WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Aliens vs. Avengers

0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:06.120
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.240
<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is The

0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.200
<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:19.760
<v Speaker 2>Your Mind, focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time.

0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:27.000
<v Speaker 2>In past episodes of The Monster Fact, I've discussed both

0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:31.640
<v Speaker 2>the xenomorphs of the Alien franchise and the various monsters, mutants,

0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:35.239
<v Speaker 2>and superheroes of Marvel Comics. In today's episode, I'll be

0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:38.280
<v Speaker 2>talking about both of them. As I just finished reading

0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:42.880
<v Speaker 2>the newly released Aliens Verses Avengers, written by Jonathan Hickman

0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:47.640
<v Speaker 2>and art by Isadriebitch and Ivas Fortina. I have to

0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.800
<v Speaker 2>admit that I was skeptical about this crossover at first.

0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:54.360
<v Speaker 2>There have been so many Alien comics crossovers over the years,

0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:57.920
<v Speaker 2>from Predator and Judge Dredd to Yes, Buffy the Vampire

0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:02.360
<v Speaker 2>Slayer and Archie Captain America versus The Face Hugger just

0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.679
<v Speaker 2>wasn't high on my list of crossover matchups. But after

0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:08.200
<v Speaker 2>hearing some encouraging tidbits, I put this volume on my

0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.240
<v Speaker 2>reading list, and I'm delighted to say that it's a

0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:14.320
<v Speaker 2>really fun ride that honors both franchises while delivering a dark,

0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:18.440
<v Speaker 2>richly creative tale of cosmic doom that doesn't hold anything back.

0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:22.000
<v Speaker 2>So spoiler alert, I'm about to talk about some twists

0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:25.440
<v Speaker 2>and turns in the Aliens Versus Avengers comic book. If

0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.039
<v Speaker 2>you want to read it reasonably cold, this is a

0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:30.640
<v Speaker 2>good place to cut out and return a bit later.

0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:34.640
<v Speaker 2>All right, here we go. The comic book takes this

0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:38.440
<v Speaker 2>to a future Earth on the verge of complete destruction. Waconda,

0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:41.760
<v Speaker 2>Atlantis and every last nation on the planet has fallen

0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:46.360
<v Speaker 2>to the hordes of rampaging xenomorphic organisms. The surviving mutants

0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:48.760
<v Speaker 2>have fled to Mars. In a single city pretected by

0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:52.560
<v Speaker 2>the surviving members of the Avengers, fights against utter destruction,

0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:57.640
<v Speaker 2>against all hope, they desperately search for an answer. As

0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:00.920
<v Speaker 2>it turns out, in a parallel universe following the events

0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:05.040
<v Speaker 2>of Alien Covenant, the rogue android David succeeded in wiping

0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:09.680
<v Speaker 2>out all non xenomorphic life and replicating himself. Over the

0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:13.200
<v Speaker 2>course of the ensuing millennium, they developed the means to

0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:16.799
<v Speaker 2>cross over into other universes, and thus sent their android

0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:21.000
<v Speaker 2>emissaries followed by seed ships, to eradicate life there planet

0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:24.400
<v Speaker 2>by planet by planet. I'm a rather big fan of

0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:28.000
<v Speaker 2>the themes explored in Ridley Scott's prequel films Prometheus and Covenant,

0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:30.640
<v Speaker 2>so I appreciated the turn of events here, and it

0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.680
<v Speaker 2>sets up a fitting foil for the scientists, wizards and

0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:37.280
<v Speaker 2>super soldiers of the Avengers. There's even a little engineer

0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.480
<v Speaker 2>drama thrown in for good measure. The comic book really

0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:43.160
<v Speaker 2>kicks into high gear, however, when the action spills over

0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:47.040
<v Speaker 2>to Mars. Here, the few surviving Avengers flee Earth for

0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:51.040
<v Speaker 2>the mutant occupied Red Planet, but quickly discover mostly death

0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:53.840
<v Speaker 2>and desolation here as well. Because who happened to get

0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:57.320
<v Speaker 2>his hands on some xenomorphic organisms for study and experimentation,

0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:03.200
<v Speaker 2>Why none other than mister Sinn. Born doctor Nathaniel Essex.

0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:07.359
<v Speaker 2>Mister Sinister was a contemporary of Charles Darwin and therefore

0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:11.040
<v Speaker 2>contemporary of Alfred Russell Wallace as well. Sinister is a

0:03:11.160 --> 0:03:14.720
<v Speaker 2>neo Victorian mad scientist who became obsessed with mastering the

0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.560
<v Speaker 2>next phase of human evolution, a quest that takes on

0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:21.280
<v Speaker 2>additional dimensions as he falls under the influence of the

0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:26.040
<v Speaker 2>ancient Egyptian mutant apocalypse. Who uses alien technology to transform

0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:30.480
<v Speaker 2>Essex into the bizarre, undying mister Sinister. He becomes a

0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:34.920
<v Speaker 2>cloning master and an endless self experimenter. And so when

0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:38.400
<v Speaker 2>Sinister in his many clones encounter xenomorphic life on Mars,

0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:40.760
<v Speaker 2>he doesn't see it so much as the end of

0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:44.800
<v Speaker 2>all life, but a potential new beginning for himself. At first,

0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.840
<v Speaker 2>it seems Sinister and his clones have merely protected themselves

0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:52.320
<v Speaker 2>from xenomorph aggression by implanting dormant embryos inside their own bodies.

0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.200
<v Speaker 2>But then Sinister himself allows his own embryo to develop

0:03:56.520 --> 0:04:00.960
<v Speaker 2>and burst forth as a red fleshed xenomore, complete with

0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:04.920
<v Speaker 2>the signature Sinister Diamond on its forehead. Even worse for

0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:08.880
<v Speaker 2>the surviving mutants and Avengers, this new zeno, the Sinister Queen,

0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:12.360
<v Speaker 2>possesses the mutant abilities of such deceased x men as

0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:16.599
<v Speaker 2>Colossus and Nightcrawler, creating a deadly hybrid that can only

0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:22.560
<v Speaker 2>be stopped by another, particularly shall we say, venomous xenomorphic evolution.

0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.880
<v Speaker 2>It's a delicious combo, as Sinister, throughout Marvel Comics, is

0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:31.359
<v Speaker 2>obsessed with creating a perfected human species, while the xenomorphous

0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.960
<v Speaker 2>we all know is the perfect organism that Sinister could

0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.880
<v Speaker 2>give himself over to it and mirror the David's in

0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:44.000
<v Speaker 2>his plotting and ambition seems entirely appropriate. Aliens Versus Avengers

0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:46.640
<v Speaker 2>goes all out, exploring several books worth of ideas in

0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:49.920
<v Speaker 2>a single volume, and with an absurdly high body count.

0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:52.680
<v Speaker 2>It's definitely worth giving a quick read while waiting for

0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:56.520
<v Speaker 2>the next episode of FX's Alien Earth, which I'm also

0:04:56.640 --> 0:05:01.200
<v Speaker 2>enjoying and remain cautiously optimistic about. Tune in for additional

0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.920
<v Speaker 2>episodes of The Monster, Fact, The Artifact, or Animalius to

0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:07.359
<v Speaker 2>Pendium each week. Write in with any alien comic, book

0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:10.520
<v Speaker 2>and novel recommendations as well, and as always, you can

0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:22.400
<v Speaker 2>email us at contact at Stuffdblow your Mind dot com.

0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.479
<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:29.400
<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:31.279
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.