Star-Lord (Peter Jason Quill) is a fictional character and superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #4 (January 1976). The son of human Meredith Quill and Spartoi J'son, Peter Quill assumes the mantle of Star-Lord, an interplanetary policeman.
The character played prominent roles in the comic book storylines "Annihilation" (2006) and "Annihilation: Conquest" (2007), "War of Kings" (2008), and The Thanos Imperative (2009). He became the leader of the space-based superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy in the 2008 relaunch of the comic of the same name. He has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel merchandise, including animated television series, toys and trading cards.
Chris Pratt portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special (2022), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Wyatt Oleff portrays a young Peter Quill in the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films. Quill also appeared in the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021).
Creation
Steve Englehart had plans for the character that went unrealized. He later reflected on his website:
Englehart would later state that the story on Jupiter would be about Government, and that his version of the character was not a part of the Marvel universe and was "completely standalone"
Publication history
The character first appeared in the black-and-white magazine publication Marvel Preview #4 (Jan 1976). Star-Lord continued to appear in Marvel Preview, with writer Chris Claremont revamping the character and using science fiction adventure stories like the Heinlein juveniles for inspiration. Heinlein's lawyers threatened legal action over the cover to Marvel Preview #11, which featured a blurb that described the content as "a novel-length science fiction spectacular in the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein", leading to the issue being pulled and reprinted. The story in #11 was the first teaming of the celebrated X-Men creative trio of writer Chris Claremont, penciller John Byrne, and inker Terry Austin. Star-Lord made sporadic appearances over the next few years in the titles Marvel Super Special, Marvel Spotlight, and Marvel Premiere. The Marvel Spotlight installments, which were Star-Lord's first appearance in a traditional comic book format, served to consolidate the separate but complementary origin stories from his two appearances in Marvel Preview. In February 1982, a color reprint of the black-and-white Star-Lord story from Marvel Preview #11 was published with a new framing sequence by Claremont and artist Michael Golden.
The character returned in Thanos #8–12 (May–Sept. 2004) and Annihilation #1-6 (2006). The following year, he received a four issue eponymous title (Annihilation: ConquestStar-Lord) leading into the "Annihilation: Conquest" crossover storyline, in which he played a central role. Spinning out of "Annihilation: Conquest", a second volume of Guardians of the Galaxy featured a team of characters from the crossover who were led by Star-Lord for the duration of the title's 25-issue run. Plot lines from that series were concluded in The Thanos Imperative mini-series.
Because of revisions to the character's origin, his early appearances have been officially designated as occurring in an alternate reality.
Star-Lord returned, along with other members of the Guardians, in Avengers Assemble #4-8 (June–Oct. 2012). He stars in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, a part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch.
In July 2014, Star-Lord received his own ongoing series, Legendary Star-Lord. The character was also given a new costume, matching that seen in the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy
His solo series and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 ended as Marvel began its 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline. Star-Lord appeared as a main character in the core Secret Wars miniseries, and in a tie-in miniseries during the event, Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde.