Now that Star-Lord has found not only his father, but discovered that he’s Spartaxian royalty as well, things should be going pretty well for him and the Guardians of the Galaxy, right? Don’t bet on it. In the immortal words of Puffy, Mase, and Biggie – “Mo Money Mo Problems,” so meet me after the royal jump for my thoughts on “Accidents Will Happen.”
First Impressions
Yeah, so Star-Lord is a prince of the Spartax Empire. It all starts with a wardrobe change and then goes straight to his head. Outfitted in a space age version of Prince William’s official prince gear, with lots of metals and the like, Quill is a new man, and a new bad attitude. I doubt his special helmet’s gonna fit right on his big head now.
Conversely the Guardians are also asked to change, into royal guard uniforms, as assumedly Quill’s attaché. They don’t like it. Perhaps it’s because of Star-Lord’s behavior, but I think it’s also because it’s a bad look and a bad idea. These uniforms need to be jettisoned like the ones the Guardians wore in one of their test appearances in the Marvel Animated Universe.
The Galactic Council
Quill is getting spiffed up for his coming out as prince at a meeting of the Galactic Council. In attendance is J’Son of Spartax (voiced by Jonathan Frakes), and his newly found son; Nova Prime of Xandar, looking as close to Glenn Close without being Glenn Close; the Grand Commissioner of Rigel, huh, an interesting choice; the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree Empire; and Thor of Asgard, just because. All interesting choices but it seems an odd group with notable omissions.
This is roughly the same crowd from the Infinity comics. I suppose that the Skrull and the Shi’Ar were left out because legally they can’t be used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even though the same rules don’t apply to the Marvel Animated Universe. What about the Chitauri, or the Badoon? Thor is merely here as a plot device. While the Asgardians have always been a spacefaring race to an extent, even more so in the MCU, I’ve never really thought of them as part of Marvel Cosmic.
Crown and Kree
Left alone in the chamber with the Council, Quill causes nothing but trouble, and nearly a war. To patch things up, Dad sends Star-Lord and his sister Victoria (Cree Summer), who seems like she might be a cross between Eartha Kitt and a Femizon, off on a busywork mission. She does not like Quill one bit, another obstacle to get to the throne. Meanwhile, the other Guardians confront and are defeated by Ronan and Nebula.
The MCU characterization of Ronan the Accuser has always bothered me. Here in the animated series he seeks revenge on the Kree Empire. In the comics, he is fiercely loyal to the Kree, and while he is a dangerous and powerful opponent, one will only have to fight him if your needs are contrary to the Kree. In the comics, he has been both foe and friend to the Avengers, but here, he’s just a religious zealot and power hungry nutjob.
Plot Complications
Quickly the two plotlines converge, and while there are some tense and chilling moments with the villains and our heroes, for the most part it’s silliness with the baddies trying to blow up the Supreme Intelligence. Again, as with Loki, we have a villain trying incite a war between Spartax and another race. This is getting old.
Star-Lord and Victoria finally come to terms, and speaking of messed up space families, there’s quite the fight between Gamora and Nebula, and Drax and Ronan as well. But after all that, there was still no forward motion in plot. What about the Cosmic Seed? Mantis? Loki?
Next: We are the World Tree!
