25 of the best fictional planets to visit

20. Ego the Living Planet (Guardians of the Galaxy)

This one depends, in part, on how you’re consuming Guardians of the Galaxy. The comics version of Ego the Living Planet is somewhat more friendly than its film counterpart, though you’d still better be wary if you’re going to visit. But if you’re stuck on Ego in the movie universe for however short a visit, at least you got to meet Kurt Russell.

In its first iteration (The Mighty Thor #132), Ego the Living Planet appears as one of Stan Lee’s more out-there creations. Ego’s conception followed the creation of other big idea cosmic entities and peoples, like Galactus and the Kree race of aliens.

Similar to Galactus, Ego has demonstrated a penchant for consuming space vessels and even whole worlds on occasion. This sort of bad behavior catches the attention of the nearby Rigellians, who bring in Thor to protect their home planet. Ego is soundly defeated and runs away, embarrassed by the beating from the God of Thunder. It gets over the shame pretty quickly once Galactus invades its territory and threatens to eat up Ego. Thor helps out, earning Ego’s gratitude and a brief respite from the madness.

Ego’s morality

As in many hero-focused comics, Ego swings back and forth between good and bad, sane and unhinged. The sentient planet tussles with Galactus, avoids use as a weapon by the Kree, and learns that it has a sibling planet known as — what else? — the Alter-Ego. At one point, Ego even gets a humanoid body and refers to itself thusly as “Ego Prime”.

The Ego that appears in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 isn’t all that different in intent or form. He’s a Celestial this time around, a cosmic being of great power in the same family-type group as the Collector and whatever deceased being provided the head for Knowhere, the busy spaceport.

So, Ego is a pretty fascinating planet to visit, though bring some Dramamine for the constant space jumps and earplugs for the cosmic whining. Also, maybe send Thor a nice gift card ahead of time, just in case you need his help.