Marvel's U.K. super-team The Union forges ahead with 2020 debut
After the COVID-19 pandemic botched their first attempt
Update: Marvel Comics has announced that The Union #1 will debut in December. The Union focuses on a UK-based super-team, including several new characters who were revealed when the title was originally announced.
The Union #1 was originally scheduled to debut in May 2020, though those plans were cancelled due to COVID-19. Now, Marvel has officially scheduled the series to launch in December.
A collection of the planned five-issue limited series was previously listed on Edelweiss, though Marvel's official announcement only mentions the series' first issue.
Original story follows
COVID-19 or not, it appears Marvel's next big super-team, the Union, will be making their debut this year.
Originally announced in February for a May 2020 debut in their own five-issue series, the United Kingdom-centric team's debut is back on track. According to a listing by Marvel Comics' book trade distributor Hachette in a September - December 2020 catalog on Edelweiss, a collection of that five-issue The Union series is due out November 17.
"Travel across the pond and bear witness to the grand unveiling of the Union! A team of super heroes gathered from all over the United Kingdom, including Union Jack, Snakes, Kelpie, Choir - and their fearless leader, Brittania!" reads Marvel's description of the collection.
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The series was to tie-in to the upcoming Empyre event series Marvel has planned, which is slated to debut July 15.
"Proud to represent their nation, the Union believes they're ready to take on any foe. But when disaster strikes during their public debut, the fledgling team immediately fi nds themselves pushed to their very limits! Don't miss out on an exciting new chapter of Marvel from legendary British writer Paul Grist (Judge Dredd, Jack Staff)!"
Grist is joined by artist Andrea Di Vito on this limited series.
Whether or not Marvel will release the individual issues as originally planned - or as digital-exclusives as it has with some COVID-19 affected books - has not been announced. The series wasn't listed in Marvel's revised schedule for June, July, or August books.
Newsarama has been unable to reach Marvel for comment.
Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)