This December, Marvel will be releasing the Avenger’s Arena, a comic that has an oddly familiar theme if you’re a fan of The Hunger Games trilogy, or of the more dated Battle Royale manga and live action movie.

The premise: 16 super-emotional, super-human teenagers are dumped on a deserted island and told to fight it out – to the death – until only one remains.

“An all-new series! All-new cast! All-new ways to die! This is Avengers Arena NOW!”

The comic’s creators, Kevin Walker (Artist) and Dennis Hopeless (Writer) ensure that no character is ‘cannon fodder’, every character serves a purpose and brings something to the ultimate story. Of course a few characters will be killed off early, but the idea is that every character has a story to tell, and this links in with the greater picture.

^{A tip of the hat to the Battle Royale poster made by the Avengers with the same
black/white style drawings including several characters already ‘wiped out’ of the list.}  

The Hunger Games and Battle Royale both conveyed the difficult stages of a young adults life, especially when in extreme situations, but how will angsty, confused, unsure-of-their-place-in-the-world teens that have superpowers fare in a the same kind of deadly situation? We can only hope to find out.