25 of Marvel’s best spacefaring characters

Nebula (Image via Marvel)

6. Nebula

Gamora, Gamora, Gamora! Everyone loooves Gamora. At least, that’s probably what Nebula thinks as she sulks in her bedroom and blasts terrible music at full volume.

Now, in the comics, Nebula isn’t necessarily Gamora’s adoptive sister (though that’s a compelling storyline in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie). She starts out as a widely feared space pirate who takes over the Sanctuary II, a gigantic spaceship previously owned by Thanos, who’s believed to be dead. Nebula starts yakking on about how she’s totally Thanos’ daughter and proceeds to accumulate power, kill people, and generally wreak havoc.

When Thanos inevitably returns, she changes her tune somewhat and now claims to be his long-lost granddaughter. He’s so offended by the concept that he turns her into a sort of living corpse, neither dead or alive. Thanos spends some time gloating about it but then makes a frankly stupid mistake.

After Thanos had taken the incredibly powerful Infinity Gauntlet and expanded his consciousness into the universe, he left his body in a comatose state. Nebula gets it together enough to steal the Infinity Gauntlet and wield her own godlike powers. Though she’s eventually defeated and even crosses paths with the Silver Surfer himself, Nebula escapes and is still out there, somewhere.