GOTG: Who's your daddy? 'Hawk vs. 'Fox…

Some rambling on the paternity of Star-Lord. Specifically a rundown/comparison of two other Marvel Star-men: Starhawk vs. Starfox.

STARHAWK

In the Marvel Universe, Starhawk is a member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy, based in the 31st century, and so, a teammate of the MU's Yondu. He was born in the 21st century and thanks to a unique genealogy (father: human Protector of the Universe, Quasar / mother: artificial life form and sister to Adam Warlock, Kismet) and the gifts of an Arcturian cosmic Hawk God is gifted with extremely long life, enhanced senses, strength, flight, and energy manipulation abilities. He also possesses a form of precognition which is said to be a result of his living his life over and over again, with variations. This ability is the reason for his alias, "The One Who Knows," which he gives himself and uses ad nauseam. Sound like anyone we know in GOTG? =)

Anyhow, Starhawk's appearance, associations, and abilities all match the paternity data we're given in GOTG.

1. Mama Quill compares Peter to his father—an angel, composed of pure light (paraphrased). Which works poetically and/or literally.
2. Yondu and Starhawk are known associates.
3. It's easy to imagine space biker gang president Yondu thinking of a nerdy precog Starhawk as "a jackass."
4. It's also easy to see how Mama Quill would choose "Star-Lord" as a pet name for Peter given Starhawk's appearance and pedigree.

Of course, the details of an MCU Starhawk won't match the MU's. MCU's Yondu is certainly a gritty departure. Yondu was hired to bring Peter to Starhawk, but on an impulse (apparently) decides to initiate him into his gang and raise him as a Ravager. Presumably, this is not all that uncommon a Ravager practice. Now, we know the Ravager code is what it is, but if Peter's father could contact and contract Yondu, he could certainly find him again to follow up, right? So, what kind of B.S. explanation does Yondu give? Bailed on the job cuz Terra's too far? Accidentally airlocked him on the way back? Threw him back cuz he was too small? I don't think it matters, cuz either Yondu is in cahootz w Starhawk and following his instructions, motivated by a "Boy Named Sue" kinda impulse ("Yondu, I want you to pick up my son and raise him among your Ravagers. Try not to get him killed."), or Starhawk knew that Yondu would shanghai Peter and his life as a Ravager is part of a long-game plan. If he hadn't been a Ravager, on the trail of the Orb, Bad Things would have happened, right?

The trickiest/most interesting thing will be how he ends up siring Peter in the first place. The MU's origin of Peter Quill has his Spartoi father actually falling in love with Meredith Quill while he's stranded on Earth, right? So, perhaps Starhawk does the same, having crash-landed, stopped to regenerate, or perhaps looking to hide out on a backwater planet from enemies or authorities. Or, perhaps he gets himself there because he has a precog flash that it's where he's supposed to be, and, he falls for the Earthwoman who becomes Peter's mom.

But why does he leave? It *seems* like he doesn't run out on Mama Quill, because she tells Peter that his grandpa will take care of him until his father returns for him, as if there's a plan. Or maybe Mama's decided to give Peter a Story about his father, something to hope for and look forward to until he realizes that he doesn't need him anyway, because he's a no-good absentee deadbeat dad of a space Casanova.

Which brings me to another fun possibility…

STARFOX

I dismissed him pretty quickly when I first considered him, basically on his, well, lame-ness. What does Starfox (as we know him in the MU) bring to the table? On his own, he's more adventurer than hero, a good time is more appealing to him than a good cause, y'know? That'll happen when you're Eros, an Eternal of Titan and brother of Thanos. I always thought that sibling-wise, he was a really poor counterbalance to Thanos in powerset, if not philosophy, but maybe that's the point. And if you want to think of Starfox as *part* of a check on Thanos, the gap between them is filled by so many other characters—Captain Marvel, Drax, Adam Warlock, Moondragon, and so on—it's actually more fun and interesting this way.

