Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is less than a year away from release, but even now, a large part of Marvel’s movie sequel is shrouded in mystery. This formerly included both the identity of the movie’s main antagonist, and of Star-Lord’s mysterious father, who was often mentioned, but never seen in the first movie. Marvel revealed who both characters are during today’s Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con however, and while the villain’s identity won’t be a shock, the identity of Star-Lord’s pops probably will be!
As rumoured, Elizabeth Debicki’s character is the main villain of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and also as rumoured, that villain is Ayesha, also known simply as, “Her” in Marvel Comics lore, and at times, either, “Paragon” or, “Kismet.” This is quite interesting, since it means that Marvel will not only release a movie with a first-ever female lead villain for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but they’ll actually do it twice in the same year, since 2017 will also see the big bad of Thor: Ragnarok be Cate Blanchett’s Hela. Even more interesting is that, not only does Ayesha have no actual affiliation with the Guardians of the Galaxy in Marvel lore, but she’s frequently portrayed as a hero, not a villain, even though Ayesha did begin her life in Marvel Comics lore as an antagonist to cosmic hero, Adam Warlock. Obviously, Debicki’s version of Ayesha will be heavily re-tooled from the printed panels in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
So, fans and insiders guessed the movie’s villain correctly, but they were actually off the mark with Star-Lord’s father, to be portrayed by Kurt Russell. In fact, they were way off! Turns out, Russell is not portraying Ayesha’s intended mate, Adam Warlock, despite Warlock’s presence being foreshadowed in the first movie, with his cocoon prison being present in The Collector’s treasures. Instead, Russell’s character will actually be Ego, the Living Planet. Yes, seriously. Ego, the Living Planet is Star-Lord’s father in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. How? Why? Well, director, James Gunn immediately took that bevy of questions about how an entire planet could sire Chris Pratt on the nose, saying that the movie will answer them, and fans will have to trust it.
We’ll get the answers to these crazy questions when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theatres on May 5th, 2017.
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