Stan Lee, the Henry Ford of comic book mythologies, said that a “Star Wars”-Avengers crossover could happen.

There are enough signs that it (unfortunately) will.

“Obviously, the people who produce these (films) are looking to be as successful as possible,” Lee said. “I created the Avengers by taking many of our characters and making a team out of them. We can have as many characters join the Avengers as we want to for our future movies.”

Those are definitely a couple of reasons, which I don’t understand how they could be disputed since they came from the god of the whole deal on one of the two sides.

Here are others:

The desire to be true to the comics…

2. …but preserve the properties begs for “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”

The film “Avengers: Infinity War” will see the superhero team take on the archvillain Thanos. The story will be loosely based on the comic book series “The Infinity Gauntlet.” In it, Thanos kills Avengers.

You must think that Marvel Studios (owned by Disney) will want to please fans by being true to the comic book. But, in the spirit of Lee’s assessment, they will want to please new fans by continuing the story of the popular characters. They may also want to preserve Thanos’ villain for sequels — if he promises to be one of the greatest villains on screen, why limit him to one film?

This would lend an idea of the Avengers, already thrown into an intergalactic arena, to go back in time and far away from the threat of death. (True to the “Star Wars” mythology, that’s where the “Star Wars” galaxy would be waiting. Going back in time would also allow for an undoing of the problems that led to Thanos’ rule and mass death, if not for an opportunity to make amends.

3. Through one franchise pairing, the Avengers were brought into space. It’s a bridge to go to another galaxy.

In being combined with The Guardians of the Galaxy (aside from the Thanos conflict), the Avengers will already find themselves in space (after space came to them in the first two “Avengers” films). Already in that medium, they will then have the opportunity to go further into it. It may have been strange for the superheroes to have gone directly from Earth to a galaxy far, far away, but instead, they can learn how to travel in a medium since they’re already in it.

4. Time travel can be done — and “Star Wars” director J.J. Abrams does time-travel

Time travel is certainly a theme of films and J.J. Abrams has made successful time-travel productions in his “Star Trek” films and “Lost.” He directed the first “Star Wars” film in the new trilogy. Now, he is directing the last one, which could allow for a segway into an expanded world.

Would this be the title? (Amecomi Life)

5. Disney has openly said that while it’s doing more films, it’s not sure how to move forward

When Disney bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas in 2012, it was immediately announced that there would be a new trilogy, with the indication of three standalone films not long thereafter. But as quick as it was to make those pronouncement, it didn’t take it much longer to say that it didn’t know what it was going to do after that. If Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy is even being given a hint from her boss, Disney CEO Bob Iger, that the umbrella company wants to combine “Star Wars” with Marvel, it makes sense why Kennedy et al have been so proactive in saying they don’t have future plans.

6. Marvel has planted seeds

It wouldn’t be surprising if Marvel asked Lee to throw the idea out there. There was also a Death Star that got multiple mentions in Marvel’s Spiderman reboot, “Homecoming.” That could have been a way to establish that “Star Wars” is known in Peter Parker and the Avengers’ world. (And how powerful would it be if audiences saw that someone like them, who played with the toys, came to realize that that universe was real — let alone through a character as relatable and beloved as Spiderman?) You may argue it’s product placement, but if any film franchise doesn’t need that, which one is it? (Decades before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney, Lucas made his empire too merchandise driven, goes the criticism.)

Also, “Star Wars” Easter eggs are found throughout Marvel films, including in every one in the second of its three “phases.”

Of course, this is aside from having made the Avengers very well aware of other-worldly villains, heroes and entities generally, with the presence of Thor, Loki and his army, Ultron and his army and, again, the Guardians pairing.

7. It could (would?) increase sales

Disney saw the potential of combining franchises in its Disney Infiniti series. Fans loved having Mickey Mouse and Han Solo in the same sandbox, and not just in one medium — there were action figures besides a video game. It was a surprise that Disney shut it down. Was that because they figured they could optimize such combinations by first doing it on the silver screen?

8. It would launch forward stories from the franchise

Isn’t the objectives of 6, 7 and 8 in this piece being sought out with the combination of Guardians and Avengers? Isn’t it setting forth more accounts of those two superhero groups at least with the film “Infinity War?” “Guardians” director James Gunn has also said that the third “Guardians” film would be the final only in “the story of this iteration.”

9. It would optimize fan bases (read: customers), making fans of one franchise fans of the other.

I am a Star Wars fan. I simply enjoy the Avengers movies I decide watch. One mythology, I could live without; the other, it’s hard to imagine doing so.

But if the two were combined on-screen, I would definitely need to see those films. I would be left with no choice but to see movies with Avengers, whereas I have picked and chosen to this point.

10. The upcoming “Star Wars”-related movies are unplanned

That “Star Wars” movies are coming beyond the current trilogy and three standalones is without question. Disney CEO Bob Iger has indicated that “Star Wars” films will go at least into the early 2030s. That gives a lot of play for working the Avengers into the picture.

Will it be too much of a good thing? (FollowingtheNerd.com)

11. The timing of Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm with the timing of its “phase” plans for Avengers

Oct. 29, 2012, it was reported that Disney bought Lucasfilm. That same year, Marvel indicated its plans to merge various properties in its three-“phase” system, when “Avengers” was released. It’s been known for a year-and-a-half that Phase 4 will begin a new movie saga. Merging the two biggest properties, again, promulgating the stories, and starting the Earth heroes in a new galaxy seems like a hand-in-glove fit.

12. There is another ‘phase’ of Marvel films needing stories

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Guardians and Avengers will be combined by then) will be launching another “10 or 20 years” of Marvel films. A “Star Wars”-Avengers crossover naturally provides the stories for those.

Would the combination violate the very power of the “Star Wars” myth? That is, that it could be real because there no way of proving it couldn’t, as it takes place “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away?”

— -

For more articles like this, please support Beehive Blunders at the Hero’s Journey Content Patreon page.