I haven't kept close tabs on Starfox in the MU, but I seem to recall a reference to his power of persuasion (aka pelvic sorcery) finally landed him in some hot water with authorities on some planet or another. He's got the suite of Eternal power boosts, strength, durability, flight, and spaceworthiness, but he also gets to mess with other sentients' pleasure centers, and he doesn't have any trouble taking advantage of that ability. So, last I sorta-knew, he was keeping a lot profile somewhere in space. With all his dalliances, I don't recall reading of anyone stepping up to claim him as their father. Maybe he's shooting space-blanks? I think part of the recent Infinity storyline was about Thanos tracking down all his bastard children and eliminating them, right? Geez, Thanos has got more kids than Eros? Wack.

Anyhow, Starfox, an Eternal of Titan gifted with this power of persuasion, could definitely be described as an angel and full of light by anyone who was under his spell. If it *is* Starfox, I would kind of like him to be an opportunistic jackass, and as awful as it is, I think having him be a whirlwind affair for Mama Quill would make sense. Under his spell, she would only think the best of him, and believe everything he says and promises. So, perhaps he parties with her for a week or a month, on and off Earth, and when he learns or detects that Earth is on its way to being marked as ready for a higher form of war—maybe he runs afoul of SHIELD in the 70s?—he skedaddles to avoid the notice of his brother, who perhaps has killed every other Titanic Eternal long ago. Cuz, y'know… Thanos. That could partly explain why he might be such a jerk of a Casanova.

* Having Peter's dad be an Eternal of (some) Titan and brother to Thanos is disappointing to me because it punches a big hole in my personal favorite MCU Thanos origin theory, but, to be fair, the theory *is* a bit Earthican-egotistic, and would probably end up putting Earth in a lot of cosmic crosshairs if it all came out.

More later if I can find the time and fanboy gray matter…

Keep on keepin on~

GOTG: What does the 'Fox say?

The following is a ramble in which I sort of "walk-and-talk thru" the Starfox option. Maybe some detail-spoilers from the movie, but mostly just nerdy Marvel Universe (comics) talk. Not quite final or buttoned up, but hopefully I'll revisit before the second movie hits theaters. =)

Still, let me play Starfox out a bit more… If Eros is the brother of Thanos in the MCU I think his power set and levels would have to be pumped up. I always thought he was shortchanged in the MU as Thanos's brother. Sure, I get the Thanos/Eros dichotomy, but man, one becomes the champion and consort of Death, the other plays space-adventuring Casanova?

Eros should be pumped up as a champion of Life, someone/thing akin to Mar-Vell or Adam Warlock, y'know? Of course, Adam's cocoon in the Collector's Collection would indicate that the MCU doesn't need another Adam Warlock-type. but let's assume that cocoon doesn't hatch anytime soon. Or maybe that it houses The Magus, who is actually a non-Thanos opposite to Eros, not Adam.

Okay, so Eros's space philandering leads him to spend time on Earth in the 70s. He falls hard for Mama Quill and they make a home together until he learns that his brother has destroyed his homeworld (called Titan, but not Saturn's moon, somewhere farther aspace) and killed most if not all of their family. He knows Mama Quill is pregnant, but to protect her, their unborn child, and the Earth he has to leave and go into hiding. He promises to return when it's safe and do whatever he can to care for their child when he can.

So, thanks to his cosmic senses, champion of life Eros would know when Mama Quill is ill and passes on, and so contracts Yondu to pick the boy up.

I can imagine Captain Marvel or Adam Warlock type working with Yondu in many situations while keeping a low astro-profile, and could easily see space biker gang leader Yondu thinking of a stick-up-his-bum champion of life like Peter's dad as a "jackass." Yondu may have legitimately believed that he was saving young Peter from a boring life as a straight-laced do-gooder when he decided to keep him for the Ravagers instead of delivering him as contracted.

I wonder what Yondu's story was to Peter's dad about that. Maybe he just never showed up for a scheduled rendezvous/hand-off, leaving his client to believe that he'd failed to find Peter or just wasn't interested in the job. Of course, Eros, champion of life, knows that Yondu kept him, just as he'd planned. With Thanos still at large, Eros is still on the run or in hiding, so Peter would be safer with the Ravagers than by his side and with Yondu as his mentor and guardian would learn to become a capable cosmic scoundrel and survivor.

If Eros is Peter's father, does that explain the scan that describes his heritage as "something ancient, that we've never seen before?" Perhaps. If we place Titan in a remote part of MCU space, and their population as small, or intentionally hidden/isolationist. Sure, why not?

