Warning: spoilers ahead for Guardians of the Galaxy #14!
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics’ Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord‘s MCU father has made a return to the comics, though it turns out that even Ego the Living Planet is only the herald of something far worse to come. In the new issue, the Guardians continue to adjust to their new roles as the official heroes of the cosmos, essentially becoming space’s answer to the Avengers. Complete with new uniforms, an expanded roster, and the support of the Galactic Council, the Guardians are able to protect the stars on multiple fronts, which is when one of their teams discovered a new threat brewing involving Ego – played in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 by Kurt Russel.
In Marvel Comics, Ego isn’t actually a celestial, nor is he the father of Star-Lord. Instead, Ego is one of the Elders of the Universe, and claims that he’s the result of a scientist named Egros merging with all life on his planet during a supernova event. However, other explanations as to Ego’s true origins have been presented as well. However he was created, Ego is certainly a formidable galactic being, and proves he should never be underestimated in the new Guardians of the Galaxy #14 from writer Al Ewing and artist Juan Frigeri.
In Guardians of the Galaxy #13, a Guardians sub-team consisting of Drax, Quasar, Phyla-Vell, and Marvel Boy landed on Ego’s surface, too focused on the Skrull fire cult they had discovered to identify the dangerous planet. However, the Guardians started putting the pieces together once they realized that the cult was trying to cast a dark spell using the power of specific constellations. In order to do so, they had to be positioned in the exact right spot in the galaxy to accurately view them, making it suspicious that a perfectly breathable and habitable planet happened to be right where it was needed. Sure enough, Ego reveals himself to be in league with the cult, his tendrils bursting from the ground to attack the Guardians.
As this particular team of Guardians struggle to deal with this new development, Ego reveals that he’s simply a herald for something greater before turning into a black egg thanks to the cult’s spell. However, it seems as though this incoming threat connects to Doctor Doom’s concerns, who just attacked the rest of the Guardians in an attempt to claim the Sword of Space. Things don’t go Doom’s way, and it seems he’ll be teaming up with the heroes in coming issues to defeat whatever is going to emerge Ego.
Ego referring to himself as a herald might imply that he and the cult are attempting to resurrect Galactus (who was killed by Thor in recent comics), but Doom’s concern suggests something even darker. It’s likely that the coming threat is related to The Last Annihilation, an upcoming Guardians event focused around a mysterious new foe implied to be huge in stature. Whatever the new threat may be, the Living Planet has returned just in time to usher it into existence, and just because Star-Lord isn’t Ego’s son in the comics doesn’t mean he won’t pay the price. Here’s hoping the Guardians of the Galaxy are up to the challenge.
