Star-Lord
Star-Lord is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #4. The son of human Meredith Quill and Spartoi J'son, Peter Quill assumes the mantle of Star-Lord, an interplanetary policeman.
The character played prominent roles in the comic book storylines "Annihilation" and "Annihilation: Conquest", "War of Kings", The Thanos Imperative, and Old Man Quill. He became the leader of the space-based superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy in the 2008 relaunch of the comic of the same name. He has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel merchandise, including animated television series, toys and trading cards.
Chris Pratt portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Wyatt Oleff portrays a young Peter Quill in the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films. Quill also appeared in the Disney+ animated series What If...?.
Creation
had plans for the character that went unrealized. He later reflected on his website:Englehart would later state that the story on Jupiter would be about Government, and that his version of the character was not a part of the Marvel universe and was "completely standalone".
Publication history
The character first appeared in the black-and-white magazine publication Marvel Preview #4.Star-Lord continued to appear in Marvel Preview, with writer Chris Claremont revamping the character and using science fiction adventure stories like the Heinlein juveniles for inspiration. Heinlein's lawyers threatened legal action over the cover to Marvel Preview #11, which featured a blurb that described the content as "a novel-length science fiction spectacular in the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein", leading to the issue being pulled and reprinted. The story in #11 was the first teaming of the celebrated X-Men creative trio of writer Chris Claremont, penciller John Byrne, and inker Terry Austin. Star-Lord made sporadic appearances over the next few years in the titles Marvel Super Special, Marvel Spotlight, and Marvel Premiere. The Marvel Spotlight installments, which were Star-Lord's first appearance in a traditional comic book format, served to consolidate the separate but complementary origin stories from his two appearances in Marvel Preview. In February 1982, a color reprint of the black-and-white Star-Lord story from Marvel Preview #11 was published with a new framing sequence by Claremont and artist Michael Golden.
The character returned in Thanos #8–12 and Annihilation #1-6. The following year, he received a four issue eponymous title leading into the "Annihilation: Conquest" crossover storyline, in which he played a central role. Spinning out of "Annihilation: Conquest", a second volume of Guardians of the Galaxy featured a team of characters from the crossover who were led by Star-Lord for the duration of the title's 25-issue run. Plot lines from that series were concluded in The Thanos Imperative mini-series.
Because of revisions to the character's origin, his early appearances have been officially designated as occurring in an alternate reality.
Star-Lord returned, along with other members of the Guardians, in Avengers Assemble #4-8. He stars in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, a part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch.
In July 2014, Star-Lord received his own ongoing series, Legendary Star-Lord. The character was also given a new costume, matching that seen in the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy
His solo series and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 ended as Marvel began its 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline. Star-Lord appeared as a main character in the core Secret Wars miniseries, and in a tie-in miniseries during the event, Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde.
During publication of "Secret Wars", Marvel premiered a new ongoing Star-Lord series, written by Sam Humphries, as part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative, which focused on the character's revamped origins. This series also saw him leave the Guardians of the Galaxy, and replaced by his fiancée Kitty Pryde, who took over the identity of Star-Lord on the team's roster. The series lasted for eight issues. A subsequent Star-Lord ongoing series written by Chip Zdarsky began in December 2017 before being canceled after a six issues and one annual.
In April 2019, Peter Quill was given a 12 issue miniseries set in the Wastelands universe called Old Man Quill, which was written by Ethan Sacks and drawn by Robert Gill.
In November 2020, Peter Quill acquires the title and powers of Master of the Sun and it is revealed that the title was bestowed upon Peter by what and whom he believed to be a false memory from prior history, never truly lived. Being gifted entirely alien capabilities by said facsimile of his old mentor, Quill would gain incredible; albeit unexplored, new power which he can channel through his Element Gun. These as of yet unexplored faculties often manifest by the glow of his regrown left eye and the odd sun imprint tattooed to the palm of his right hand.
