Ego looking up at something in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2

Warning: Major spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ahead

-

In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Star-Lord, Rocket and co. are back to save the galaxy again, and this time the threat's escalated (which is saying something considering in their first adventure they were taking on a lackey of Thanos and dealing with an Infinity Stone).

Most of the marketing focused on the threat posed by Ayesha and Sovereign, but the movie itself has a much bigger villain to contend with (in all meanings of the word): Kurt Russell's Ego. Yes, at the end of the film's second act and after copious teasing, it's revealed that Peter Quill's father is Vol. 2's true big bad - an ancient being wanting to take over the entire universe.

This shouldn't be the most surprising development to comic book fans - Ego has long been established as a villain - but in the film itself comes as quite a shock. And compared to Ronan the Accuser, who wanted to enact rather simple revenge, the living planet's goal is an intricate, massive scheme that has far-reaching implications, and in some ways reframes the plot of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. Here's what exactly he was up to.

What Actually Is Ego?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Character Poster for Ego the Living Planet - Cropped

Before going into the details of the plan, it's worth establishing what Ego actually is. Probably the weirdest character introduced in the MCU so far, he is pretty much as described: a living planet. In the movie version, Ego's actually a Celestial - one of the ancient, near-god-like beings (lower-case "g") seen wielding the Infinity Stones in The Collector's slideshow. Tangibly a giant brain, he's able to control the elements around him and construct matter, over time creating the harmonious planet around him and a human avatar to inhabit it (as well as, possibly, other alien species).

Overall Ego's abilities are kept vague, allowing for escalating stakes as the movie progresses, although some specific limitations are established. The Kurt Russell-looking avatar he creates has a limited draw distance, unable to survive for too long away from the planet. Due to his immortal, ever-present status, Ego is also unable to sleep naturally and so enlists the help of his assistant/hostage Mantis to send him off at "night". These two traits build up a sense of loneliness within him that play an essential part in his motivation.

In the comics, Ego was quite literally just a living planet and, despite a similar "biological" makeup to his movie counterpart, has no direct link to Star-Lord or the Guardians (in fact, he's technically a Fantastic Four character, which led to some tricky rights-swapping between Marvel and Fox). This makes the MCU take something of a repurposing, with the biggest departure being that Celestial nature, gifting the already psionically powerful being with even more strength.

That said, what does remain is the character's high intelligence and, as the name suggests, sense of self-importance. Indeed, as time slowly wore on, Ego developed a fascination with life; believing that he couldn't be the only living being, he set out across the stars to find others. And that brings us to his plan.

Next Page: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='What%20Is%20Ego%27s%20Plan%3F']

What Is Ego's Plan?

The core of Ego's plan is "expansion". His quest to find life was originally gratifying, confirming his suspicions. However, being a Celestial and self-professed god, over time he gradually began to see the flaws of the species he discovered and realized that to truly save the galaxy he would have to become it. His solution was to continue what he's achieved with his planet and slowly take over more and more worlds, growing and spreading throughout the universe. He planted pods on thousands of worlds hoping to extend his reach.

However, even with his planet-creating ability he wasn't solely powerful enough to enact such a plan - he needed a partner with Celestial DNA who was capable of helping wield his life force, so set about creating such a being himself; he traveled around the galaxy to the various species he discovered and mated with hundreds of different aliens. Once the offspring was born, he would then send Yondu, who was breaking the Ravager code to do so but received a sizable recompense, to go collect them when they were old enough.

When he had his children, he'd test them for any Celestial DNA and the ability to tap into his power. If they showed no signs, then he'd kill them and bury their bones underneath his utopian planet's surface. This is pretty much how things went... until Star-Lord.

Where Does Peter Quill Fit In?

Peter Quill, Ego's human son, was already different to the many other children due to the feelings the Celestial felt for Meredith Quill; he visited her on Earth three times and feared he'd ditch his conquest plans and never leave the planet again if he visited a fourth. His maniacal thoughts prevailed, though - love didn't stop him from killing Meredith, planting the brain tumor that killed her at the start of the original Guardians (it's not explicitly stated, but is likely he did a similar thing to his many other mates).

Ego sent Yondu to collect Quill like the many previous experiments, but knowing his fate and seeing something in the Terran, the Ravager chose to raise the boy instead of delivering him to his tyrannical father. He used the excuse that Peter's size made him "easier for thieving", something both characters repeat at various points in Vol. 2 (and is referenced by Baby Groot's part in the final battle), and kept the child in check with the threat of cannibalism. When Peter - now assuming the role of Star-Lord - saved the galaxy at the end of the first film, Yondu felt his work was done (despite the betrayal it involved).

