What if...? Aliens comic asks: What if Aliens’ biggest asshole lived

‘In this 87-page PowerPoint deck, I will prove that...’

By Charlie Hall Dec 21, 2023, 3:24pm EST

Paul Reiser in his starring role in Aliens, starring at Sigourney Weaver. He is the most middle of managers.

Charlie Hall is Polygon’s tabletop editor. In 10-plus years as a journalist & photographer, he has covered simulation, strategy, and spacefaring games, as well as public policy.

Marvel Comics has been asking “What if?” for far longer than the beloved Disney Plus streaming show has been on the air. You know, easy questions like “What if Daredevil’s Karen Page has lived?” or “What if Conan was teleported to another historical timeline?” Now it’s finally asking the hard question that we’ve all been waiting for: What if Paul Reiser hadn’t died?

Or, more specifically, what if Paul Reiser’s character in Aliens, Carter Burke, had lived? Fans will find out in Aliens: What If?... #1, coming soon. The best part? It’s been co-written by Paul Reiser. Expect it to hit shelves on March 6, 2024.

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

Reiser is joined on the project with writing credits shared by his son, Leon Reiser, Adam F. Goldberg (The Goldbergs), Hans Rodionoff (The Muppets Mayhem) and Brian Volk-Weiss (The Toys That Made Us). Art is being handled by Guiu Vilanova (Star Wars: Darth Vader), with covers by Phil Noto, Adi Granov, and Peach Momoko.

Here’s the full description being released with this week’s solicits, courtesy of Marvel Comics:

WHAT IF…CARTER BURKE HAD LIVED?

For years, fans of James Cameron’s legendary Aliens questioned whether Carter Burke, a company man more hateable than the Xenos themselves, had actually survived the traumatic events on the terraforming colony Hadley’s Hope. Now the actor behind the beloved villain, Paul Reiser, joins [a] star-studded team of writers and producers [...] for a journey back to Hadley’s Hope and the twisted escape of a man who should have died.

Polygon also has your exclusive sneak peak at the variant covers. Click on the images below for a larger version.