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After 12 years of behind-the-scenes machinations, Marvel Comics has finally got the Star Wars crossover they've wanted.

Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles is a five-issue, in-continuity event where the heroes (and villains) of Star Wars will be coming to the main universe of Marvel Comics, as first reported by Entertainment Weekly... and somewhere in there, I see subtle shades of another landmark crossover from 30 years prior, with Marvel and Star Trek. 

“It’s an idea we’ve wanted to explore since getting the Star Wars license back over a decade ago, but we knew we’d have to wait with the patience of a Jedi to make it happen," Marvel Comics' former editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski, who was involved in the planning, tells EW. "Getting the call with the green light from Lucasfilm was a magical moment; it was as if Han Solo himself had called to tell me, ‘You’re all clear, kid!’”

The marketing hook of this happening now is that 2027 is the 50th anniversary of the first Star Wars film, A New Hope, and Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles is one of several planned projects to commemorate the occasion. To write this special, Marvel has tapped writer/director/Star Wars cameo actor Kevin Smith.

“Back in the early ‘80s, I had a subscription to Marvel’s Star Wars comics. And as fun as it was to follow the continuing adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han, I always wished that Spider-Man or Doctor Doom could cross over into their cinematic saga,” says Smith in a statement. “So when the opportunity arose to actually tell that story, nobody had to Force my hand!"

Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles is being drawn by David Marquez, best known for his work on Invincible Iron Man, Civil War II, and Uncanny X-Men.

Marvel is stressing that Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles is in-continuity with Marvel Comics, and is the result of a "reality-shattering spell" that brings those we know from a galaxy far, far away to the Marvel U. With Doctor Doom on the cover (and a movie this December called Avengers: Doomsday), it's easy to suspect that Doctor Doom is the one responsible for such a spell.

If you look at the David Marquez covers for Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles, I can't help but recall the similar composition to Marc Silvestri's Star Trek/X-Men covers from 1996. Coincidence, or something more? The lawyers will never say.

Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles #1 (of 5) is set to go on sale in January 2027, with a monthly release thereafter.

Interested? Here's where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet, and here's a guide to how (and where) to read comics online. If you're looking for the best comics in recent memory, check out the Eisner Awards winners and the Harvey Awards nominees. And if you like free comics, here's everything we know about Free Comic Book Day 2027.