Paul Reiser is one of the most recognizable actors — be it TV, movies, and now, comics. The actor — best known for roles in the iconic sitcom Mad About You, and more recent successes with Stranger Things — is dipping his toe into comics starting this week with Aliens: What If…? It’s a series that blends the iconic film Aliens with Marvel’s equally famous What If…? comics line. Reiser’s not only opening up an old world and making it new again with Aliens, but also trying out comics for the first time, which may be yet another avenue back to television.
“The idea of taking a film, turning it into a comic book, expanding the world of it, with an eye toward potentially making it a TV show. Like, that’s really challenging and an exciting goal,” Reiser told me over a recent early morning Zoom call.
Aliens: What If…? may someday be a TV show that follows Carter Burke, but the comics project also holds a special place in Reiser’s heart thanks to the inclusion of his son in the writing process.
“What was brought to me, I said, you know what? I know how to write scripts. I don’t know how to write comics,” said Reiser. “But my son, who was 22 at the time, he’s 23 now. I said, ‘He’s really into this.’ The next thing I knew, they were off and writing. And he blossomed into this terrific writer. It didn’t surprise me.”
All the years reading comics in his room paid off for Leon Reiser as a co-writer.
“He really knows that world, so my contributions were really just about the character of Burke,” said Reiser. “And I would pitch dialogue. It was really, Leon and Hans [Rodionoff] who did the big lion’s share of the writing.”
Aliens: What If…? #1. Courtesy of Marvel Comics.
The project was kicked off thanks to Reiser’s producing partner Brian Volk-Weiss, who let Reiser know Fox was looking for existing content to expand on.
“Brian said, ‘What if Burke had lived?’ And Adam [Goldberg] went, ‘Love it.’ Called Marvel. I think they ran it by me. He said, ‘I know you’re not going like this.’ And I just laughed. I said, ‘That’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard.'”
From there, it was a project that was greenlit incredibly fast, or as Reiser put it, “The fastest ‘yes’ from Marvel. They jumped on it. It just took off, and it’s been really fun. It’s crazy to me that it’s actually coming out this week.”
In fact, a return to Aliens for Reiser isn’t the only project from his past that has more legs, as he’ll be acting alongside Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F this summer.
“It’s surreal,” Reiser said. “When we did Beverly Hills Cop 4, standing with Eddie Murphy, He’s going, ‘It’s been 40 years!’ We’re doing a callback to a joke from 40 years ago. Like, what universe is this?”
Speaking of universes, Reiser said he’s been defending Burke for years. And now it’s time for his redemption.
“I would always get, ‘How did it feel to play a bad guy?’ My go-to joke was, ‘Well, you say bad, I say misunderstood.'”
Reiser added, “When I started talking with Brian and Adam about it, they started pitching, and they had this whole other reason and justification for his actions. I went, ‘That’s what I’ve been saying without having discussed it.’ It was really serendipitous.”
Aliens: What If…? #1. Courtesy of Marvel Comics.
Revisiting these projects is surreal for Reiser, but it’s also clearly a longer journey of evolution and joy in creating. Just this year he has multiple other projects on the way, including the new comedy he wrote, produced, and starred in called The Problem with People, a memoir he co-wrote called What a Fool Believes, and he’s also appearing in the independent comedy The Gutter.
“I always go back to stand-up, you know? Which was my initial thing. That’s all I wanted to do when I was, whatever, 20,” said Reiser. “And so all this other stuff feels like gravy.”
It’s gravy seeing fandom accept him, too, as Reiser told me that fans recognize him from Stranger Things and The Boys in addition to his lengthy backlog of television and movies.
“So hopefully all these things expand the palette and, yeah, it opens up the world and it opens up the eyes.”
For an extended and unedited version of this interview, check out the AIPT Comics podcast this Sunday.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.