Hip-hop and comic books have long coincided in pop culture. Both have characters who conceal their identities with monikers, sport superhuman abilities (on the mic or otherwise), and, of course, result in some truly killer artwork. It’s a perfect well of iconography to pull from, so it's no surprise that rappers and producers have taken direct influence from the pages of DC, Marvel, and anywhere else for decades. Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso, says comics and hip hop “share a common narrative: they’re all about the underdogs struggling, striving and persevering against overwhelming odds.”
In an effort to codify this artistic kinship, Alonso and the studio have officially meshed the two worlds into one. Currently in the midst of its second wave, Marvel has re-imagined over 80 heroes with their own classic hip-hop album covers. “It’s about two creative art forms shouting out to each other,” Alonso told Luke Cage series, it's safe to say Marvel is returning the favor tenfold.
Here are Screen Rant’s 15 Best Marvel Hip Hop Variant Album Covers.
15. Luke Cage - Hard
For Luke Cage showrunner episodes would be titled after tracks from famed duo Gang Starr, while cameos from Raphael Saadiq, Faith Evans, and Method Man would further nail down the show's street cred.
Given that Cage is an East Coast cat, and tracks from luminaries like Nas (“Made You Look”) and Ol’ Dirty Bastard (“Shimmy Shimmy Ya”) have popped up in the first two trailers, it seemed only fitting his Marvel cover be modeled after another NYC icon: LL Cool J. Perched atop a car to emulate LL’s 1987 album Bigger And Deffer, Cage sports his vintage attire while the word Bad becomes a far more menacing Hard. The cherry on top of artist Marco D'Alfonso's cover, however, is the fact that Cage is bending the metal fence under his vice grip-- a feat that even LL couldn’t match in his Kangol heyday.
14. Black Widow - Black Widow
Missy Elliott is not to be trifled with. From her earliest days in the group Sista to writing songs for Aaliyah, the rubber-mouthed MC has been in step with her male peers since day one. With that in mind, it's obvious why Black Widow was selected to assume Missy’s mantle of Supa Dupa Fly. The 1997 album was a breakthrough for Elliott, as warped samples and outlandish music videos made it impossible to pin her musical identity down. Tracks like “The Rain” and “Friendly Skies” had little in common besides a laid-back sheen and high quality-- and the ability to adapt, of course, which has always been one of Widow’s strengths.
As a Widow couldn’t look more relaxed in Phil Noto's cover art, and the titular fly in Supa Dupa has been replaced, fittingly, with a black widow spider. If we had to guess a favorite track for the constantly on-call crime fighter, we’d say “Beep Me 911.”
13. Deadpool - Psycho
Deadpool has been a particular favorite of the Marvel Variant Series. He’s been Ill with an homage to Bun B’s Trill (2005) album, and turned Pimp C’s The Naked Soul of Sweet Jones (2010) into The Deep Pockets of Wade Wilson. All UGK antics aside, however, the Merc with a Mouth cracks this list with a brilliant take on Wale’s 2009 debut Attention Deficit. The original cover, depicting a kid in front of a TV-ridden store, captures the scattered, hi-definition insanity that comes with its titular affliction. For Deadpool, of course, the revised cover takes on a deeper, decidedly less stable context.
Rocking headphones and a pack that swaps pens and pencils for grenades and rifles, Wade (as he’s credited) is overloaded with screens of his own masked image. The word Psycho fills out the frame, as artist Kaare Andrews blends the cynicism and naiveté that makes this anti-hero tick. Whether Deadpool would dig Wale’s entire album remains to be seen, but he'd probably vibe to “Chillin” during a workout or the next time he’s coloring.
12. Wolverine - Old Man Logan
Unforgiven (1992).
Fittingly, the salty aggressor also gets saddled with one of rap’s most notorious verbal brawlers: Ice Cube. The former N.W.A. rapper, a stint comparable to Wolverine and his X-Men days, went right for the throat with Death Certificate (1991)-- an album that attacked the desperate measures one must take to survive in the ghetto. In Tim Bradstreet's Marvel re-imagining, Logan stands above a toe-tagged corpse. However, the corpse is not Uncle Sam, as is the case with Cube’s cover, but his own, as he embraces the savagery of Wolverine and never looks back.
11. Spider-Man - Miles
Reaction may have been mixed in 2011, but Spider-Man mantle for the studio’s Ultimate Marvel imprint. This webslinger distinction was furthered by writer Brian Michael Bendis, who gave Morales a criminal lineage that spawned from his jailbird uncle Aaron.
The same internal struggles are front-and-center on Nas’ 1994 masterpiece Illmatic. Raised across the bridge in Queens, the MC born Nasir Jones was an old soul in teen form; spitting his experiences through intimate details and multi-syllabic displays. Like Morales, Nas came from a childhood of shady role models, and the disillusion that peppers tracks like “One Love” and “Memory Lane” splashes both album covers with the authenticity of a bumpy subway ride. Marvel's interpretation of Illmatic was created by Adi Granov.