Fictional character biography
When the Spartax prince J'son's ship crash lands in Colorado, he is taken in by a local farmer, Meredith Quill. The two form a relationship while J'son makes repairs to his ship, but he is soon contacted by his people with news that war has broken out and his leadership is needed. He leaves not knowing Meredith is pregnant with their son, who she names Peter.Ten years later, Meredith is killed when she is attacked by two Badoon soldiers who have come to kill Peter and end J'son's blood line. A teenaged Peter defends himself with Meredith's shotgun, finds a weapon J'son had accidentally left behind, and escapes his home before it is destroyed by the Badoon ship. The Badoon presume Peter has been killed and leave. Now an orphan, Peter becomes an astronaut for NASA when he reaches adulthood. It was eventually explained that he was raised by his mother's best friend Lisa Chang, who was a commander at NASA.
During a mission where his ship malfunctions and leaves him stranded in space, Peter is found by the Ravagers, a group of space pirates led by Yondu. After the Ravagers save Peter, he tries to steal their ship, humiliates the Ravagers by outsmarting them, and even knocks out Yondu before capturing him. After Yondu awakens, he frees himself and attacks Peter, letting Peter choose between death and marooning. Peter instead asks Yondu if he could join the pirate captain's crew. Yondu eventually learns that the two share something in common: growing up as "kids without homes". He lets Peter stay on with the Ravagers as their cleaning boy. Peter slowly works his way up the Ravagers' ranks to become a seasoned pirate, picking up various skills and weapons from his new brethren.
Peter encounters the Fallen One, a former Herald of Galactus, and is almost killed defeating the entity, which results in his ship being destroyed and the Ravagers leaving him for dead. Peter and the Fallen One are subsequently imprisoned by the Nova Corps in the intergalactic prison called the Kyln. Peter is freed by the hero Nova during the Annihilation War and aids the Corps against the forces of Annihilus. He is subsequently appointed as military advisor to the Kree general Ronan the Accuser.
When the Kree homeworld of Hala is conquered by the Phalanx, Peter assumes the name Star-Lord and leads a band of rebels against the invaders until the war is over. Determined to prevent the atrocities he witnessed from happening again, Star-Lord forms a new version of the Guardians of the Galaxy. They are "proactive" and try to end emerging galactic threats early, but are unsuccessful at preventing a war between the Kree and Shi'ar. During a war with an invading universe, Star-Lord and Nova are prepared to sacrifice themselves to defeat Thanos but only Nova dies and Thanos escapes.
New Guardians and Kitty Pryde
Peter decides to remain inactive for a time until he discovers his father was planning to pass a law that forbade any interaction of extraterrestrial or space origin with Earth. Knowing this would be an open invitation for invasion, Peter decides to reform the Guardians with six members: Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Drax the Destroyer, and Bug, along with himself, and start protecting Earth from any attack. Soon they aid the Avengers against the returned Thanos. After this, Star-Lord and his new team of Guardians engage in conflicts with the Badoon. He is soon captured by the army of Spartax but he escapes imprisonment and broadcasts a video showing the unfairness of his father's reign. During the war of the builders, he infiltrated the S.W.O.R.D. facilities and rescued Abigail Brand along with Rocket and new member Angela. He also declared war against the Shi'ar empire after intervening in one of their trials to rescue the kidnapped young Jean Grey along with the X-Men.During this mission Peter meets Kitty Pryde, and the two eventually have a romantic relationship. Afterwards, the Guardians are cornered and captured by the Spartax Army. Peter is sent to Spartax where he confronts his father again and escapes after exposing once again his father's tyrannical reign. A riot forms in the Empire and J'son is deposed as a consequence. Peter keeps a low profile and remains dedicated to his long-distance relationship with Kitty. Soon he discovers he is elected by the Spartax people to be their new emperor. Peter ignores the announcement and focuses on Kitty and his search for a gangster named Mr. Knife who had put a bounty on his head. After being captured by Knife, he realizes Knife is J'son, his father. He escapes thanks to Kitty, and they spend some time together. Peter convinces Kitty to stay in space with him. He decides to steal an important artifact from J'son as payback.