As a concept, the Guardians of the Galaxy has evolved plenty over the years. It's reached the point where the original futuristic version of the team bears little similarity to its more famous modern-day counterparts. Along the way, the team has reinvented its central characters many times over — especially Star-Lord, who founded the modern incarnation of the team.
Guardians of the Galaxy #3 (by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Kev Walker, Matt Hollingsworth, and VC's Cory Petit) pushes Star-Lord down an increasingly grim path, leading him to slaughter a number of people in one fell swoop. It's more akin to the Punisher than the character's recent overtly heroic and charming direction. But it speaks to an older version of the character and highlights Star-Lord's continued evolution as a character.
How Star-Lord Goes Full Punisher
Star-Lord Guardians of the Galaxy Killer 1, orange-toned comic panel
The Guardians of the Galaxy are in a dark place at the moment, primarily serving as a morally ambiguous band trying to mitigate the damage caused by the new destructive form of Groot making its way through the galaxy. The stress has been building on the heroes, but it seems to have reached a breaking point for Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy #3.
Called on by the Spartax upper-crust to take part in the Gilded Hunt, a reluctant Peter Quill joins wealthy members of the alien civilization for a "hunt" that quickly gives way to the plain and brutal slaughter of innocent animals after sterilizing the planet. When they find themselves locating one of the dangerous Grootfalls alive and growing, Quill takes the opportunity to communicate with the creature — despite the protests of the wealthy hunters who he's been forced to accompany in pursuit of keeping stability in Spartax space.
This avatar of Groot is able to speak to Star-Lord briefly before Spartax hunters slay the avatar. Coldly and quietly furious with how things played out, Star-Lord makes sure to destroy the Spartax ship before they depart, seemingly slaughtering the entire hunting party in one fell swoop. It's a harsh act from Star-Lord and another example of the fluidity of Star-Lord's character over the last decade. While it may seem like a very dark and unpredictable act, given some of his past characterizations, it also fits with some of his earlier actions and speaks to the character's continuing evolution.
The Evolution Of Star-Lord's Personality
Star-Lord Guardians of the Galaxy Killer 2, Peter talking to Gamora
After spending decades as a minor character in Marvel's cosmology, Star-Lord returned to prominence after playing a supporting role in titles like Thanos and Annihilation. His place alongside Nova as a hardened fighter led to him becoming a prominent character in Annihilation: Conquest and resulted in his subsequent forming the modern version of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
He was prone to some sardonic comments and unlikely comradery, but his world-weary attitude and deep guilt over past mistakes defined him as a character more than anything else. Following the Guardians of the Galaxy becoming a more prominent team group in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though, most team members were tweaked in minor ways to fit closer in with their on-screen counterparts. The most prominent of them was Star-Lord, who gained much of his cinematic's counterpart's sense of snark, romantic heart, and roughish charm. Since then, Star-Lord has been played as a hopeless romantic, a major hero, and an almost otherworldly figure.
Like the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, the current title has reinvented the team to fit into a grittier and harsher aesthetic. Star-Lord being willing to wipe out a ship full of unsuspecting (if vile) people brings him closer to something like the Punisher than his most famous incarnations. However, it does fit in with the harsher version of the character who would be forced to destroy inhabited moons to save galaxies or fight tooth and nail against the Annihilation hordes.
It speaks to Star-Lord's continuing flexibility as a character, with multiple layers of the character being exposed over the last decade. Notably, the sense of guilt and the commitment to doing something about it remains a constant with Star-Lord, regardless of which aspect of him is being played up — even if the limits and lengths of his payback change based on the surrounding story.
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