Guardians Facts

Are you a fan of The Guardians of The Freaking Galaxy!? Well, here are One Dozen Guardians of The Galaxy Facts!

1. The Guardians of The Galaxy were originally created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan in 1969. This team existed in an alternate future of the Marvel Universe and battled an alien race called The Badoon. Their members included Vance Astrovik, Yondu, Krugarr, Charlie-27, and Martinex. Later members included Starhawk, Aleta Ogord, and Nikki.

2. After an event called "Annihilation" in 2008, Peter Quill/Star-Lord recruited other cosmic heroes Drax The Destroyer, Gamora, Adam Warlock, Quasar, Mantis, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot to protect the cosmos from such events. After freeing Vance from a block of ice, he allows them to use the Guardians of The Galaxy moniker. Due to changes in the past, the future of the old Guardians had changed and only Starhawk remembered the old timeline.

3. Vance Astrovik/Major Victory is the founder of The Guardians and a cultivation of various Marvel character themes. He is a mutant with the power of Psychokinesis, he wielded his future's version of Captain America's shield, his copper-alloy suit was designed to replicate a Symbiot, and all his abilities were enhanced after a blood transfusion with Simon Williams, a 1, 000 year-old Wonder Man. In his timeline he was an astronaut who was flung into the future, but in the current timeline Vance is a young adult superhero who went by the names Marvel Boy and Justice. He was a member of The Avengers, The New Warriors, and The Initiative, and remains one of the few mutant characters not to have been an X-Man.

4. Although he was a member of the old Guardians, Yondu was included in the 2014 film "Guardians of The Galaxy" as the leader of The Ravagers. This film-and the MCU version of the team in general-follows characters from the 2008 incarnation of the team. He reappeared in the film's 2017 sequel along with Starhawk (seriously did anyone expect Stallone?), Aleta, Charlie-27, Krugarr, Martinex, and Mainframe.

5. The old Guardians also recruited team members either directly connected or vaguely connected to Marvel's present universe. Mainframe is the future version of The Vision of The Avengers who had reset and developed a new identity. Hollywood is actually Wonder Man/Simon Williams of The Avengers who's powers allowed him to live to be 1,000 years old. And Spirit of Vengeance is an alien who possesses the powers of The Ghost Rider.

6. The old Guardian Krugarr had actually been an alien student of Doctor Strange. In the future, Krugarr becomes The Sorcerer Supreme and mentors the Inhuman known as Talon. The writer of the issue in which Talon is introduced wanted to use a future version of Wolverine, but The X-Men's editor at the time refused and claimed Wolverine could not live that long. Instead, the writer based Talon off of Wolverine and Beast. Coincidentally in 2017, a teenage, time-displaced version of Beast would study under Doctor Strange and learn some magic too.

7. From 2013 to 2015, the current Guardians of The Galaxy would see new members come from all walks of life in Marvel Comics. The Avengers known as Iron Man and Captain Marvel, the Flash Thompson version of Venom, former Spawn character Angela, former member of The Fantastic Four The Thing, and on-and-off X-Man Kitty Pryde. Kitty had been dating Star-Lord for a time and even took the mantle from him when he was busy.

8. Drax was originally a human named Arthur Douglas who-along with his wife and daughter-was murdered by Thanos on Earth. Thanos' father felt awful about his death and used magic to put Arthur's mind into an indestructible alien body and dubbed him Drax The Destroyer. During "Annihilation" Drax was seemingly destroyed, but from his corpse rose a second body, one that was less purple and more iconic. His daughter had also been transformed into another character named Moondragon.

9. There are two creatures known as "Groot" in the MCU. The current Groot is a member of The Guardians of The Galaxy. While highly educated, his species can only say "I Am Groot". The other Groot was a member of the same alien race and arrived on Earth in 1960 as a giant monster. He remained a member of the monster community and seemingly never crossed paths with the other Groot. In 2016, a woman from Ponce, Puerto Rico claims Groot is actually a Ceiba tree from her home. In Puerto Rican folklore, the Ceiba tree connects our world to the spirit world and Groot is simply one of those trees possessed by several spirits. Although this origin is incorrect and Groot is an alien, she considers him to be a fellow Puerto Rican.

10. The Guardian known as Bug used to be a character from Marvel's Mirconauts series. Micronauts were a series of toys in the late 1970's and Marvel owned the publishing rights. When the rights deal ended Marvel was allowed to keep any characters they created independent of the toy company and so they adapted Bug into a cosmic character.

11. In the 2017 film, Star-Lord's father is revealed to be Ego The Living Planet. In the comics, Peter Quill's father is J'son of King of Spartax. J'son had crash landed on Earth and fell in love with Peter's mother, but had to leave so his alien enemies wouldn't find him. However, he did not know Peter's mother was pregnant. Years later, his enemies came to Earth and murdered her, but Peter murdered them and escaped. In his adulthood he joined NASA and got his ticket to space. Since J'son is a King, Star-Lord is a Prince and has served a political role a few times.

12. Adam Warlock was specifically created to be perfect being by The Enclave. So perfect, he was trusted with The Soul Gem and became a galactic hero. However, while teaming up with Pip The Troll, Gamora, and Thanos to battle Magus The Mad and his Universal Church of Truth, Adam discovered Magus was a version of himself from the future who had become corrupted by the Soul Gem. In 1992's "Infinity War" epic, Adam Warlock receives The Infinity Gauntlet and is so overwhelmed by it's powers that the Magus personality is recreated and Adam Warlock wages war against The Marvel Universe.

Thanks for reading!