I Think Marvel’s New Star-Lord Is Peter Quill’s Long-Lost Son

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Marvel’s Ultimate Universe has introduced a radically redefined Guardians of the Galaxy team, unlike anything fans have witnessed in Guardians history, and I think one obscure reference gives away that the far-flung future version of Star-Lord is Peter Quill’s descendent. Of course, this is just a theory – and The Ultimates has faked me out before – but it makes me psyched to learn more about this newly-introduced version of the character.

The Ultimates #8 – written by Deniz Camp; with art by Juan Frigeri – debuts a version of Star-Lord who is described as “Lord of the Twelve Houses,” a subtle shout-out to author Al Ewing’s Guardians of the Galaxy run, during which Peter Quill gained this title, and also fathered a son.

While it could be just a deep-cut lore callback, I would be thrilled if The Ultimates‘ creative team went all the way with it, and made this a tangible connection to an earlier Guardians story.

The Ultimates #8 – Written By Deniz Camp; Art By Juan Frigeri; Color By Federico Blee; Lettering By Travis Lanham

As a reader, I’ve loved how Marvel’s Ultimate comics have so far been defined by wild, ambitious creative swings. Superhero comics are full of reboots, redesigns, rebrands, and returns to the status quo, all in a seemingly-infinite cycle, but this time around, Ultimate Marvel has really been a coordinated effort to do something unique, by remixing and remastering different pieces of the sprawling lore attached to its characters in the original Marvel continuity, and all its endless Multiversal offshoots. The Ultimates #8, with its reimagining of Star-Lord and the other guardians, is by far the series’ most ambitious issue yet.

At first, this incarnation of Star-Lord seemed to me to have the least connection to the mainline conception of the original character, of everyone Ultimate Marvel has introduced so far. Yet once I caught the “Lord of the Twelve Houses” reference, I started to think that the opposite could actually be the case; Ultimate Star-Lord could, in fact, have a more direct connection to Marvel canon than any other character besides the Maker, if he does turn out to be connected to Peter Quill’s “long-lost” son from Al Ewing’s Guardians run, which I think, or at least I hope, he will.

Notably, it is actually possible for this to be the case without any Multiverse-hopping. Let me explain: the Guardians in Ultimates #8 are the last survivors of the future that was overwritten when the Maker – or rather, in their vernacular, the Unmaker – interfered with the flow of events to stop most major Marvel heroes from getting their powers, while others became part of his villainous Council, the cabal secretly ruling the world. That means Peter Quill’s son, or perhaps his son’s son, or some descendent, could still have existed and held the title of Star-Lord in the original version of events.

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Personally, I am rooting for The Ultimates to establish a concrete connection between the revamped Star-Lord of the 61st-century –as the Guardians who take center stage in Ultimates #8 hail from – and Peter Quill’s son “Rocky” from Al Ewing’s Guardians of the Galaxy run. Yes, by the way, Quill named his kid after Rocket Raccoon. The Ultimates could make its Star-Lord a direct descendant, or it could straight up make the character Rocky himself, relying on the prevalance of time travel and the ability to circumvent death in any number of ways in the wider Marvel Universe.

I’m especially fond of this theory because of one particular line in The Ultimates #8, in which Star-Lord calls the heroes of the Ultimate Universe “mockeries of what should have been,” as if he’s perhaps particularly contemptuous of this timeline, in which his father was never empowered, and he would never have existed. That’s just conjecture of course, but in any case, it speaks to what makes The Ultimates such an enjoyable read – that is, it stokes my imagination the same way comics did when I was a kid.

As I’ve written about before, my favorite Marvel stories are its most ambitious, cosmos-spanning tales – something that most Marvel fans would tell you author Al Ewing is at the forefront of, alongside Jonathan Hickman, who helped reinvent the Ultimate Universe, and is currently reinvigorating the Spider-Man mythos in Ultimate Spider-Man. With The Ultimates #8, writer Deniz Camp does more than just offer a nod to his two colleagues; he shows that he can absolutely hang with them in terms of epic storytelling with a vast scope.

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The Ultimates #8 – Main Cover By Dike Ruan & Meeraj Menon (Color); Variants By InHyuk Lee & Sara Pichelli Also Available

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Overall, The Ultimates #8 is a wonderful single issue of a comic, and by far the best yet of the series. Admittedly, Ultimates #7 disappointed me a bit, by walking back the huge hero death from Ultimates #6, which I praised at the time for being a bold direction to take the overall Ultimate story in. This issue more than won me back; it completely reinvigorated my faith in the story that Deniz Camp is telling, as part of the greater Ultimate Universe narrative.

A narrative which, by the way, Ultimates #8 furthered and foreshadowed via an ominous dialogue between Star-Lord and Ultimate Doctor Doom, another Reed Richards variant – again, there’s a lot going on here. In short, Star-Lord said the quiet part loud, by once again reminding readers that this Doom will either become the Ultimate Universe’s greatest hero, or worst villain. With the return of the 61st-century Guardians of the Galaxy and Star-Lord also teased before the issue is over, I’m just one of many readers who hopes we find out a lot more about these exciting characters.

The Ultimates #8 is available now from Marvel Comics.

“}]] I think I know who Ultimate Star-Lord is.  Read More