The Attack On Titan And Avengers Crossover You Likely Never Saw

"Attack on Titan" concluded the second part of its final season recently. The anime adaptation is based on the manga of the same name and is regularly among the most-watched shows whenever new episodes are airing. Focusing on a last bastion of humanity that has taken refuge in a walled-off city, "Attack on Titan" sees massive humanoid giants stalking and eating any humans they can get their hands on. As humanity attempts to fight off the hordes while learning the secret of where they come from, the story goes to often shockingly brutal places along the way.

However, the Titans could meet their match with the likes of Spider-Man and Captain America. The heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have never been more popular than they are today, but what would it look like if The Avengers went up against the human-devouring Titans? Well, it turns out it already happened, but even superfans of the hit anime could have easily missed it. Surprisingly, the crossover occurred all the way back in 2015 when only the first season had aired.

Taking place in Secret Wars #0, the story was titled "Attack on Avengers." Titans from "Attack on Titan" have arrived to terrorize New York City in the crossover. As the Avengers assemble to stop them from destroying the city, they find themselves daunted by the threat of the giants. As the massive humanoids wreak havoc, Spider-Man and Hawkeye use their respective powers to vanquish their share of Titans. Even some of the nine make appearances, with the Female Titan being battled by Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk and the Armored Titan showing up to smash as many buildings as he can. The Colossal Titan also appears near the Statue of Liberty, only to be confronted by the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Fan reaction to the crossover has been positive to mixed, as evidenced in this Reddit thread. One user called it "the most epic cross over [sic] I've ever seen," while another, u/victoryvines, was impressed by how it read from right to left, manga-style. However, there were those, such as u/MR502, who found some faults with the crossover's narrative. "Unless the Titans are buffed up and Marvel is severely nerfed, it doesn't leave much of a story," they remarked. 

Unfortunately for fans of "Attack on Titan" and Marvel, the Avengers story was just a one-shot produced for Free Comic Book Day, so there's no real resolution to the tale of massive humanoids wreaking havoc on the Big Apple. It makes sense, in the end, as once the weaknesses of the Titans are discovered, modern technology like drones, jets, rocket launchers, and tanks would likely make short work of them. This is likely why "Attack on Titan" is set in the steampunk world it is — to make the threat of the massive creatures more daunting and terrifying.