However, Peter being able to hold the Power Stone by himself when defeating Ronan (something Nova Prime commented on at the original's climax) brought him to the attention of the wider galactic community. When Ego heard of a human with such power, he knew instinctively it had to be his son. He and Mantis set about looking for Quill and, after a few months of searching, found him after the misunderstanding on Sovereign.

The Celestial plays on the innate emotion of Quill meeting his estranged father, trying to be everything Peter ever wanted and more - Quill learns that he is immortal and in the proximity of the planet able to use psionic powers to build anything, naturally leading to a game of catch - before carefully revealing his true plan; Ego first tries to get Peter onboard willingly, but when it's clear Quill has too much compassion he instead decides to use him essentially as a battery.

The whole thing is eventually brought down by the Guardians working together and Star-Lord making the conscious decision to forfeit his immortality for the good of the universe, an explicit contrast to Ego's ethos.

Next Page: [valnet-url-page page=3 paginated=0 text='What%20Does%20It%20Mean%20%28And%20What%20About%20Thanos%29%3F']

Michael Rooker as Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

The Father/Daddy Theme

When talking about the decision to use Ego in Guardians 2, James Gunn made clear the living planet was the only character that could fit the plot he'd constructed. Now the movie's here, the reason why should be evident from the bonkers scheme that requires a gigantic being with a very specific powerset to be believably executed. But while that's true, when you boil it down Vol. 2 is actually using its cosmic villain to explore a very human, Earth-focused theme.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is primarily about fathers and our relationships with them. This is the core of Gamora and Nebula's arc, with their sibling animosity revealed to be a result of Thanos' sadistic parenting techniques, and Baby Groot's childishness forces every character into a de facto parent role for him (something humorously played up in the Teenage Groot post-credits scene). Rocket's mellowing and Drax and Mantis' burgeoning relationship also play into the broader sense of finding a place regardless of origin. But nowhere is it more prominent than in the trio of Star-Lord, Yondu and Ego.

Without ever really hammering the point, Gunn makes it clear across the movie that Yondu is the closest thing Peter had to a Dad growing up, adding weight to his desertion in the original. We see that for all that's gone wrong since leaving Earth and every moment of pure maliciousness on the Ravager's part, Yondu cares for Quill and will endeavor to keep him safe. In contrast, while he's outwardly a more typically father-like personality, Ego is only ever using Peter with little interest in his (or his thousand of other children's) safety. As Yondu says "he may be your father, but he ain't your Daddy".

The villain twist is a narratively-propelled concept, but Gunn feeds enough ideas through it for the whole thing to make a thematic point about nurture over nature (Star-Lord has to make this explicit decision) and open up the future. The movie ends with both of Star-Lord's father figures dead and, for the first time, he's truly forced to face his journey alone and move beyond his childhood hangups (something getting a post-1986 music device neatly represents).

What About Sovereign?

Ayesha in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

In amongst all this Ego menace, it's worth sparing a thought for what was billed as the movie's villain: Ayesha and Sovereign. The immaculately designed golden species were a strong presence throughout the film, never halting in their hunt for the Guardians after Rocket stole their batteries, but when it came down to it their arcade-controlled ships were more a distraction than a proper antagonistic force.

However, it doesn't seem like we've seen the last of them; the post-credits scene revealed that Ayesha had created a new birthing pod containing no other than Him, Adam Warlock. Explicitly introducing the character to the MCU, this implies Sovereign's continued campaign against the Guardians will continue at least a little bit in Vol. 3.

What About Thanos?

thanos chair

And, wrapping up the movie's villainy, a quick note on the MCU's big bad - Thanos. He was first teased at the end of The Avengers and appeared as a puppet master in the shadows in the original Guardians of the Galaxy, and based on Age of Ultron's mid-credits scene is currently trying to amass the Infinity Stones himself. We've known for a long time John Brolin's character wouldn't be in Vol. 2 and that the film would be mostly disconnected from the mounting threat, so it shouldn't have been too surprising his presence is slight; he is referenced by Nebula and Gamora, with the former setting off to find and kill him at the end, but otherwise there isn't much establishment for the Guardians meeting Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: Infinity War.

However, it is worth talking about what Ego represented to the Mad Titan. Being a Celestial, Ego is a higher-level being than Thanos so may have been something of a threat, or at the very least an outside concern worth avoiding. Now Ego's dead, that presumably means all of the Celestials are finished, making it a perfect time for him to enact his plan; the events of Vol. 2 (along with possibly Thor: Ragnarok) may be what finally tip things over into Infinity War. Furthermore, if Ego could catch word of a human capable of holding an Infinity Stone, you can be damn well sure Thanos knows about Star-Lord too. The danger's not over just yet.

Next: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Review

Key Release Dates