KM 1

While U.S.-produced comics lag far beyond domestic titles in popularity in Japan, the recent string of high-profile live-action Marvel movies seem to be slowly building a fan base for their American icons. At this year’s Kawasaki Halloween festivities, for example, you could spot Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Loki, and multiple Spider-Men marching in the same costume parade as characters from Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, and Attack on Titan.

The sight of so many different heroes together was enough to set the mind racing at the storytelling possibilities. But while the Sailor Scouts won’t be coordinating operations with the Avengers anytime soon, and the question of “Could Wolverine beat up Goku?” is going to have to remain a debate for our planet’s brightest intellectual luminaries, the worlds of American and Japanese are indeed set to collide, with an official crossover between Marvel Comics and Attack on Titan.

Marvel has actually been dipping its toes into the anime world for a while. In 2010, the publisher teamed up with Madhouse, the Japanese animation studio responsible for beloved anime such as Trigun, Wolf Children, Record of Lodoss War, and Cardcaptor Sakura. While Japanese studios doing animation production for U.S. properties isn’t anything new (a surprising number of cartoons shown on American TV in the 1980s were produced in Japan), the resulting Marvel Anime series were different in that no effort at all was made to downplay its Japanese artistic sensibilities.

KM 2

After 2012’s The Avengers became a worldwide phenomena, Marvel decided to capitalize on the characters’ newfound fame with Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers. The kid-friendly series from Toei Animation, which also produces Sailor Moon, premiered last April and follows Earth’s mightiest heroes as they fight supervillains with the help of an international group of schoolchildren.

KM 3

Despite these Japanese influences and reimaginings, though, Marvel’s characters haven’t yet been portrayed fighting alongside, or against, preexisting anime or manga characters. That’s all about to change, though, and before you dismiss the idea of a Marvel/Attack on Titan crossover as a baseless rumor or fan fiction project, you should know the announcement comes straight from C.B. Cebulski, Marvel’s vice President of International Business Development and Brand Management.

Cubulski didn’t specify what exact form the crossover will take, but made it clear that it is really happening, and it’s only two weeks away.

That’s clearly our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, appearing in front of two not-so-friendly looking Titans in the teaser image. Since not all of the Titans have identical loyalties, there’s no way to tell if Spidey is fleeing as they try to make him their lunch, or if the Wall-Crawler and the wall-repulsed naked giants have joined forces against a powerful foe, who may or may not be wearing spandex and/or pants.

Thankfully, we’ve only got two weeks of waiting until we find out.

Source: Comic Book Resources via Blogspot
Top image: Twitter
Insert images: Wikia, Nerds on the Rocks