It’s actually a return to the Planet of the Apes, because Marvel went ape in the 1970s. Let’s skip the “goes bananas” joke in honor of Zira; she loathed bananas.
Today the publisher announced that not only have they taken back their content from 1974 and 1975, new comics are coming. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as Marvel parent The Walt Disney Company owns 20th Century Fox assets. We’d already seen Aliens and Predator showing up from the publisher, and this makes a trifecta.
Most recently in comics, Boom! Studios had published several good titles set in this mythos. Some of them were crossovers with properties not owned by Disney, so if you have Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive or Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern, hold onto them. It may be a while before reprints of those show up again. The other series, however, will likely show up soon.
But Marvel isn’t really saying yet. As you can see from their press release, they have one piece of promo art they’re teasing us with, and that’s it. Get ready, though. Whoever ends up working on new comics from them, you can be sure that there will be at least one 800-lb gorilla among them.
From Marvel:
Today, Marvel Entertainment announced the PLANET OF THE APES franchise is returning to Marvel Comics with all-new stories starting in early 2023! The legendary science fiction franchise has spanned over five decades with media including comics, books, films, television series, video games, and toys.
Marvel Comics and PLANET OF THE APES have a deep history that goes back over 40 years. Marvel first published PLANET OF THE APES stories in 1974, and in 1975, Marvel published ADVENTURES ON THE PLANET OF THE APES, full-color adaptations of the iconic Planet of the Apes films.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Planet of the Apes back to the House of Ideas!” Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski said. “The new saga in the pipeline is going explore the limits of what this beloved franchise has to offer through bold comics storytelling, and we look forward to setting foot on this new adventure!”
Details on upcoming PLANET OF THE APES comic book titles, collections, reprints, and creative teams will be shared at a later date. Until then, fans can check out an all-new teaser by Salvador Larroca!