Or… We could place Thanos's Titanic genocide much deeper in the past, with Eros as an only or one of the few survivors, and already in hiding when he arrives on Earth and falls for Mama Quill.

In any case, Eros's bloodline could read as "something ancient" and unknown to Xandar.

Eros could certainly appear as an angel, composed of pure light. That could easily be literal for an extraterrestrial champion of life (imagine Mar-Vell or Adam as Eros), and metaphorical, for an Eternal of love, right?

So, sure, an adapted and upgraded Starfox/Eros in the MCU could definitely be Peter's dad. Does it mean anything significant to future plotlines and conflict? Well, they could try to play up the relationship to Thanos, but why bother? I don't see a lot of fun coming out of snippy dialogue between the two around family. They don't have enough common experience. The one strategic play I do see is that Peter's rare Eternal blood (and blood-relation to Thanos) could allow him to endure or use a device or plot concocted by Thanos to destroy his enemies because it would be keyed to his physiology. Peter's a demi-Titan, so he'd probably die, but hey, a hero is up for that, right?

They really can't call him "Starfox" tho, can they? "Eros" sort of works next to Thanos, but even that is kind of a tough sell. Maybe I should find/replace "Starfox" and "Eros" with "Captain Marvel" or "Starhawk" everywhere in this write-up instead?

Keep on keepin on~

GOTG: the awesome and the not-so-much…

Just want to rattle off some more great bits and pieces from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY that have flashed back to me, as well as a couple of things that made me go hmmm…

Some awesome…

• Peter FRICKIN Serafinowicz! =)
• All of Peter Quill's late 80s Earthisms. Here's a movie-lover's highlight, tho (paraphrased)…
  "This Orb thing has a kind of black briefcase / Ark of the Covenant / Maltese Falcon vibe."
  LOVE that he uses those references to call out the McGuffin. =)
• If I remember correctly, among Quill's space crimes and misdemeanors: Illegal manipulation of a Grammosian Duchess. What the heck do you suppose this looks like?
• Peter Quill will pull a Luke Duke across anything resembling a shiny metal hood.
  *I* think of it as a Luke Duke. Anyone have any other names/references for it?
• Nebula cuts off her own hand rather than accept Gamora's help, then lands on a Ravager ship, chucks its pilot from the cockpit, and flies away. Nice to know she's still Out There, a cosmic Marvel x-factor and HEAVY METAL pin-up, crazying it up.
• Why does Groot present the white blossom to the colony urchin girl in Knowhere. A young Celestial Madonna, anyone? This One thinks so, yes. =)
• The Dark Elf in the Collection. Could he have survived the purple Stone explosion? The Collector was in possession of the Aether, y'know… There could be a lot of interesting artifacts, creatures, and characters free in the wake of that blast. Kinda like a cosmic raiding of the Fridge in AGENTS OF SHIELD.
• "I don't believe ANYone is truly one hundred percent a dick…"

Some not-so-awesome…

• Drax calls Gamora a "whore." Drax, who doesn't understand metaphor, calls Gamora a prostitute. As far as I can remember, we've been given no cause to believe that she is or was. We neither see nor hear any charge against Gamora that legitimizes that (I certainly didn't catch it in the mug-scan readout).
• Comic book fanboy wannabe that I am, I *knew* Groot would regenerate and return, but I kind of thought it was too easy how it worked out. Rocket just happened to hold onto the one piece that would grow back? Shouldn't we have seen him look for a specific organelle of some kind? Or running around mind-melding with everyone in an attempt to sends Groot's Katra?
• I thought that the seed to Groot's return had been planted (sorry, unavoidable =) earlier in the film, in one of two scenes.
1. When Groot presents the white blossom to the colony urchin girl in Knowhere.
2. When Groot "barks up" before going into battle, he apparently accidentally generates a little blossom and plucks it.
• I figured either one of those flowers could have grown into a replacement body for his consciousness, y'know? O well. In any case, I'm happy to have him back.
• Gamora vs. Nebula could've been shot, written, and/or choreographed stronger. For the deadliest woman in the galaxy vs. the daughter of Thanos the confrontation was kind of forgettable. Thank goodness no time-mucking Matrix stuff (not cuz it's not cool, but just because it doesn't belong to this film's feel), but how about some sisterly trash talking? Some character and backstory development thru verbal jabs as well as physical ones?
• Also—picking a nit, I know—there was an odd bit of time jumping involved. Nebula starts badmouthing Gamora. Drax does not take kindly to it and blasts her. The Guardians split up, with Nebula pushing forward. There's a cut to other action, maybe two or three different scenes, then back to Gamora who is just reaching Nebula's re-assembling body. Okay, it could take that long for Neb's enhancements to complete their work, but it seemed too long for Gamora to have covered the distance from their entrance to wherever Nebula's body is (which it SEEMED like they passed immediately after Drax's blast).

