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It’s time to meet Star-Lord!
[Photo Credit: Marvel]
“Star-Lord, man. Legendary outlaw?”
[Star-Lord to Korath in Guardians of the Galaxy]
Star-Lord is one of the most recognizable (and funniest) characters from the Marvel Universe.
Although he has been around for over 40 years, his character has become extremely popular in recent years thanks to his appearances in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and other Marvel Cinematic Universe projects.
But who is Star-Lord really and why did he become a fan favorite?
We’ll take a look at Star-Lord’s background, explore his powers and abilities and analyze his relationships with other characters.
(This blog contains spoilers, so if you’re not yet familiar with the adventures of the one and only Star-Lord, this is your sign that it’s time to blast off into the wondrous world of the beloved character!)
Star-Lord’s Backstory
Star-Lord’s character was introduced in Marvel Preview #4 in 1976.
He was born Peter Quill in the late 20th century to Meredith — a human, and J’son — the Spartax Emperor.
His father left the Earth before Peter was born and his mother raised him as a single parent.
Since childhood, Peter was always fascinated by all things sci-fi. He dreamt of becoming an astronaut and exploring space.
When he was ten years old, his mother was murdered by Badoon aliens. They wanted to kill Peter to end J’son’s bloodline, but instead, Peter killed the aliens who were chasing him, using his father’s gun.
The rest of the aliens then destroyed Peter’s house and they believed he was dead.
Peter survived and was put in an orphanage. He then struggled to find a good foster home, but things started to look up for him when he joined NASA as a mechanic.
At NASA, Peter secretly trained on simulators whenever he could.
When he was discharged after a fight with an astronaut, Peter stole a Kree ship and went to space.
That event was a turning point in Peter’s life.
Soon after he left the Earth, Peter’s ship broke.
He then came across a pirate crew of the Ravagers led by Yondu, who wanted to steal Peter’s ship.
The two fought, but eventually, Peter joined Yondu’s crew as a cleaning boy and used his time with the Ravagers to learn as much as he could about space.
At one point, Peter even met his father, J’son, and learned that he had a birthright to become Star-Lord.
J’son wanted Peter to rule the galaxy with him, but Peter disliked that idea.
He continued to travel through space, but not to steal for Yondu; instead, he wanted to right the wrongs others did.
After the Phalanx invasion of the Kree, Star-Lord decided to assemble a team of heroes that would protect the galaxy and prevent the wars from happening.
He joined forces with Adam Warlock, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Phyla-Vell, and Mantis as support and formed a new version of the Guardians of the Galaxy! (The initial roaster appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #18.)
Although this origin story of Peter Quill is by far the most popular one, we mustn’t forget about the story in which the Master of the Sun, i.e., the Lord of the entire solar system, gave the powers of Star-Lord to Peter Quill.
The Master of the Sun gave Peter a suit, which allowed him to breathe in space, and a gun that could shoot four elements — air, water, fire and earth.
Becoming Star-Lord enabled Peter to avenge his mother’s death.
Star-Lord And The Guardians Of The Galaxy
Star-Lord is the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
He brings the team together and leads them on a quest of protecting the Universe from the bad guys.
Together, Peter and the Guardians have played a major role in a number of Marvel’s storylines, both in comics and the movies, including:
- Annihilation: Although Star-Lord participates in this event alone without the Guardians, we couldn’t skip it because of how big Star-Lord’s role in it is. In the Annihilation crossover storyline from 2006, Star-Lord joins forces with other Marvel characters, including Thanos. They unite to stop Annihilus, the leader of the Negative Zone, from invading and destroying the rest of the universe. The event marked the start of the modern cosmic Marvel era, and it led to Marvel releasing several sequels and spin-offs, including The Last Annihilation, which stars the newline-up of the Guardians of the Galaxy, S.W.O.R.D., Hulkling and Wiccan.
- The Thanos Imperative: In this 2010 storyline, Peter and the Guardians of the Galaxy fight to protect the universe from the Fault (a space-time rift) and the Cancerverse — a dark alternate reality where death does not exist. The Thanos Imperative represents the culmination of the Annihilation storyline in which the Guardians of the Galaxy recruit Thanos to help them destroy the Cancerverse.
- The Black Vortex: This is a 2015 crossover event in which Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy join forces with the X-Men to stop the Black Vortex from falling into the wrong hands, i.e. Mister Knife. The Black Vortex is an ancient artifact that acts as a sort of mirror. When someone looks at it, they get to see what they’d look like if their entire cosmic potential were released.
- Infinity Wars: The 2018 movie sees Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy play a key role in battling Thanos. The supervillain wants to collect the Infinity Stones and use them to wipe out half of humanity, so Star-Lord and his team unite with Tony Stark, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange and many other cool superheroes in a mission to stop Thanos from achieving his goal.
Star-Lord’s Powers And Equipment
Star-Lord possesses numerous powers and abilities that make him a force to be reckoned with, including:
- Master fighter: Don’t be fooled by Star-Lord’s charismatic personality — this man can fight! He’s a master at hand-to-hand combatant and he’s an expert in various fighting styles. If need be, he uses firearms as well to defeat his opponents.
