Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm are bringing two major fictional universes together in Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles, a new five-issue limited series written by Kevin Smith and illustrated by David Marquez.
The crossover will place Luke Skywalker and other A New Hope-era characters inside Earth-616, Marvel Comics’ primary universe. The first issue is scheduled for January 2027, with the series continuing monthly until its fifth and final issue in May.
What is Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles?
First announced through Entertainment Weekly, Hope Assembles is billed as the first official crossover between the Star Wars and Marvel universes.
Rather than presenting another standalone space-fantasy comic, the story will bring the classic Star Wars cast to Earth-616. Marvel’s heroes will witness the events of A New Hope after a reality-shattering spell connects the two settings.
That premise creates several unusual character pairings. Luke Skywalker will share the page with Captain America, while Han Solo and Chewbacca meet Wolverine and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Princess Leia will join Black Widow and Black Panther, and Obi-Wan Kenobi will encounter Deadpool, Daredevil, Hawkeye and the Human Torch.
The series also brings together some of the franchises’ most dangerous villains. Early artwork shows Darth Vader alongside Doctor Doom, Thanos and Ultron, suggesting that the antagonists may be just as important to the collision as the heroes.
A five-issue event for Star Wars’ 50th anniversary
The timing of the comic is significant. A New Hope reaches its 50th anniversary in 2027, and the new series is part of Lucasfilm’s wider celebration of five decades of Star Wars storytelling.
The anniversary period is also bringing other projects and fresh approaches to the galaxy far, far away. Star Wars: Visions story The Ninth Jedi has offered a different interpretation of Jedi mythology, while Shawn Levy’s upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter is expected to draw on the large-scale aerial-combat appeal of Top Gun: Maverick.
Marvel is approaching its own major period, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day reported to have passed $1 billion at the box office and attention turning towards Avengers: Doomsday, in which Doctor Doom is positioned as a central threat. Marvel is also examining Doom’s multiverse ambitions in other stories.
Five covers, one impossible meeting
The announced cover artwork for Hope Assembles reflects the project’s broad cast of characters. The five-issue format gives the creative team room to explore both the initial meeting between the universes and the alliances that follow.
David Marquez, known for work on Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men, provides the art. His pages will need to balance the visual language of Jedi, superheroes, blasters, lightsabers and Marvel’s larger-than-life villains in one story.
Smith has a longstanding connection to Marvel’s Star Wars comics. He has said that he subscribed to the series in the early 1980s and often imagined what it would be like for characters such as Spider-Man or Doctor Doom to cross paths with Luke, Leia and Han.
Kevin Smith calls the project a comics love letter
Michael Siglain, creative director at Lucasfilm Publishing, described the project as a celebration of Star Wars, Marvel and comics. He said Smith’s story and Marquez’s artwork will bring the heroes and villains of both settings together in an unpredictable and heartfelt event.
For readers and collectors, the crossover’s appeal lies in the combinations that have never previously appeared in an official story. Chewbacca meeting Wolverine, Luke standing beside Captain America and Vader facing Marvel’s most powerful villains are all new possibilities created by the Earth-616 premise.
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Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles begins in January 2027 and concludes with its fifth issue in May. It will arrive during a landmark year for Star Wars, giving readers an official answer to a question that has lingered for decades: what happens when the galaxy far, far away collides with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?
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