Predator Kills the Marvel Universe #2 Review

Welcome back to Predator kills the Marvel Universe. The comic that pits the greatest heroes in Marvel Comics against an army of one of the deadliest movie monsters of all time.

Last time, The Predators, led by Kraven the Hunter who had been accepted into their tribe after killing the one Predator that the rest of the Yautja are afraid of, brutally slaughtered both the Guardians of the Galaxy and The Fantastic Four and that was all before even reaching Earth. Well, when you have the deadliest hunters in the galaxy led by a man who has spent his whole life developing strategies to hunt all of Earth’s heroes, such things are to be expected. Anywho, let’s get into this.

We open in space where Kraven is having a strategy meeting with his new alien pals that basically amounts to “divide and conquer.” Hence Graveyard and Kraven each leading a hunting party to strike at specific targets.

We cut to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning where Professor X is engaged in a friendly-ish game of chess with his eternal frenemy, Magneto, while debating how they should respond to the growing anti-mutant sentiment in the world. Magneto of course has his old song and dance of “wipe them out before they wipe us out” while the professor opts for a more logical response and saying that mankind is not a monolith and that there are good and bad humans just as there are good and bad mutants, present company included. As much as I enjoy the philosophical debates of these great characters, this is a Predator comic. We don’t have time for subtlety, someone has to die. As such, shortly after the Professor grips his head in pain, likely feeling the psychic shockwave of the death of the Fantatic Four, Magneto is levitated into the air and ripped apart by a gigantic inversion magnet that the Predators prepared specifically for him. Apparently, Magneto was listed as a priority target as his mastery of magnetism could turn the Predators’ Vibranium weapons against them. Gotta hand it to Kraven, he did his homework.

Speaking of Ol’ Sergei, Kraven and his Predator buddies are approaching Avengers tower in the Milano, The Guardians of the Galaxy’s ship stolen after the Guardians were slaughtered. Using a recording of Starlord’s voice, are granted access.

Meanwhile, at the Totally-Not-Weapon X Facility, the general from last issue is currently dealing with the business end of The claws of Predator X. Oh, by the way, since last time I have read the Spider-Man crossover and can confirm that unless there’s a very big retcon later on, this Predator is not the one who fought Wolverine, but rather, a wounded Predator left behind on Earth by the Hunting Party that initially inducted Kraven into their ranks.If you’re wondering, the story is actually pretty good, on par with the Wolverine Crossover in my opinion. I highly recommend it, though, a warning, it’s not for the squeamish. In any case, Dr. Cornelius calls off his attack dog and while the general wants to shoot the mad scientist creep, she still recognizes that the weapon he has created is of value.

Back at the Xavier School, the X-Men, specifically Storm, Cyclops, Beast, Nightcrawler and Colossus, are training against some Sentinels in the danger room. However when Cyclops spots the Predators just casually strolling into the room, he assumes it’s part of the simulation and calls a time out, Graveyard slicing his jaw off while his back was turned.

Meanwhile, at Avengers Tower, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye are enjoying a slow evening when the Milano lands outside. The Avengers head outside expecting Starlord and the gang with a keg of beer, only to be met by a Predator ambush.

A bit later, elsewhere in the tower, Kraven has located the individual at the very top of his kill list Dr. Bruce Banner, better known as The Hulk. Kraven certainly makes a bold entrance, especially given who he’s dealing with, by throwing Cap’s blood drenched shield into the room, hoping to provoke a reaction. And so our comic ends with Kraven getting his wish and The Hulk emerging to Smash some Predators.

We haven’t quite kicked into gear just yet, but we did get a few creative kills and more of Kraven’s ingenious strategy on display. However, there is one glaring flaw here. Namely, I didn’t like seeing Cyclops go out like a punk. Sure, the Fantastic Four and Guardians of the Galaxy got dispatched fairly quickly, but the Guardians were deliberately lured into an ambush and caught unawares and the FF were likewise taken by surprise and overwhelmed by superior numbers. You mean to tell me that Cyclops notices an alien monster he’s never seen before (some of the X-Men did indeed appear in the Wolverine crossover, but Cyclops was not one of them so we have no reason to believe that he would recognize a Predator on sight) just wander into the danger room and this doesn’t raise any alarm bells in his head, or perhaps some alarm bells in the heads of those present who did appear in the aforementioned Wolverine crossover? Speaking of alarm bells, the X-Mansion has a shit ton of security no matter the era. I know the Predators are all about stealth, but even if they hadn’t just literally torn the roof the place killing Magneto, you’d think some kind of security alarm would go off that the X-Men would have heard from the Danger Room. For that matter, why didn’t the Professor contact the X-Men telepathically. Even if we assume the Predator’s killed him, he still had more than enough time to alert them of the danger. It just bothers me to see a great character like Cyclops made to look like such a chump. I could say the same thing about Captain America, but since we have yet to see a body, I’m reasonably certain that Cap isn’t dead quite yet. Still, there’s plenty of good stuff in this comic, though I do hope we advance the story soon. Seeing the Predators slaughter the heroes is fun, but eventually, the heroes need to start fighting back.