Perhaps you're interested in more rambling? Some scattin' on the identity of Star-Lord's dad?

Gotta cut footloose!

Keep on keepin on~

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: some reflections…

Before I hit you w my rambling comments, observations, and crazy talk (after my second screening of GOTG =), I hafta say I was so fixated on the Peter Quill paternity episode of MAURY that I failed to even comment on how much fun this frickin film was in my earlier ramble, so…

This film was so much frickin fun! Probably the most fun space adventure I've seen since SERENITY. I'm not sure where it falls in the MCU collection so far, but it's gotta be top 5. But it's almost not fair to compare to the others, cuz, y'know… SPACE! =)

I don't know what I can do to explain its greatness except to try and re-inject the original value of the word into "awesome"—It is awesome.

I had deja view to the likes of FARSCAPE, SERENITY, STAR WARS, various incarnations of STAR TREK, and that general warm fuzz of 80s movies that SUPER 8 managed to tap into. Mind you, my deja view calls are not about plagiarising or ripping off, but about paying homage or honor to or knowingly wink-and-nodding at the Good Stuff that's come before, maybe even without the intent, cuz I know my wackjob fanboy synapses make their own connections when they want to.

So many pluses! The casting is excellent! Chris Pratt is an excellent scoundrel(tm Lucasfilm =) and while I would not have envisioned him as the Peter Quill I know from the MU, he creates an MCU Quill that kinda rules. The Earth fish-out-of-water + out-of-time creates some pretty joyful moments. Kind of a reverse experience of Captain America. Buck Rogers x John Crichton, y'know? What's not to love, right?

I don't know Dave Bautista at all outside of what I see of him as Drax on screen in this film, but I love him. I *love* the way the writing handles Drax, and Bautista plays it easily. GOTG's Drax seems to be a clever mashup of two MU incarnations of the character. The first is a somewhat brain-damaged, simple invincible powerhouse, the damage caused by a somehow imperfect resurrection. He is part of the Infinity Watch and basically is the strongman of the team, his fists guided by the others' orders. The second is a sharp, savage fighter, whose sole focus is the destruction of Thanos. I think there was a resurrection/reconstitution involved here, too, but not sure of the details. In any case, this one likes his knives. GOTG's Drax is something of a mix that allows for moments of entertainment value and strategic power of both.

This movie "fixed" Zoe Saldana for me. I've had trouble with seeing her characters and not her in her roles so far, but apparently all it takes is some green pigment! Heh. Also, she got to play a character that doesn't feel like all attitude, which seems to be what I remember most from her previous roles.

Along w the voice talent, the animators and FX team helped realize two amazing characters and creatures in Rocket and Groot.

I have to say, this is the best performance I've seen from Bradley Cooper, and technically, I didn't even SEE him on the screen. I mean, he really disappears into Rocket. I've had a soft spot for him ever since JACK AND BOBBY, even tho I didn't love his comedic detours, but maybe he's a stronger character actor than front man? I dunno. Time and more roles will tell. Right now, tho, I can tell you that he is an excellent Rocket.

Vin Diesel as Groot. He did a great job, but I'm not sure that it is greater than many others might have done. Still, he *is* one of the few (the only?) Hollywood performers with this sort of experience under his belt, right? IRON GIANT =)

Allright, enough w the review-ish stuff. On to the nerdy *SPOILER*ful rambling!

Peter Quill, Sr.…

Some bits of dialogue I failed to include in my earlier post about Star-Lord's father…

On her deathbed, Mama Quill describes Peter as being just like his father, "an angel made of pure light." Starhawk, anyone?