10. Ant-Man - The Astonishing A.N.T.
Even before his untimely demise, The Notorious B.I.G. was larger than life. From record sales and critical acclaim to hits like “Juicy” and “Big Poppa”, the Brooklyn baritone was a Swiss Army MC-- able to destroy any opponent (or beat) in his path. This is a skillset, funnily enough, that Biggie shares with his appointed Marvel counterpart, Ant-Man. The sizable superhero may be a polar opposite in name, but his unique abilities enable him to take on foes towering in presence and minuscule in molecules. And like Biggie, Ant-Man, AKA Scott Lang, rose to prominence after a lengthy criminal career.
Biggie’s debut Ready to Die (1994) was a startling of such a lifestyle, while a naive, afro-ed infant sat iconically in the center of the cover art. In Mark Brooks' Marvel version, of course, the small B.I.G. is transformed into an Ant-Man with the tongue-in-cheek title Ready to Shrink perched beneath him. Complete with ‘The Astonishing A.N.T.’ moniker to drive things home, this witty remake works on so many levels that we hope to get a Life After Pym follow-up sooner than later.
9. A-Force - Straight Outta Comics
Writers Marguerite Bennett and G. Willow Wilson wanted to create a team that emphasized Marvel’s heroines, with Wilson explaining it would be a chance “to put people who would normally have no reason to interact with each other on one team.” This brainstorming ultimately led to the formation of A-Force in 2015, a team made up of all female Avengers . Led by She-Hulk, the lineup of Dazzler, Medusa, Nico Minoru, and Singularity were well received by the public, as Greg McElhatton of Comic Book Resources praised Marvel for “taking a concept that could have simply been dashed off and then ignored and turning it into a book that I'd cheerfully read every month.”
For their variant cover, these tough ladies were bestowed with the artwork of rap posse N.W.A. The abrasive '80s group became icons through their debut release Straight Outta Compton (1988), which defined pop culture with anthems like “Gangsta Gangsta” and “F--- tha Police.” A-Force is way less controversial in their practice, but their action-packed exploits make Adam Hughes's slick recreation another crossover success. Although, Straight Outta Arcadia may have been more fitting.
8. The Avengers - The Avengers
We can’t talk Marvel without mentioning TJane Foster’s Thor and Miles Morales’ Spider-Man (both seen above). There’s a lot of heroes to keep in mind, but revolving hip has done little to diminish the unity that The Avengers have maintained in the worst situations. And when it comes to groups who’ve spent decades of prolonged excellence, few in hip hop compare to The Roots.
Founded by rapper Black Thought and drummer Questlove, the band struck it big with 1996’s Illadelph Halflife and have expanded genre boundaries ever since. The Roots also share a high turnover percentage with The Avengers, while their jazzy, chic aesthetic brings a uniformity typically reserved for comic books and cartoons. As for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, this detailed cover looks thoroughly chilled against the orange skyline. Artist Jim Cheung even slips in a massive “A” logo behind the team, to further a fish-eyed view that screams “Artsy” in equal volume with "Avengers.”
7. Black Panther - T’Challa
Love him or hate him, Jay-Z is a hip hop institution. The hustler-turned-rapper has spent twenty years ruling the charts as a pop star, and New York City as its self-appointed king. Storm), and men who thoroughly enjoy dark colors.
The T’Challa variant cover is marvelously (pun intended) brought to life by artist Brian Stelfreeze Doe, who proceeds to replace Jay’s lower-than-low baseball cap with Panther’s signature mask. Even more exciting on second look is the silhouetted image of panther stripes behind him; furthering the cultural 2018 solo film. To paraphrase Jay, what more can we say?
6. Extraordinary X-Men - Extraordinary X-Men
In the wake of Marvel’s Inhumans. Nevertheless, the world’s most-discriminated bunch have reunited with Extraordinary X-Men, a bleak tale that deals with mutant extinction and the ragtag remaining who will save the day. Penned by Brian Michael Bendis, Extraordinary brings together Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Old Man Logan amidst other familiar faces like Iceman and Magik.
The album counterpart for Extraordinary isn’t so much a perfect fit as it is a fascinating counterpoint. By taking an X-Men team that’s more cynical than their Uncanny iteration, and applying it to the colorful canvas of De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising (1989), artist Sanford Greene points out that the message of both aren’t dissimilar. Most of De La Soul’s landmark record deals with the desire for peace and harmony-- two goals their mutant peers can certainly get behind. Hippie hip hop may not be an X-Men style, but who hears “Me, Myself, And I” without wanting to bust out the boombox and call for a truce?