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Ego, The Living Planet, Spoilers: Who He Is In Marvel Comics And In ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2’

By Daniel Ketchum
Published on: 16:45 PST, May 5, 2017

As noted by Screen Rant, Ego, the living planet, is one of the more outrageous and “out there” characters in the Marvel comics universe. This is one of the reasons it was so surprising that he was chosen to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Even more surprising was the fact that Kurt Russell would be playing Ego, the living planet, in the film. But for those who aren’t in the know about just who Ego, the living planet, is, the following gives you a quick rundown on the character.

Ego, The Living Planet, In The Comics

The character of Ego, the living planet, is very much what his name implies: literally a living planet. He/it is a planet sized rock floating around in space that managed to acquire consciousness and intelligence. He was created originally by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in the early days of Marvel. While the origin of the character has been retconned on several occasions by Marvel comics, as now written, Ego, the living planet, began as a virus that acquired sentience and grew to control an entire planet.

Ego, the living planet, is not always a villain or always a hero in Marvel comics. In some cases, the character represents the major threat in a story. For instance, he has often faced off with various heroes from Earth, including the Fantastic Four. On the other hand, Ego, the living planet, has sometimes assisted Earth’s heroes in their efforts to protect the planet, such as when he helped out when Galactus – a world devouring cosmic entity – showed up at Earth’s doorstep.

His powers – and he’s usually manifested as a male with a beard even when he’s a planet – include the ability to create small extensions of himself for interacting with others. Essentially, he can make fully interactive avatars that allow him to look like a human being when he needs to. This explains how he can be walking around as Kurt Russell in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Ego, The Living Planet, In The Movie

Beware that major spoilers are coming up for those who have not seen the film.

As it turns out, Ego, the living planet is Peter Quill/Star-Lord’s father. He has apparently been traveling around the universe occasionally impregnating women along the way. His goal was to create another celestial being who could help him wield the power he needed to satisfy his long-term plan. Still, despite the Darth Vader like “Luke, I am your father” moment shown in the trailer, Ego, the living planet might seem like an amiable fellow.

But it eventually becomes clear that he’s actually tested quite a few of his interstellar offspring to determine if they met his exacting requirements. Those who didn’t joined an ever-growing pile of bones. But finally, he gets to Star-Lord himself.

In the end, Ego, the living planet, is definitely a jerk. In the movie, he is a full-blown villain wanting Peter to help him take over the universe. His goal is to go from Ego, the living planet, to Ego, the living galaxy. But by the end of the film, Peter makes the decision to turn his back on his bad dad and the dark side. Obviously, Ego’s announcement that he had, in fact, intentionally given Peter’s mother cancer played a big part in this decision.

Interestingly, after finally finding his biological father in Ego, the living planet, Quill eventually realizes that his real father – the one who actually cared about him at least – was Yondu, the space alien who had kidnapped him and raised him to be what he was. This was made clear at the end of the film when Yondu sacrifices himself to save Peter.

[Featured Image by Marvel Films]

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