Part of the fun of the annual Toy Fair in New York City is the exclusive first look fans get at upcoming films. While a blockbuster action movie might keep a tight lid on spoilers, toy production has to ramp up months before opening night. So every year there are handful of action figures and other memorabilia that shine a tiny light on mysterious characters. This year, one of those action figures is of Kurt Russell’s Ego the Living Planet from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Earlier releases have shown Ego in Pop Vinyl form but this fully articulated Legends action figure is the best look yet Marvel fans have gotten of his costume.
We’ve known for a while that Russell will play Ego and that the Living Planet will be Peter Quill’s father in the MCU, a sharp left turn from comics lore. Removing J’son of Spartax, Emperor of the Spartoi Galaxy and father to Star-Lord from the equation throws out a significant chunk of Guardians lore, how Peter interacts with his family, and what his non-human genetics mean for his power set. More interesting, Ego the Living Planet has never had a human form before. So comic books fans are truly off the map now.
Piecing together the weirdness that is the history of Ego the Living Planet, a likely scenario emerges though. While Ego himself has never taken human form, Ego-Prime has. Without falling into the soap opera that is comic book lore, the gist of Ego-Prime is this: Once upon a time, aliens took a core sample of Ego the Living Planet in an attempt to use his life-force to make other planet habitable. As these things are wont to do, it backfired spectacturaly. Thus Ego-Prime was born, looking a lot like Kurt Russel only with less clothes.
In his short tenure at Marvel comics, Ego-Prime’s energy was used to unlock superpowers in several humans, elevating them to godlike status: which sounds similar to Star-Lord’s ability to hold an Infinity Stone without instantly evaporating. What this means for Russell’s character is unknown, but James Gunn could have merged the two characters into one, or may have the two Egos (Eggoes? Egii?) face off against each other in an epic showdown. Or it could neither of those things. Regardless, Ego the Living Planet is definitely giving Odin a run for his beard money!