Samsung on Thursday announced a partnership with Marvel designed to showcase the graphic capabilities of its new Galaxy Tab S tablets, a direct challenger to the Apple iPad.

With the July release of the Galaxy Tab S, users will receive a free three-month subscription to Marvel Unlimited, the digital service that features more than 13,000 issues from the publisher's catalog. Over the next year, tablet owners will also receive early peeks at Marvel Studios films, including The Avengers: Age of Ultron, as well as access to Marvel One-Shots and other content.

The agreement also calls for "the world of Samsung Mobile" to be seamlessly integrated into the Marvel Universe, both on the screen and on the page, which translates as product placement in films and comic books. That's of course nothing new for movies -- indeed, Marvel's The Avengers was used to debut the new Acura supercar -- but it's not seen quite as often in comics. That said, Marvel has inserted (if not exactly "seamlessly integrated') sponsored logos into its pages, through in-story signs, billboards and T-shirts.

According to Mobile News, which attended Thursday's launch of the Galaxy Tab S series, it's thought the partnership came too late for Samsung products to make their way into Aug. 1-premiering Guardians of the Galaxy. Presumably they'll make their debut in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, which arrives May 1, 2015.

“Partnering with Marvel gives us the opportunity to bring our industry-leading mobile display technology to life," Samsung's Younghee Lee said in a statement. "Through visual storytelling made possible by Marvel’s outstanding entertainment universe, Samsung’s Galaxy users will be able to enjoy the maximum of our product benefits.”