Star Wars and Marvel Collide in Hope Assembles #1

You know that iconic opening of Star Wars: A New Hope, with Darth Vader storming onto Princess Leia’s ship? Now imagine Marvel’s superheroes crashing the whole thing. Marvel is officially bringing two massive universes together in Star Wars | Marvel: Hope Assembles, a six-issue crossover from writer Kevin Smith and artist David Marquez beginning January 13, 2027.

The setup drops the opening moments of the original Star Wars film into Earth-616, the home of Marvel’s main superhero universe. Leia’s desperate mission, Vader’s terrifying arrival and the droids’ escape suddenly unfold in a world where Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are around to intervene. That’s one heck of a way to interrupt the usual routine.

Crossovers are nothing new in comics, but this is being presented as the first official comic-book meeting between Marvel’s core superhero universe and the galaxy far, far away. Both properties have lived under the Disney umbrella for years, yet the storytelling possibilities have mostly remained separate. Smith and Marquez are finally getting to smash those walls together.

Kevin Smith has spent decades balancing comic-book storytelling with the kind of enthusiastic fandom that makes this assignment feel particularly fitting. David Marquez, meanwhile, knows how to draw large-scale superhero action with clarity and spectacle. Putting them on a project that begins with one of cinema’s most recognizable sequences is a big statement of intent.

The fun is in the details. What happens when Vader encounters heroes whose abilities don’t follow the rules of his galaxy? How does Leia react to finding herself among people who have never heard of the Empire? What happens to the droids and their mission when the wrong, or perhaps right, people get involved? The first preview is designed to tease those questions without giving away the answers.

Marvel is also leaning into the event with a substantial variant-cover program. David Marquez supplies connecting covers, Alex Ross delivers an Alliance variant, Kaare Andrews contributes battle imagery, Cory Smith offers an A New Hope cover and Rafael Albuquerque gives us the delightfully ridiculous image of Darth Vader wielding the Infinity Gauntlet. Additional covers include a foil edition by Matteo Lolli and a retro-style piece by Dan Jurgens.

That Infinity Gauntlet cover alone is going to start conversations. It’s the kind of outrageous visual that makes a crossover feel like an event before you’ve even opened the first issue. Whether the story can deliver on that excitement will come down to how well it balances the characters and the rules of both worlds.

I’m hoping Smith and Marquez don’t just give us a series of splash-page introductions. The best crossover stories find something unexpected about familiar heroes by putting them in situations they were never built to handle. There’s a lot of room here for humor, danger and a few genuinely surprising alliances.

Credits: Writer Kevin Smith; artist David Marquez.
Publisher: Marvel Comics.
Format: Six-issue crossover miniseries.
Variant cover artists: David Marquez, Alex Ross, Kaare Andrews, Cory Smith, Rafael Albuquerque, Matteo Lolli and Dan Jurgens.

Issue #1 on sale: January 13, 2027.