- Expert tactician: As a leader of a terrific team such as the Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter needs to be a good strategist and possess a tactical mind. He’s a great thinker and a leader with a quick wit, which allows him to easily analyze situations and quickly overcome challenges.
- Enhanced strength: As a character who’s half-human half-alien, Star-Lord possesses superb physical abilities. He’s super strong, agile, durable, and has enhanced reflexes; these qualities are super handy when he’s facing all kinds of lifeforms who wish to destroy the Earth.
- Great pilot skills: Peter can expertly fly various spacecraft.
- Semi-immortality: In the comics, Star-Lord is semi-immortal thanks to his hybrid human/ Spartax origins. However, in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 he kills Ego (his biological father in the movie), and then becomes mortal like the rest of humans.
- Resistance to telepathy: In recent comics about the Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord becomes the new Master of the Sun and discovers new abilities. One of them is a natural resistance to telepathic and mind-reading intrusions.
Aside from these powers and abilities, Star-Lord is no stranger to using cool equipment on his missions:
- Element Gun: The powerful twin pistols are Peter’s signature weapon. They allow him to manipulate air, water, earth and fire, and combine the four elements to create unique blasts. The guns are known as Quad Blasts in the MCU. The guns can do more than just kill Peter’s enemies; they also allow him to control the surrounding environment as well as to conjure up shields.
- Jet boots: These boots enhance Star-Lord’s speed, but they also allow him to swiftly fly through the air.
- Helmet: Thanks to his handy helmet, Star-Lord can breathe in space. The helmet also protects his head and enhances his senses.
- Body armor: The armor allows Peter to survive in the space vacuum (the absolute zero) while also protecting him from attacks. Oh, and Star-lord can also go through space using the armor’s power!
Peter Quill’s Most Notable Friends
Star-Lord is a likable guy who’s made many friends on his adventures. Here are some of the most notable:
- Gamora: Gamora is a fellow Guardian of the Galaxy and possibly Peter’s best friend. In the comics, their relationship is purely platonic, but in the MCU, the two get romantically involved. We’ll see how their relationship will develop in the third installment of the Guardians movie franchise.
- Rocket Raccoon: Rocket Raccoon is one of the most popular members of the Guardians of the Galaxy team. He’s feisty and headstrong, so he and Star-Lord often butt heads, but, despite their differences, the two work well together.
- Drax the Destroyer: Drax’s backstory is a tragic one because Thanos murdered his family. Drax sought revenge at first and wanted to murder Gamora (Thanos’ adoptive daughter). Instead, Drax joins the Guardians of the Galaxy and becomes Star-Lord’s close friend and a faithful ally.
- Groot: “I am Groot!” Groot is a cute tree-like character that everyone grew to love after the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. He and Star-Lord have a close friendship. Star-Lord can understand Groot even though they don’t speak the same language.
- Nova Corps: Peter has also become friends with some of the members of the Nova Corps — the intergalactic police force. For example, Rhomann Dey is a great warrior and strategist who’s worked with Star-Lord and the Guardians on various missions.
Throughout the years, Star-Lord has become friends with other Marvel characters as well, including Spider-Man and Iron Man, but his closest relationships are definitely with his fellow Guardians.
After the slightest inconvenience. #IAmGroot pic.twitter.com/uX25ilKW9W
— Guardians of the Galaxy (@Guardians) August 16, 2022
Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 — Everything We Know
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to conclude the popular trilogy about the beloved intergalactic heroes.
The movie will be released on May 5, 2023.
Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista and Bradley Cooper are all reprising their roles. Plus, Vin Diesel is coming back as the voice of Groot and Karen Gillan is voicing Nebula.
But, before you rush to see the third movie, if you haven’t already, we recommend you watch Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special first.
The Holiday Special introduces you to some new elements that are bound to be a part of the Vol. 3, such as Knowhere and The Bowie.
The former is the new HQ of the Guardians and the latter is their new spaceship.
Oh, and the special introduced Nebula as the new leader of the Guardians and Mantis as Star-Lord’s half-sister.
The trailer showed us that the movie will focus on the conflict between the Guardians and the High Evolutionary, who seems to be responsible for turning Rocket from an ordinary raccoon into his current (large) shape and form.
Another important thing to note is that Gamora will appear in the movie.
Although she died in Avengers: Infinity War, Gamora is alive in Vol. 3 because this version of Gamora came to the current timeline with 2014 Thanos, who transported her to Earth in Avengers: Endgame.
This version of Gamora doesn’t feel the same way about Star-Lord as the old version of her character, so it’s going to be fun to see how their story develops in the new movie.
A Recap On Star-Lord — The Legendary Outlaw
Star-Lord is a fascinating character that has captivated the audiences both in the comics and on the big screen.
His origin story, interesting personality, charm, wit, bravery, abilities and equipment all contribute to his unique superhero persona.
Throughout his many adventures and storylines, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the course of the Marvel Universe and has left a lasting legacy as a founding member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
As the Marvel Universe continues to evolve and change, we can look forward to seeing how Star-Lord will continue to play a role in shaping its future.
