Peter Quill revealed the name of his son from another life, and he took some serious inspiration from an unlikely Guardians of the Galaxy teammate.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy #15 by Al Ewing, Juan Frigeri, Federico Blee and VC’s Cory Petit, on sale now.
The Marvel Universe is a very busy place right now, and thanks to thanks to their massive recent expansion, the Guardians of the Galaxy are everywhere where the action is. While the rest of their teammates attend to more immediate threats, Peter Quill and Richard Rider’s Nova take a trip across the stars to meet with the mutants of S.W.O.R.D. about mutantkind’s recent cosmic ambitions.
During the ride in Guardians of the Galaxy #15, Star-Lord even tells him that his son is named Rocket, and Nova isn’t very happy about it.
As the two cosmic heroes travel towards their destination, their conversation is tense over the topic of Doctor Doom’s recent place on the Guardians’ roster. Nova has grown tired of shaking hands with tyrants over his career as a supposed hero, and having someone like Doom fighting alongside him feels like a slap in the face. As far as Nova is concerned, this is yet another piece of information that Star-Lord seemingly kept from him until after the fact, just like the name of his son from another lifetime.
After the Guardians destroyed New Olympus, Quill was taken to another world where he met and fell in love with two aliens who guided him through this strange land. Having absorbed the energy of the Olympian gods, Star-Lord lived for the better part of two centuries in this world, having adventures and fathering a child. Eventually, Quill returned to the Marvel Universe, with his new powers cemented by the Master of the Sun.
While Star-Lord naming his child after Rocket certainly isn’t the end of the world, it is at least a mild disappointment for Nova considering how long the two have been such close friends. These heroes have lived through some of the most crucial battles in the history of the Marvel Universe together, including holding the front line against the invading forces of Annihilus as seen during 2006’s Annihilation #1 by Keith Giffen and Andrea Di Vito. While the course of that war forged between them a lifelong bond, it provided the pair with far fewer opportunities for regular humorous banter than they have become known for in more recent years.
The back and forth between them may have even been most perfectly epitomized in 2010’s Thanos Imperative #6 by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Miguel Sepulveda during the duo’s then final confrontation with Thanos. To stop him from leading a genocidal campaign across realities, Nova and Star-Lord chose to make the ultimate sacrifice together, keeping Thanos from leaving that reality until it could collapse in on itself.
Given how deep their friendship runs and Star-Lord’s propensity for jokes, there’s a chance that he was just having some fun at Nova’s expense. However, the seriousness of the rest of their conversation makes it seem like that isn’t the case. Although with the difference in time between the Marvel Universe and Peter’s former home in Morinus, Star-Lord’s own son may not even remember him in the first place, even if he did name him.
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