Frank Miller's AVENGERS: TWILIGHT Variant Cover Pays Homage To THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

Next January, we'll follow Captain America through the tragic future of Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Chip Zdarsky and Daniel Acuña's Avengers: Twilight.

The highly-anticipated six-issue limited series promises to explore the complex nature of being a superhero through the lens of an aged Steve Rogers who, as Captain America, must come out of retirement to protect the world from the Avengers' corrupted legacy.

It's a twisted vision of Marvel’s tomorrow and some of the industry’s leading artists will capture it by paying homage to a visionary of dark comic book storytelling - the legendary Frank Miller - in new "Lightning Bolt" variant covers. We've previously compared this story to DC Comics' Kingdom Come, but perhaps The Dark Knight Returns would have made more sense. 

These previously unannounced covers depict the core cast of Avengers: Twilight dramatically silhouetted against the backdrop of a lightning strike. Miller himself will kick things off with his take on Captain America for the first issue, followed by new pieces by Phil Noto, Sara Pichelli, Carmen Carnero, Ben Su, and Declan Shalvey.

"Steve is the perfect character with which to see a changed future since he's been through that experience before coming out of WW2," Zdarsky previously said of his plans for Avengers: Twilight. "His ethics and morals and outlook have a consistency to them, so seeing how he reacts to a changed America is always interesting, to me at least!"

"And this future America is seemingly perfect, so Steve has to question whether or not to upset what his fellow Americans are comfortable with in pursuit of the truth."

Pushed for more details on what fans can expect, he'd later add, "I don't want to spoil anything, but Cap has to deal with new characters and old, and there's also the matter of the mysterious group called 'The Defenders.'"

These new variants will grace all six issues of Avengers: Twilight and you can check out Miller and Su's covers below. Be sure to check back here soon for more on the series.

New Lightning Bolt Variant Covers, by @bensuart and the legendary @FrankMillerInk, illuminate the dark nature behind 'Avengers: Twilight': https://t.co/XtlXGBhAp8 pic.twitter.com/00qSpmedQV

— Avengers (@Avengers) November 16, 2023

AVENGERS: TWILIGHT #1 (OF 6)
Written by CHIP ZDARSKY
Art by DANIEL ACUÑA
Cover A by ALEX ROSS
Lightning Bolt Variant Cover by FRANK MILLER
On Sale 1/10

AVENGERS: TWILIGHT #5 (OF 6)
Written by CHIP ZDARSKY
Art by DANIEL ACUÑA
Cover A by ALEX ROSS
Lightning Bolt Variant Cover by BEN SU
On Sale April 2024