When Yondu throws his Ravager weight around at the end to get Peter to give up the Orb, he says something like, "I may look like an angel, but I'm not one." Yondu is basically Peter's space foster dad, and if Peter's real dad is Starhawk, that line is a nice snarky comparison/shot at him (maybe for Kraglin's benefit?).

Also, Yondu refers to Peter's dad as "a jackass," not "a dick." My badd. =)

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The post-credits scene…

The Collector with two anthropomorphs (that's the best I could come up with that wouldn't be offensive—I hope—to the likes of Rocket): Cosmo and Howard the Duck! Howard makes some smart remark to The Collector when Cosmo returns to the ruins of the Collection. "How can you let that mutt lick you on the face?" or some such. The Collector can't even muster a response. Both Howard and The C are sipping bright green cocktails. Not sure who mixed them. Does the Collector typically share with Howard?

I've gleaned from obtuse, non-spoiling twitter remarks that Nathan Fillion voiced Howard?! He's worked w James Gunn before (as has Kevin Bacon—see SUPER, it's pretty brilliant! =). On second viewing/hearing, I honestly could not tell thru the Howard-the-Duck filter that it was Nathan, but it warms the heart to know that Captain Hammer is a man behind the duck. =)

*CORRECTION* Nathan Fillion voices the big blue bruiser in the Kyln. He's the guy who wants to lick some kind of jelly off of Quill and for his overtures is rewarded with a serious Grooting. It is Seth Green who voices the surly mallard sapien from an alternate universe. My badd.

The design of this Howard is closer to the original comic book design, a grittier, world-wearier Donald, y'know? Not the kinda bulbous man-in-humanoid-duck-costume of the 1986 movie. Howard's creator in the MU, Steve Gerber, is also the creator of the first, 30th-century, incarnation of the MU Guardians of the Galaxy.

Would no doubt cause a rip in the fabric of MCU spacetime if it happened, but would've been great for Peter Quill to have spotted Howard's silhouette in a case (along w others) in the Collection and comment…

QUILL: Dude, you've got an E.T.? An A.L.F.? And… Whoa! That looks like a Howard the Duck!? That's awesome! Can I get a better look at him?
COLLECTOR: Sorry, son. I can't take him out of the box or he loses half his value.
QUILL: That's seriously disappointing. Hey, you got any bobble-heads?

Heh.

Cosmo! The telepathic dog of Knowhere and the Guardians of the Galaxy! I wonder if The Collector knows he's telepathic. I mean, is THAT why he's in his Collection, or is it just that he's a Terran canine astronaut? In any case, so great to see him in his Russian space suit. =)

Now, were these characters featured to distract me/us from some detail in the rubble around them? Hrm… Guess I'll have to go see it again to find out!

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Ronan, his minions, his tech…

I believe that the character of Korath is an enhanced blue Kree scientist-soldier in the MU. Don't remember if he's affiliated w Ronan. In GOTG, he's Ronan's lieutenant or whatev, played by Djimon Hounsou. Given his loyalty to Ronan and his combat prowess in GOTG, I think he may have the same backstory, but without the blue (do the MCU's Kree come in blue, black, and pink?). Hrm… Guess we don't see anything in the movie that vouches for high scientific credentials, tho.

Love Peter's reaction when he calls him Star-Lord. So many great set-ups and rewards in this film!

On second screening I caught that someone calls Ronan's minions Sakaarans! In my mind, that connects to Sakaar, the planet of the Planet Hulk storyline in the MU's HULK series. They are a species who survive on a rocky, dying, I believe, planet. Some among them have an ability to shape the rock, and their civilization developed a technology that could manipulate stone into machinery and spacecraft. Is THAT what the Dark Aster is? A stoneship of Sakaar?

But then, what of the "Necro-ships?" "Necro-fighters?" I can't remember precisely whether the soldiers and/or the spacecraft are prefixed with "necro," which, if we can trust the MCU's universal translators, implies that there's something dead or undead about them. Or… Maybe it's that they deal death to those who oppose them? In that case, maybe the translators need a little tweaking, eh?

