ever (like Predator Kills the Marvel Universe and Deadpool/Batman), we can guess that a battle with Captain America in World War 2 won’t be the last. Stay tuned to Bam Smack Pow to see who’s next.
Alien vs. Captain America is scheduled to be published on November 5, 2025.