This January, two of Earth's mightiest Marvel superheroes will kiss. And it will be awesome. But before I even begin to explain why I think this is beyond wonderful, here's a little background.

Right now, Marvel is still ironing out the finale to Secret Wars, during which the entire Marvel multiverse (henceforth known as the Omniverse) will be reconfigured. When all is said and done, there'll be a new Avengers team featuring new characters in prominent roles. Sam Wilson is the Cap. Jane Foster is the Thor. So on and so forth. We don't know what kind of adventures they'll wind up on, but we can now assume that romance happens somewhere along the way.

Now, with no real sense of what brought this about, how can we already say this is awesome? Well, for one thing, holy mother of God does Alex Ross know how to do a cover. You can actually see the city reflected in Thor's helmet! This is gorgeous work worthy of celebration. For another, this is wholly new territory for these characters, who've only recently taken up these iconic roles. Adding the fact that they're together an interracial couple in a position of power, and you have a recipe for something powerful and meaningful for fans watching their story unfold.

Marvel has the chance to tell a great story

I won't pretend that this is not a play to sell comics. Marvel, as a business, is all about making money. But before you cry foul or that Marvel is somehow too committed to diversity, try to put cynicism aside and acknowledge that these are characters that are already well written. Sam Wilson's tenure in Captain America and the Mighty Avengers was well received. Jane Foster's acclaimed Thor series sold more books than her counterpart did. There is every reason to hope that Marvel can get this story right. And in the end it's the story that matters.

I'm officially looking forward to January.