So, Ronan's force is an army of two Kree, two of Thanos's daughters, and a legion of Sakaarans.

When it came to the backstory, motivation, interior design, and tech, I had flashes to the time-bumped Romulans of the first J.J. Abrams STAR TREK film.

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MCU's Infinity Stones vs. MU's Infinity Gems…

At the end of THOR: THE DARK WORLD, the Collector was in possession of The Aether. His collection is destroyed by the power discharged from the purple Infinity Stone, aka "The Orb." Where do we think the Aether, aka the Power Stone, is right now? Will the destruction of his collection keep The Collector from pursuing the remaining Infinity Stones?

In the MU, the purple Infinity Gem is the Space Gem, which allows its wielder to travel anywhere in space. If the MCU gems correspond 1-to-1 w the MU ones, then the wormhole/portal-creating Tesseract is a match for the Space Gem. So, the Tesseract is the Space Stone.

In GOTG, The Collector shows the Guardians how a Celestial used the purple stone to destroy the face of a planet. Its energy washes across the world, apparently cracking its crust and destroying and killing everything on its surface. Later, Peter and Gamora explain to the Nova Corps that they have to prevent Ronan from reaching Xandar's surface or he'll use the power of the stone to destroy every living thing on the planet. I think the words "plants and animals" might've been used. Pretty specific, eh? Apparently the takeaway from The Collector's show-and-tell is that the stone's user must be in contact with the ground of its target planet and its power affects all organic materials. Would've been nice to see or hear a clear explanation of this.

Okay, so, this purple stone affects organic matter. The one example of this I remember seeing in the MU gems is in the way the Elder of the Universe, The Gardener, used the Time Gem. I forget if he knew that it was the Time Gem he had, but the effect it had was that it promoted the favorable growth of plant life. The Gardener instinctively accomplished this by using the power of the Time Gem in a focused way.

So, if the powers of the MCU Stones do match up to the MU Gems…

Tesseract (white) = Space Stone (purple MU gem)
Aether (red) = Power Stone (red MU gem)
Orb (purple) = Time Stone (orange MU gem)
??? = Mind Stone (blue MU gem)
??? = Soul Stone (green MU gem)
??? = Reality Stone (yellow MU gem)

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Thanos…

He doesn't appear to be all that capable of a Big Bad just now, does he? His Chitauri army defeated by some upstart Earthicans. One daughter turned against him, the other driven off by another Earthican and his band of outsiders. But, hey, it's Thanos. He's the Mad Titan and he plays the long game, right?

I say that these apparent setbacks (AVENGERS and GOTG) are actually events going pretty nearly exactly according to plan. All part of a grand design that will ultimately locate and recover all of the Infinity Stones and have them secured in the possession of known quantities, to be secured later by other means, or to be drawn out when the possessors are faced with an apparent greater single threat.

In the aftermath of GOTG, what are the whereabouts of the Aether?

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Some random-ish bits and pieces…

Thanos's realm is known as Sanctuary. That's the name of his flagship/s in the MU.

When Ronan is called before Thanos, he visits him physically, traveling via ship, not in some astral planar fashion the way Loki does in AVENGERS. Sanctuary (and Thanos) is much closer to Kree and Xandarian space than Earth.

And since we're on Sanctuary… When Peter grabs the Orb stone and begins disintegrating, Gamora calls out to him to take her hand. Peter looks at her, but sees his mother, calling to him from her deathbed. The environment around them—Peter and his mother—resembles that view of space from Sanctuary, but instead of the rubble of Thanos's playhouse, the setting features some designed structures in the middle ground. Structures like low-arcing spires, that seem to assemble and dissemble from… rectangular plates, or slabs, maybe? Hrm… A visualization of the world inside the MU's Soul Gem? Hrm…

Ronan kills The Other, Thanos's go-between. Poor Wesleyxis Denisof. Maybe we'll see him as another MCU character in the future, tho. Vision? =)

So wonderfully Jim Kirk and Buck Rogers and Crichton having Peter Quill represent for 20th century Earth out in the black. Kevin Bacon and Jackson Pollock walk into a space cantina… Besides Cosmo and Quill, I wonder what other Terrans are wandering Out There. Quasar? Corsair? Red Skull (I say again, Red Skull for Thanos! =) Billy Pilgrim?

