What Star-Lord Almost Looked Like In Guardians of the Galaxy

Screen Rant

By Ana Dumaraog

Published Oct 30, 2018

Marvel Studios concept artist Charlie Wen shares his early Star-Lord character design for the first Guardians of the Galaxy film.

A very different looking Star-Lord could've debuted in the MCU if this early character design from Marvel artist Charlie Wen was green lit for Guardians of the Galaxy. Initially tapped to work on Joss Whedon's The Avengers, Wen was also involved in crafting the look of Kenneth Branagh's Thor. Over the last few months, he's continued to share some of his work online, including a slew of concept artwork for the God of Thunder's hammer, as well as an out-of-this-world character design for Loki.

Debuting in the first Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, Chris Pratt reprised the role for the second time in last year's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The cosmic heroes eventually joined forces with Earth's Mightiest Heroes in the hopes of foiling Thanos' catastrophic plans in Avengers: Infinity War. And while the hero, alongside most of his teammates, is currently a pile of dust following the Mad Titan's deadly snap, he's expected to be revived one way or another and appear again in Avengers 4, as well as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Sharing another one of his creations on his official Twitter account, Wen gave fans a peek at what Pratt's Star-Lord could have looked like base on his early character design. As the Marvel artist said, the main inspiration from his creation was the character's early look in the comic books, when he sported what looks like a black/blue military jacket with gold details. Check out the image below:

At this point, it's hard to imagine the character looking anything remotely different from what he now looks in the MCU. After his live-action debut, the comics followed suit and adapted what has been established on the big screen. For the most part, the MCU has closely followed the aesthetics of the characters they translate from print to film so as not to mess up with the established branding the heroes have had over the years and to honor the work of the artists who created them. But since director James Gunn already made a conscious effort to put his own spin on the Guardians of the Galaxy sub-franchise by opting to use a different mix of characters rather than the original lineup from the comics, having the creative freedom to alter the team's costume was easier to pull off.

It's uncertain whether or not fans will see a version of Star-Lord's dark suit on the big screen moving forward. For now, he seems to be attached to his maroon leather jacket, but with the MCU set to explore their cosmic pocket further after they cap their 22-film arc in next year's Avengers 4, it's safe to say that there are still more stories to tell when it comes to Quill and his teammates. That said, fans would have to wait a bit longer for them to return to their own adventures with production for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 currently on indefinite hold following Disney's surprising move to fire Gunn.