Warning! Spoilers for Hyperion & the Imperial Guard #1!
In a world where the Avengers never formed, Marvel’s Starjammers team just became the ultimate versions of the X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy and Fantastic Four combined! Too bad none of them remember who they used to be because the war stories they could swap with one another would be epic to say the least.
Revealed at the tail end of the Heroes Reborn tie-in comic, Hyperion & the Imperial Guard #1, the “special preview” of Starjammers #1 by Ryan Cady and Stephen Byrne sees a familiar team become something more in an altered reality that isn’t what it seems. Made up of some of Marvel’s greatest heroes in roles that are different yet similar to their non-Heroes Reborn counterparts, this one and done look into the new Starjammers team should have fans excited for their possible inclusion in the main story unfolding across this sweeping event.
Consisting of well-known and past Starjammers members such as the space pirate extraordinaire Major Christopher “Corsair” Summers and the Mephitisoid alien known as Hepzibah, the addition of two X-Men iconic members and sons to Corsair in Alex Summers aka Havok, and Scott Summers aka Cyclops, makes this team more of a family gathering than anything else. Rounding out the group onboard are two popular Guardians of the Galaxy alums; the inseparable pair of the walking, talking tree named Groot and the unhinged and generally loud-mouthed Rocket.
But that’s not all just yet. While traveling across the abyss of space minding their business, a proximity alarm goes off only to reveal that a member of the Nova Corps is quite literally knocking on their spaceship’s door. Entering the airlock with some cargo in tow, the space cop is immediately revealed to be none other than Fantastic Four founding member and Human Torch himself, Johnny Storm! Obviously not covered in flames given this new Heroes Reborn universe, Johnny claims that he needs to commandeer Corsair’s ship for emergency reasons, but is immediately swept up in the Starjammers’ plight once a Shi’ar strike fleet enters their airspace.
Shooting off in a direction that is far away from the oncoming danger, the reason for Johnny’s commandeering of Corsair’s ship is revealed: he’s transporting Lilandra of the Shi’ar Empire to help her reclaim her throne and plans on capturing the Phoenix Force to do it. With this information now out in the open, Johnny officially becomes part of this Starjammers team and the rest is – as they say – altered reality history.
So although this new Starjammers team will hopefully get a bit more time to shine within the greater Heroes Reborn event, the fact that members of the X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy and Fantastic Four are all together on the roster is a sight to behold for Marvel fans. But who knows, Heroes Reborn has been a rollercoaster of a ride thus far, so it’s entirely possible that some of the best elements will make their way into the Marvel universe proper. Fingers crossed.
