Square Enix and Eidos Montreal's Guardians of the Galaxy is coming in October of this year. Players will step into the role of Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord, who has been popularized by Chris Pratt's portrayal of the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While this version of Star-Lord has been praised, there are some key differences from the comic book counterpart. Guardians of the Galaxy should embrace the comic book origins of Star-Lord, where the MCU movies chose to ignore certain characteristics.
Revealed at E3 2021, Guardians of the Galaxy is a single-player game driven by its narrative. Eidos Montreal previously worked on Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided, so this could play to the team's strengths. It's also been confirmed that there will be no DLC or microtransactions in the game, which is pleasing to know for a large portion of gamers. Eidos Montreal is in a good position to explore certain aspects of Star-Lord's character that the MCU movies have ignored. This should also give the game's version of Peter Quill a better chance of being distinct when compared with Chris Pratt's performance.
Star-Lord In the Comics
Marvel's comic version of Star-Lord isn't too far removed from the MCU version. Peter Quill is witty and filled with quips in the comics, just as he is in the movies. With that said, there are some notable differences as well. In the comics, Peter has telepathic abilities that he uses to communicate with Ship, a sentiment spacecraft that Star-Lord partners with. Peter's father is also different in the comics, with his father being a character called J'Son, ruler of the Spartax people, rather than Kurt Russell's Ego, as seen in the movies.
Star-Lord's Comic Book Influence In the Game
The MCU's version of Star-Lord details some of the character's tragic backstory well, including his mother's illness and death. While this is depicted well and certainly gives fans a reason to root for Star-Lord, the Guardians of the Galaxy game should include some of Peter Quill's shadier aspects. In the comics, Star-Lord once managed to save millions of people on the planet Avaleen-4, but not without a significant cost. In the process of saving these people, he inadvertently killed roughly 350,000 people. As a result of this, Quill turned himself into the Nova Corps and he was later imprisoned. Including an arc like this could make the game's version of the character unique, and less likely to be directly compared to Chris Pratt's MCU performances.
In addition to some arguably minor changes to Star-Lord in the MCU, the movies don't show off the character's darker side. In the comics, after an event known as the Annihilation War, Peter Quill decides that the galaxy needs a group of defenders once again. Star-Lord sought to reform the team, but not without the help of Mantis. Mantis, using her telepathic abilities, had to brainwash Drax and Gamora so that they'd join the team. This is a villainous course of action, but the game's version of the character could benefit from including actions like this. Star-Lord is arguably more complex than the MCU movies have depicted, and bringing in some of these darker character elements could make for a memorable interpretation of the character.
There are ought to be some major differences between the Guardians of the MCU and the game, but perhaps no character warrants change more than Star-Lord. While he is a quippy, funny character in the comics as well as the movies, there are darker shades to the character that the MCU hasn't explored. Delivering a Star-Lord who is not just heroic, but a complex person who's capable of doing wrong could be a clever way for Square Enix and Eidos Montreal to proceed.
Guardians of the Galaxy is set to launch on October 26, 2021, on PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.