70 years after their debut, The Muppets are mashing up with Marvel heroes as Kermit becomes Thor, Swedish Chef turns into Wolverine, Gonzo is the Silver Surfer, and more

Kermit as Thor squaring off with Gonzo as Silver Surfer — (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

The Muppets turn 70 years old in 2025, having originated in Jim Henson's first puppet show Sam and Friends all the way back in 1955. In the decades since, the beloved characters have taken on too many roles to name in their shows and films, but now, they're becoming Marvel superheroes on a series of variant covers that will celebrate their 70th birthday.

In the ten variant covers, which will release throughout October, a host of superstar artists will reimagine the Muppets as Marvel heroes in images that pay homage to classic Marvel Comics covers. Here's a gallery of the six that have been revealed so far, followed by a list of which title each variant will appear on, and the artists who created the covers, organized by release date:

Image 1 of 6

Swedish Chef brandishing his wooden spoons like Wolverine's claws — (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

October 1

Amazing Spider-Man #13 by Dave Bardin
Venom #250 by Nick Bradshaw

October 8

Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #1 by Javier Garrón
Avengers #31 by Luciano Vecchio
Spider-Man & Wolverine #6 by Greg Land

October 15

Amazing Spider-Man #14 by Joshua Cassara
Captain America #4 by Annie Wu
Incredible Hulk #30 by Chrissie Zullo

October 22

Fantastic Four #4 by Todd Nauck
Battleworld #2 by Paco Medina

"Over the decades, The Muppets have mastered the art of pop culture spoofs. Now, see Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam Eagle, Swedish Chef, and more parody classic Marvel Comics stories, including Spider-Man's first appearance and the original Secret Wars!" reads Marvel's announcement of the Muppet mash-up covers.

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"From The Electric Mayhem assembling as Earth's Mightiest Heroes to Miss Piggy wielding the Infinity Gauntlet (yikes!), these hilarious and first-of-their-kind pieces are bursting with pure Muppets foolishness. Sure to be must-haves for Muppets fans and collectors alike, it's the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational variant cover program ever!"

The Muppets have been part of Marvel Comics before, thanks to a Muppet Babies comic that was included as part of Marvel's Star Comics line of the '80s, which was aimed at younger kids. Since 2004, the Muppets have been owned by Marvel's parent company Disney, leading to the mash-ups we're getting later this year.

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I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)