Published Jun 6, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT
Jason is an award-winning journalist whose writing career dates back to when he developed the ability to use a crayon. He, most notably, worked previously as a "professional fan," as he likes to call it, at CinemaBlend, for which he wrote about anything and everything under the pop culture umbrella... especially Batman. His passion for the art of cinema began even earlier, stemming from repeat viewings of The Wizard of Oz.
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Every so often, comic books meld with a separate medium in a way that is more special than a typical movie adaptation. Marvel's celebration of Pixar's huge milestone this year is one such event.
In honor of Pixar's 40th anniversary, Marvel Comics announced a line of special variant covers paying tribute to the animation studio's most acclaimed hits.
CBR previously ran a report about the upcoming Fantastic Four #13 variant cover featuring the cast of The Incredibles that releases on July 1. Artist David Baldéon reimagines the cover of a classic 1975 issue of Fantastic Four that sees the iconic heroes meet the Inhumans, but with Pixar's own superhero family from the Oscar-winning 2004 classic posing in their place.
There are plenty more "marvelous" comic book covers inspired by Pixar's best movies, where that came from, to look forward to this summer.
Marvel Variant Covers Honor Pixar's Inside Out, Up, And More
Image via MarvelCrossing The Fantastic Four with The Incredibles is an inspired, pitch-perfect choice, begging the question of which Pixar character is best suited to assume the role of a hero as iconic as Iron Man. Artist Todd Nauck appears to have seen the titular robot from the 2008 sci-fi movie masterpiece Wall-E as the best candidate, as he and EVE both grace his variant cover for Iron Man #7, which is also a July 1 release.
July 15 sees the release of an alternate cover for Avengers: Armageddon #2 by David Bardin that reimagines the art for 1963's The Avengers #9, in which Wonder Man made his debut. Standing in the strongman's place is Riley Andersen from 2015's Inside Out, surrounded by a thought bubble presenting her personified inner emotions.
That same day, Humberto Ramos flipped the script a little for his Infernal Hulk #9 variant cover. He creates art that crosses one of the most physically large characters in Marvel history with one of Pixar's smallest heroes, Remy from 2007's Ratatouille.
The second month of the celebration kicks off on Aug. 5 with another variant cover for Marvel's current Fantastic Four run. This time, Nicoletta Baldari recreates the artwork for 1966's Fantastic Four #49 with characters from Pixar's sophomore feature, 1998's A Bug's Life, with the tyrannical Hopper standing in Galactus' place.
Aug. 5 also sees the release of a variant cover for Amazing Spider-Man #34. Artist Ryan Stegman takes the webslinger higher in the sky than ever before with his artwork inspired by the 2009 Oscar winner, Up.
Two weeks later, Phil Noto delivers a variant cover for the third issue of Avengers: Armageddon that puts Merida from 2012's Brave in the spotlight. Fittingly, the image takes inspiration from another story focused on a valiant archery expert, Kelly Thompson's Hawkeye run, led by Clint Barton's successor, Kate Bishop.
Also on Aug. 19 comes Paco Medina's cover for Doomquest #4, which pays tribute to Pixar's latest film, Toy Story 5. The new adventure that sees Woody, Buzz, and the other children's playthings at war with modern technology will hit theaters two months earlier on June 19.
Marvel has plans to release four additional variant covers as part of its celebration of Pixar's 40th anniversary in September, with Avengers: Armageddon #4, Fantastic Four #16, and Thor #801 coming out on the second day of the month and X-Men #37 two weeks later. The publisher has yet to announce the artists commissioned, the films they will pay homage to, and the classic covers they will imitate.
Pixar, formerly a subsidiary of Lucasfilm, was founded in Richmond, California, in 1986 by Edwin Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith. After releasing its first feature film, and the first feature film created entirely with CGI, in 1995's Toy Story, the company went on to become one of the most prestigious animation studios in the world, winning awards and the hearts of critics and audiences all over the world.
Marvel starts releasing its Pixar 40th Anniversary variant covers on July 1.
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