Nowadays, superheroes are teaming up and crossing over all the time. As culture reaches a new level of diversity, it’s now more possible and easier than ever to bring big names together. But cross-cultural exchanges like the latest from Marvel are still rare ultraman The crossover takes place on the same day and offers radically different approaches to the genre’s form and function.
Today, Marvel Comics and Viz Media are releasing two distinct mashups between Tsuburaya’s legendary tokusatsu hero Ultraman and the Marvel Comics superhero world. In terms of comics, there are Ultraman: Arrival of Spider-Man Author: Matsumoto Shigenobu and Hirakawa Satoshi (translated by Yamazaki Joe); has experience in Western comics Ultraman×Avengers #1, the first of a three-issue miniseries created by Kyle Higgins, Matt Groom, Francisco Manner, Matt Milla, and Ariana Maher.
On the surface, both offer similar premises: Mysterious circumstances catapult Spider-Man into Ultraman’s world in a typical superhero day of rescue. Which spider stands out from the rest—in the comics, it’s Peter Parker; In the comics, it’s Miles Morales – but that’s far from the only divergent path the two books take on the idea.
exist Ultraman×Avengerscrossover situations are of course intrinsically linked to the concept of the multiverse. Miles was pulled into Ultraman’s world because he now has an intrinsic connection to the concept of the multiverse, a connection between his previous time in the Ultimate Marvel Universe and years of Spider-Man shenanigans , he was put on hold when plans to delay the Galactus’ arrival were put on hold. exist Spider-Man comes alongwhich relies on the more traditional tropes of what we’ve come to expect from isekai-type stories. Here, Peter is mortally wounded in a fight with Dr. Doom, and both hero and villain are, metaphorically speaking, hit by a train that takes them to the very edge of reality and into Ultraman’s Japan.
What’s interesting about both crossovers is their continuity and understanding of the heroes they face. Spider-Man comes along The Peter Parker we’re presented with is a hybrid between his film and comic counterparts – in his world, he fights alongside the Avengers, who do look a lot like their own in the Marvel Universe , and he’s still a relatively young man who just lost his Uncle Ben and became a member of the Avengers. It’s a vague approximation of Spider-Man, loosely drawn: he’s a superhero, he shoots webs, he wants to save people, and that’s basically all the traits you need to know. He’s Spider-Man! Just like that, you’re ready for him to meet Ultraman at the end of Chapter 2, and probably have Arata Hayata say “I want to save people too!” at some point. Ultraman×AvengersAt the same time, it’s wrapped up in layers of interesting context and understanding that, while not heavy-handed, speak differently to the way it wants to find common ground between the worlds of Ultraman and Marvel.
Specifically, Ultraman×Avengers Rooted in pre-Marvel background ultraman Comics from Past Years – The original story takes the overarching premise of classic Ultraman from the 60s and translates it into the modern-day original continuity. Our introduction to Shin and his allies in United Science Patrol is based on those that have appeared in countless comic series that ultimately led to Shin and some close allies splitting from USP after they were revealed. The director is an alien in disguise. The consequences of these series are crucial to the stage when Miles appears, contributing to Shin and his friends’ initial distrust of him. When the rest of the Avengers finally arrive, it continues to establish the initial obstacles our united heroes face in taking on Galactus. Even getting down to smaller details, like the joke between Miles and Peter where they admit that the giant mecha Ultraman Jack built by Shin’s allies is no different from their Japanese spider friend Takuya Yamashiro’s Leopard because he Appeared in various movies Spider-Manverse Comics – wrapped in layers of understanding and continuity.
Like I said, it’s not a burden –Ultraman×AvengersIf you haven’t caught up on the comics, the first issue is a good way to introduce you to Ultraman’s side of things. The way it uses continuity is frenetic, but not detrimental: you’ll get more out of the book if you’ve read the previous material, but if you haven’t you’ll still have a good time. This is largely just an interesting contrast to the approach Spider-Man comes alongits breadth establishes commonalities between the heroes rather than more connecting dots between the ways in which they differ from one another.
To what extent will this continue to work? Spider-Man comes along and Ultraman×Avengers Whether that will continue to be the case in the coming weeks and months remains to be seen, but having them side by side in the release schedule gives us an interesting opportunity to see both forms shed light on what makes this crossover possible in the first place striking.
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