When Ronan first emerges on the command deck of the Dark Aster, he is elevated out of a tank of dark liquid. Once he is suited up, he then executes a Xandarian, presumably a member of the Nova Corps. He does this with his hammer, and we see the resulting Xandarian squeezins flow from the body thru channels in the deck to a drain of sorts that seems to lead to the level or chamber from which Ronan arose. So… He really does bathe in the blood of his enemies? Man, the MCU has really painted Ronan generously with the psychotic brush.

Celestials! Pretty awesome seeing a Celestial wielding the Orb's Infinity Stone to wipe a planet of its life forms (it happens in The Collector's informative multimedia presentation). Also, Knowhere! Just as in the MU, the remains of the head of a Celestial. Note that The Collector calls them the Celestial somethings, not simply The Celestials, as they're known in the MU.

I can't say as I remember Talis (or Talus?) Mining Company as a player in the MU. Frack, my dumb brain. The logo was visible on the wall next to that comm station that Ronan "borrows" to contact Ronan from Knowhere.

*ON SECOND THOUGHT* Am I dyslexically misremembering the name of the mining company? Is it Tivan, after Taneleer Tivan, aka The Collector? That would better explain why he's set up Collection in Knowhere, and is totally in line with his Elder of the Universe predilection for rare and unique items. The actual physical contents of a Celestial's head, right? Heckuva way to finance his Collecting habit, too. With those kinds of resources, I'd keep one of everything to read/play with, and one mint in box or bag. =)

Speaking of forgotten (or missed) text… I couldn't make out the branding on Peter's wood paneled sound system on the Milano.

And the Milano! Or was it Murano? I *think* there was writing on the ship's exterior, the ship's name, I expect, but I couldn't or failed to catch it. I was either focused on other action, or didn't notice it soon enough on screen. Gotta say, I feel like I heard "Murano" once or twice early in the movie, but then "Milano" most every time after that. Murano sounds like a ship name from the ALIEN series, right? Was it? Milano, however, brings to mind the Pepperidge Farm cookie ("Pepperidge Farm remembers"), right? But, would an Earth kid name a ship that looks like a Dorito a Milano? I don't think so…

So… Milano… 1980s Earth… Teen Steam, anyone? =)

Gotta cut footloose!

Keep on keepin on~

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: Peter Quill, Sr.?

A *SPOILER*-ful wishful crazy talk ramble on a mystery of the MCU follows. If you haven't seen GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, turn back for your own sanity, please!

So! Who is Peter Quill's father? The Marvel Universe tells us that he's a Spartan (or Spartoi, of Spartax) named J'son, and Spartoi royalty. He crash lands on Earth and falls in love with Meredith Quill. When J'son is able to leave Earth he does, and leaves behind a pregnant Meredith, who gives birth to Peter. Years later, assassins seeking to end the royal bloodline track Meredith and Peter down. They kill Meredith and destroy their home. Young Peter manages to kill them and survive. He lives to be an adult before leaving Earth and eventually become Star-Lord.

However, given what we learn in GOTG, I get the feeling that he's going to get a different genealogy in the MCU. Some things that don't line up…

1. Peter Quill begins his life in space as a child, not as an adult.
2. The Spartoi and Spartax are not mentioned (at least, I didn't catch any references).
3. Peter's first extraterrestrial contact is with Yondu, a Centaurian, and his Ravagers. Yondu turns out to be an associate of Peter, Sr.

Or course, these inconsistencies w the continuity of the comics does not mean that they can't be smoothed into a Jason of Sparta heritage in the MCU, but…

What *do* we know about Peter, Sr. based on the movie?

1. He sent Yondu and the Ravagers to retrieve young Peter (the moment his mother passed away?).
2. Yondu seems familiar with him, and calls him "a dick" (I think that's what he called him, right?).
3. Nova Prime explains that Peter is half Earthican and half something-like-an-Elder-of-the-Universe. As far as I can recall, there's nothing "Ancient Ones"-y about the Spartoi. They're contemporaries of the Kree, Xandarians, and Shi-ar.
4. In the card she leaves with him, Mama Quill calls him her little "Star-Lord," a conspicuous pet name, even if you do know his dad was extraterrestrial royalty, donchathink?

