25 of Marvel’s best spacefaring characters

Star-Lord (Image via Marvel)

10. Star-Lord

Star-Lord’s origins are a little murky, depending on who you ask and whether you prefer comic books or movies. If you’re reading the comics, he’s the son of J’son, Emperor of the Spartax planetary system. He’s also kind of a jerk, not to mention yet another absentee dad, putting him in decent enough company with Corsair. At least he’s not as terrible as Thanos, I guess.

If you’re watching the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie… well, that one’s not out yet, so it’s not entirely fair to spoil it. A straightforward internet search will reveal plenty, at any rate.

Star-Lord, also known as Peter Quill, is no royalty, however. He grew up believing himself to be a standard, boring human, despite his mother’s stories of his hot alien dad. However, when the two alien Badoon soldiers kill his mom, young Peter quickly learns the truth. He eventually joins NASA and gets stranded in space, where he falls in with a more friendly group of aliens led by Yondu. A little after that, he succumbs to his better nature and becomes a kind of superhero, fighting with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

While he doesn’t seem to have any superhuman abilities, Quill is nonetheless a master strategist and smooth talker. He also has a fancy suit that allows him to move through the vacuum of space and gives him a boost in strength. Star-Lord has also teamed up with “Ship”, a sentient spaceship who can create all sorts of helpful “widgets” for Peter. Pretty cool team-up, I’d say.