Avengers Meet Attack on Titan In Must-Read Crossover

In the world of pop culture, there aren’t many more popular properties than Marvel’s Avengers and Attack on Titan. The Avengers have made an incredibly successful turn from the comic pages to the big screen, while the Titan-starring manga series has been adapted into one of the most popular animes ever. In the mid-2010s, the two properties starred in a surprising crossover.

Marvel’s Avengers first appeared in Avengers #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The comic’s superteam has featured a variety of popular superheroes as members, with the characters starring in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Avengers: Endgame becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. Meanwhile, Attack on Titan‘s first story was published in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine and is written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. The series, which humans live in walled-off areas to protect themselves from giant monsters known as Titans, was adapted into an anime in 2013 and has become extremely popular across the world. A live-action feature film is set to be directed by Andy Muschietti (The Flash). 

In 2015, Attack on Titan characters appeared in the Marvel universe in the Free Comic Book Day title, Secret Wars #0 in the story, “Attack on Avengers” by Isayama, C.B. Cebulski, Gerardo Sandoval, and Dono Sanchez Almara. In the book, the mammoth Titans appear in New York, as S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers show up to investigate. The Titans bring chaos to Manhattan, eating people and destroying buildings. Spider-Man manages to get two smaller Titans to follow him and actually takes them out by electrocuting them. The rest of the Avengers have it tough as well, as multiple Titans (including the Armored Titan) cause major damage.

As Hawkeye takes down one of the Titans by shooting an arrow in a weak point in its neck, Iron Man and Hulk fight the Female Titan. Hulk rips off the top of a radio tower on a top of a skyscraper and lunges down at the monster. All of a sudden, the Guardians of the Galaxy show up to help as the Colossus Titan rages near the Statue of Liberty. The eight-page special ends with Stark telling the Avengers the battle isn’t over quite yet, as more Titans are popping up across the city.

There’s no real resolution to the “Attack on Avengers” crossover, as a second chapter was never released. It’s too bad because readers deserve to see the final outcome. Without a second issue or resolution, it’s a tease – a great tease, but a tease nonetheless. Did the Avengers take out the Titans before they could destroy New York City? It’s not entirely clear, but the superteam did a decent job of dealing with the giant monsters. With the help of the Guardians of the Galaxy and perhaps, more heroes’ later on, they, at the very least, have a fighting chance. Although taking on the Colossus Titan, one of the most powerful Titans, won’t be easy. But if anyone can take them down, it’s the Avengers. You can read the full eight-page issue here.

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Liam McGuire
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Lead writer for Screen Rant’s comic team. [email protected]. Find me on Twitter @LiamRMcGuire for comic news and reporting.

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