Given all of that, I'm gonna say it's… Starhawk! Aka The One Who Knows, of the original, alternate future, Guardians of the Galaxy. What that might look like/mean in the MCU, of course, is unknown, and hopefully remains to be seen. As far as we know, there's no "earlier"/future incarnation of the GOTG in the MCU, but there's a definite affiliation of some sort between the MCU's Yondu and Peter's father, who he deems a dick (One Who Knows), and it explains (to me, at least) why Peter's mother would choose a name like "Star-Lord" as a pet name for him.

Maybe it's Starhawk from the 31st century, sent back in time to make sure that the Earth, Milky Way, and neighboring galaxies of the 21st century are prepared for a certain cosmic threat (Thanos / Infinity Stones). If he IS the One Who Knows, then he might have tweaked Earth and galactic events to align just the right forces to make a proper, winning stand vs. Thanos at a critical point in time. Maybe he helped form the Ravagers? Or even the Nova Corps? Maybe while manipulating some events or discoveries on Earth in the 70s, he found himself stranded for a time, fell in love with an Earth woman, and had a son with her. Until he could find a way to contact the Ravagers for a rescue?

Or something.

I know it's a stretch, but I'd love for that GOTG connection to be there across a millennium, y'know? In the comics, Starhawk, or an alternate version of him, did go back in time—or sent a message thru time?—to alert Quill and the present-day GOTG to a Thanosian threat.

My next pick: Star-Lord! Yeah, in the Marvel Universe there was a Star-Lord who took over for Peter Quill years after Quill died or disappeared. He only had a short mini-series, and I'm not sure that his origin involved him being some sort of elder cosmic species, but he was a telepath, which I would think is unusual. This would be a weird and fun one to write into the MCU, tho. In the comic, he takes up Star-Lord's mantle, but in order to make him the MCU Peter Quill's father, we'd have to make him a time traveler, or the original (or at least, earlier) Star-Lord. Sadly, that "code name" does not inspire any awe or fear Out There.

This would perfectly explain why Mama Quill would call young Peter her Star-Lord.

If it's NOT Starhawk or Star-Lord (but who else could it be?)… It's gotta be some race that isn't very common any more (Nova Corps' genetic scan), and has spent time on Earth (access to Mama Quill)…

Inhuman? Perhaps. But I would think that the genetics would read as part Kree, and so be identifiable as such…

Asgardian? That fits the data, altho if the Xandarians could recognize it, there's no reason not to put a name to it, right? I'd think that Peter would exhibit more obviously superhuman abilities.

Titan? Hrm… We still don't know Thanos's origin in the MCU (I still *so* want my Red Skull theory to be correct! =). I think we hear him referred to as "the Mad Titan" in GOTG for the first time, tho. Could you imagine Peter's dad being Starfox? That's bananas, but it could be a lot of fun. Would help explain Peter's preternatural James T. Kirk level of success with the alien ladies, no?

Atlantean? That would be interesting. Maybe Atlanteans aren't native to Earth? Or at some point in the past, part of their population left Earth and once in space, disappeared? (I still would love for the blue guy in AGENTS OF SHIELD to be Atlantean =)

Wait, okay. Just work with me here… How about… Galadorian? WOW! That would be pretty awesome. I forget the timeline of the Spaceknight Order, but it was on the order of centuries, right? Man, if we could get a ROM story as a secret history of Earth story in the MCU—Woooo-ow! Like, Rom comes to Earth tracking Dire Wraiths to whatever town/city Mama Quill lives in, is misunderstood at first, maybe fights then teams up with a 70s Marvel hero or two, reveals and defeats the Wraiths, somehow regains his humanity (SHIELD? Reed Richards? Dr. Strange?). falls in love with and settles down with Mama Quill, and sires Peter with her. He has to leave Earth, tho, when he learns that the Dire Wraiths (or some other threat) are at large again offworld. I would be very very very happy with that. =)

Keep on keepin on~

P.S. If you can stand it, even more GOTG rambling here (some reflections) ! And more on the question of Mama Quill's star-babydaddy here (What does the 'Fox say?) and here ('Hawk vs. 'Fox)! =)