Disney’s Next Major Star Wars Release Has Already Made One Mistake Destined To Kill Hype

Star Wars is an enduring roller coaster ride with plenty of steep ascents and descents, but there is usually a lot to look forward to across the franchise’s movie, TV, comic book, and video game releases. For instance, it’s exhilarating that Star Wars Battlefront III is in development (well, something is officially in the works from Respawn and DICE, at least, whether or not it’s actually Star Wars Battlefront III).

As for comics, one of the biggest events is about to transpire in Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles, a crossover miniseries that is reportedly dragging Star Wars‘ far, far away galaxy into the Marvel Comics universe. In doing so, the six-issue comic series is making a storytelling choice that makes sense from a narrative standpoint to a degree, but will surely ruffle feathers for anyone who was hoping the crossover would be more immersive.

Marvel’s Star Wars Crossover Is Meta

Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles has a great premise; in one of the miniseries’ preview pages, the Marvel universe looks on in horror as a Star Destroyer enters the atmosphere above New York City, with the Star Wars universe literally coming crashing in, and superheroes desperately work to rescue bystanders. Interestingly, while it seems as if the era that this is occurring in is less remarkable for Marvel Comics than the fact that it’s set in the mainline Earth-616 universe (and will apparently be canon, bizarrely), the Star Wars universe will be set during the events of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.

However, a caveat to the story is that it’s immersion-breaking and meta in a blatant sense. Indeed, the Marvel Comics characters know about Star Wars and that they’re stepping into the events of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Per dialogue from Tony Stark’s Iron Man, it’s clear that they’re even conscious of Disney being a thing:

Hi! Uh… may the Force be with you. I’m looking for a princess. A Disney princess, come to think of it.

Of course, Marvel characters have made Star Wars references before, so it’s not as if it’s the most absurd decision ever. It actually makes more sense than if Star Wars characters appeared and they had no idea who they were, especially if Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel makes an appearance, since Chewie the Flerken is officially named after Star Wars‘ Chewbacca. Therefore, it’s lore-accurate for them to know who they are.

It May Be More Jokes/References, Less Fantasy

To be fair, there could be a lot of great ore to mine from these one-sided interactions. For example, a temporally challenged Steve Rogers is briefly informed by Ben Grimm’s Thing about “stormtroopers,” and Captain America then instantly understands everything he needs to about the Galactic Empire these Imperials serve.

Still, it might’ve been far more interesting if Star Wars‘ characters were treated like they were from another universe/dimension altogether, and not simply from a popular and successful movie franchise. Rather, the preview for Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles guarantees that this series runs the risk of being six issues’ worth of Star Wars jokes and references, likely at the expense of Star Wars characters, and with Marvel characters potentially being the butt of Star Wars characters’ mockery. The solicitation for Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles reads as follows:

THE BIGGEST CROSSOVER OF THE CENTURY!!! A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY is headed to the “World Outside Your Window.” To celebrate the 50th anniversary of STAR WARS, Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Publishing present STAR WARS | MARVEL: HOPE ASSEMBLES, the first-ever crossover between the two legendary franchises. Written by KEVIN SMITH and drawn by DAVID MARQUEZ, the five-issue limited series brings together heroes and villains from both universes as the AVENGERS, SPIDER-MAN, LUKE SKYWALKER, PRINCESS LEIA, HAN SOLO, DARTH VADER, DOCTOR DOOM and more collide in an epic adventure. After a reality-shattering spell causes the events of A NEW HOPE to unfold on EARTH-616, two iconic universes meet on the page for the very first time.

THE BIGGEST CROSSOVER OF THE CENTURY!!! A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY is headed to the “World Outside Your Window.” To celebrate the 50th anniversary of STAR WARS, Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Publishing present STAR WARS | MARVEL: HOPE ASSEMBLES, the first-ever crossover between the two legendary franchises. Written by KEVIN SMITH and drawn by DAVID MARQUEZ, the five-issue limited series brings together heroes and villains from both universes as the AVENGERS, SPIDER-MAN, LUKE SKYWALKER, PRINCESS LEIA, HAN SOLO, DARTH VADER, DOCTOR DOOM and more collide in an epic adventure. After a reality-shattering spell causes the events of A NEW HOPE to unfold on EARTH-616, two iconic universes meet on the page for the very first time.

Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles is scheduled to be released on January 13, 2027.

Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.