WARNING: The following contains spoilers from Empyre: Savage Avengers #1 by Gerry Duggan, Greg Smallwood and VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now.
In Marvel's summer event Empyre, the plant-like aliens known as the Cotati have invaded the Earth. After taking out most of the Kree/Skrull alliance near the Moon, the Cotati launched a full-scale invasion of the planet. They are simultaneously attacking the Avengers in Wakanda and in the Savage Land, and they have also faced the X-Men as well as other heroes in the opening salvo of their invasion. Now, in Empyre: Savage Avengers #1, we find Conan the Barbarian in Mexico City, as the time-displaced warrior find himself roped up in the Cotati's attack.
Thankfully, the Cimmerian doesn't have to battle the aliens alone. Soon, he is joined by fellow Savage Avenger, Venom. And during this explosive battle, Eddie Brock and his symbiote end up recreating an infamous moment from the Spider-Man: The Animated Series cartoon.
RELATED: Fantastic Four's Empyre Epilogue Has Major Ramifications For The Marvel U
In Savage Avengers, Conan the Barbarian has been on the hunt for the evil sorcerer Kulan Gath, a search that has taken him all over the world. In Empyre: Savage Avengers #1, the Cimmerian is in Mexico City, taking a break to eat some food and catch a local wrestling match. However, the show is interrupted by the Cotati, who land a massive ship right on top of the city. The alien invaders rush out with a mandate to capture humans that they will then be able to dissolve into fertilizer to continue to fuel their war efforts.
Conan rapidly intervenes, using a machete to cut down any Cotati he can get his hands on. The enemy's numbers are great, and the Barbarian eventually finds himself wounded -- but reinforcements soon arrive in the form of Venom. During the battle, both members of the Savage Avengers find trucks to man in the battle: Conan drives a lawnmower tractor to chow down the Cotati, while Venom hops aboard an oil tanker which he plans on using to destroy the alien's spaceship.
Venom drives the truck at full speed, standing half outside with an arm raised, ready to jump out at the right moment. Then, when the timing is right, he leaps off of the truck, and throws it right into the Cotati spaceship shouting the sure-to-become-classic one-liner "Get trucked!"
The spaceship is engulfed in a ball of flame, and Venom and Conan leave the day in victory. However, they didn't just win a battle, this comic also recreated an infamous scene from Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
In the 1995 episode "The Alien Costume, Part 3," Venom hopped aboard a truck to chase Spider-Man, who was rapidly moving away on top of a speeding train. In his vehicle, Venom caught up to the wall-crawler, and he honked numerous times to get his enemy's attention. The moment -- Venom inside a truck honking repeatedly -- was such a hilarious moment for the ever-cool Venom that it took on a life of its own as a popular gif and meme that can still be found around social media today.
And now, it appears as if Savage Avengers was able to recreate this moment amid the Cotati invasion. While there are a few differences between the staging of both scenes, the image of Venom driving a truck towards his opponent still immortalized one of the most infamous moments in Spider-Man's TV history with an homage that will always be part of the Marvel Universe.