Marvel has announced a five-issue “What If…?” spin-off of James Cameron’s 1986 sequel, Aliens, focusing on Carter Burke, the evil company man played by Paul Reiser. The series, which was released in March, takes readers back to the events of the franchise’s historic original sequel, Aliens, to ask the question, “What If… Carter Burke has lived?” The five-issue series will release issue #2 this week, and io9 sat down with Carter Burke himself, Paul Reiser, to talk all things Aliens, What If, and more.
If you watch the movie Burke is never shown to be killed on-screen. All that is shown in Aliens is that he meets an alien xenomorph, and we infer that he is killed off-screen and turned into an alien chow. Furthermore, the entire station is destroyed by Sigourney Weaver’s character Ripley. But in this alternate history, Burke makes it out alive and escapes the LV-426 planetoid.
Thirty-five years later, the story resumes with him “eeking out a cursed existence on a backwater asteroid.” It seems that Burke’s daughter Bree discovers his whereabouts, which initiates the primary plot point. Since Burke is such a horrible guy it’s satisfying to think of him stuck in a “desk job for 35 years trying to live down [his actions]”. But Rieser told io9 that he doesn’t see Burke as evil, “just misunderstood”.
The actor behind the 1987 film’s beloved villain, Paul Reiser, joins his son Leon and the star-studded team of writers and producers Adam F. Goldberg (The Goldbergs), Brian Volk-Weiss (The Toys That Made Us), and Hans Rodionoff (Damage Control) for this pulse-pounding journey back to Hadley’s Hope and the twisted escape of a man who should have died.
According to Reiser his son Leon is a huge comic book and movie fan and contributed jokes that the company thought were “funnier than what I had.” His son writes jokes better than the professional stand-up comedian. That’s impressive.
Art by Guiu Vilanova, known for providing intergalactic excellence on titles like Cosmic Ghost Rider and Eternals, will further explore the nature of the man who infamously betrayed Ripley and the lengths he’s willing to go to get his hands on the deadliest species in the galaxy.
“So I was aware a lot of people have a much deeper connection to the film than I did,” Rieser said when he was approached about the idea. “But I loved the idea. And I also thought there was great comedy in it.”
When asked if fans might get upset by this story the Aliens cast member said, “And it’s ‘What if?’ It’s not saying it did happen. That happened. The movie happened. And this is, ‘Pretend this happened.'”
The second issue of the five-part series is set to release this week. Visit Marvel.com to learn more and purchase a copy from Amazon or your local comic book shop.
Is Burke evil or just misunderstood? What do you think about Burke’s fate in the comic book? Do you think it’s fitting?
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