Marvel publishing Aliens: What If..? series about the franchise’s most hated villain

Marvel is expanding its What If…? line with a new series starring Aliens villain Carter Burke, to be written by star Paul Reiser.

The What If…? branding has been fairly synonymous with Marvel Comics for decades now. The stories feature Marvel characters in unusual circumstances, often with some kind of ironic, bleak twist.

It’s been a recognizable Marvel title, even branching out into the MCU for multiple seasons of an animated series.

Now Marvel is branching What If…? out of its comfort zone, bringing back one of Aliens’ most iconic villains and the actor who played him.

What If…? Aliens will bring back Paul Reiser’s Carter Burke for a new story

Announced today via Marvel.com, Aliens: What If…? will feature the first-ever What If take on the Alien franchise.

The story will bring back manipulative Weyland-Yutani executive Carter Burke. What’s more, Burke actor Paul Reiser, along with his son Leon, will join the creative team as writers on the book.

“For years, people have asked me about Burke, what it was like to play such a ‘bad guy,'” Reiser told Marvel, “to which my response was always, ‘You say ‘bad,’ I say ‘misunderstood.’ Now the world will find out!”

In Aliens, Burke manipulates the colonists of LV-426 so that their presence will trigger a Xenomorph outbreak. He joins Ellen Ripley and a band of Colonial Marines on an investigative mission, intervening to prevent them from destroying the Xenomorphs.

Burke’s efforts lead to his own death when he mistakenly locks himself in a lab with a Xenomorph. The new What If series presents an alternate series of events where he survives the incident. Set 35 years after the film, Burke now lives in hiding with a daughter. However, the solicitations imply Burke is up to his old tricks and could be planning something as deadly as the LV-426 incident.

The book is the latest of Marvel’s long-running partnership with the 20th Century Fox brand, having previously published series inspired by Alien and Predator, including Predator vs Wolverine.

Aliens: What If…? #1 releases March 6.