Marvel Revealed The 'Greatest Killing Machine In History' Isn't A Marvel Villain

Never let it be said that the Marvel Universe isn't filled with tough, ruthless types who are ready, willing, and more than able to slaughter people in any way possible. From Wolverine and his adamantium claws to literal gods like Thor and Hercules to Deadpool, who can kill you with any number of weapons while destroying you with an even deadlier quip, many members of the Marvel Comics world are mighty and able to back that strength up with ease.

But Marvel recently revealed that the most efficient — and most deadly — killing machine in the Marvel Universe isn't a villain like Doctor Doom, Thanos, or the Red Skull. They aren't an Avenger, or a member of the X-Men. It isn't even one of their in-house-created characters — it's the Xenomorph, which sprang to life in the "Alien" series of films.

Marvel Comics/Esad Ribić

In a panel from Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić's "Aliens vs Avengers" #1, the issue's narration identifies the Xenomorph as "The greatest killing machine in the history of the universe." That's quite a tall order, especially in a world that features so many metahuman, alien, and otherworldly creatures. But Xenomorphs are designed to do several things: breed, kill, and eat. And now that they've landed and hatched on the Avenger's version of Earth, heaven knows what they'll get up to.

But while the Xenomorph might be the perfect killing machine, there's a race of aliens that triumphs over its ability to claim full control of any unfortunate human host body that strikes its fancy: the humble symbiote. At the tail end of the issue, when Miles Morales is attacked by a Facehugger, his suit protects him by bonding with the infant alien's body, neutralizing its threat. The symbiote takes over the young alien but retains its own personality and characteristics — and its status as one of the toughest and most durable entities in the Marvel Universe, as it's more powerful than a Xenomorph, at least at this stage of its life cycle.

Xenomorphs and superheroes might seem like an odd combination, but this crossover doesn't mark the first time the H.R. Giger-designed life forms have tangled with other famous creations in the comic book universe. Marvel Comics has been publishing "Alien"-related comics and crossovers since 2020, a result of the massive 20th Century Fox and Disney merger. But before that, the sci-fi franchise indulged in crossovers with DC Comics characters. In 1995, Dark Horse Comics published "Superman vs. Aliens," which pitted the goodness of Clark Kent against the amorality of the Xenomorph Queen. In 1997, Batman did battle with the Xenomorphs, and in 2000, it was Hal Jordan's turn to fight the alien menace in "Green Lantern/Aliens." The crossovers were so successful, the Superman and Batman outings saw sequel runs — "Superman/Aliens II: God War" and "Batman/Aliens II."

The "Alien" franchise has crossed over with other, non-DC Comics properties as well. Rebellion's famous antihero Judge Dredd survived several close encounters of the sharp-toothed kind in "Judge Dredd versus Aliens: Incubus" and "Predator vs. Judge Dredd versus Aliens: Splice and Dice." Dark Horse published a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" crossover titled "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: In Space No One Can Hear You Slay!" in 2012. There was also a crossover with independent comic siren Vampirella in 2015.

And that's not counting multiple "Alien vs Predator" crossovers that were published before Marvel took over the license, including an encounter with "The Terminator" timeline, proving that the Alien and Terminator franchises exist in the same universe. Never let it be said that Xenomorphs don't know how to spread chaos across the globe in their own special way, and never forget that, in space no one can hear you scream – even in the Marvel Universe.