Guardians of the Galaxy, more like Asgardians of the Galaxy. What does Thor’s quip at the end of Avengers: Endgame mean?
The future of the MCU after “Avengers: Endgame” is a bit hazy. An exciting mystery which we have to try to put together. But until we get any kind of confirmation from Marvel Studios regarding it’s plan — which will probably be at San Diego Comic-Con on 19th July — we’ll have to have to speculate and make guesses about what the solo “Black Widow” movie or such as that scene towards the end of Avengers: Endgame with Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy minus Gamora.
Just before the credits start to roll, one moment of purely-needed comic reference comes when Thor appoints Valkyrie and leaves New Asgard on Earth to hitch a ride with the Guardians of the Galaxy. As they get ready to depart from an undisclosed part of space, Thor jokingly refers to the group as the “Asgardians of the Galaxy,” leading to a funny exchange with Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) about who really is the leader of the team.
While the name “Asgardians of the Galaxy” in “Avengers: Endgame” mainly serves as a fun pun — and probably also to set up Thor as a full on Guardian in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” — in the comics it’s actually an existing superhero team, and the reference could be hinting at a fun new expansion of the Guardians.
Also read: Avengers Endgame Re Release – Is it worth it?
Asgardians of the Galaxy, created by Cullen Bunn and Matteo Lolli, is a team of, Asgardians (or Asgard-adjacent) superheors that debuted in September 2018 in the first issue of their own ongoing self-titled series.
Formed after the break-up of the Guardians of the Galaxy during Marvel’s “Infinity Countdown” storyline — too complicated to explain here btw, but it somehow resulted in Star Lord becoming the guardian/protector of the Power Stone, kinda — with the Asgardians coming together to form a “team of powerful space-faring superheroes that aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty trying to save the universe”.
Probably the best thing too, because Thanos’ daughter Nebula (who happens to be the villain) has forced the dwarves of Nidavellir to make her a powerful Asgardian weapon, then killed all but one of them, probably Etiri (Infinity War storyline, except with Thanos). And then she ripped the fingernails and toenails off their corpses to make a fleet of Naglfar ships. Ouch! Brutal.
Nagflar, by the way, is a ship from Norse mythology that carries the souls from Hell to fight with the gods during Ragnarok. And as you can guess: Nebula is trying to start Ragnarok and end Asgard.
This is where the Asgardians of the Galaxy come in. They’re assembled by Thor’s (other) long-lost sister Angela (herself a former member of the Guardians), who recruits:
– Brunnhilde, A.K.A Valkyrie, the powerful Asgardian warrior who previously served with The Defenders and The Secret Avengers among other groups, who currently is a part of this team with:
– Annabelle Riggs. Annabelle can switch places with Valkyrie as needed and is also a gifted scientist.
– Kevin Masterson, A.K.A Thunderstrike. Son of Eric Masterson, Thor’s former host, Kevin uses an enchanted mace that grants him Thor-like powers, as the name suggests THUNDERstrike.
– Skurge the Executioner. You may remember him from Thor Ragnarok (played by Karl Urban). The former Asgardian janitor/gatekeeper/villian-turned-hero escapes from the afterlife and joins the band.
– Throg, the Frog of Thunder. Throg who was formerly a human, Simon Walterson was turned into a frog by a witch. After becoming a frog, he moved into a frog kingdom in Central Park, New York and through some crazy adventures came into possession of a tiny piece of Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer, which he shaped into his own weapon, Frogjolnir — giving him superpowers quite like Thor’s.
And, finally
– The Destroyer. You may remember The Destroyer from Thor 1; the robot Loki sends to kill Thor. The Destroyer is one of the most powerful weapons in Odin’s vault. It is a walking, talking suit of remote-controlled armour — that is secretly being operated by:
– Kid Loki. The reincarnation of Loki who isn’t a villain, but is still the God of Mischief.
Here’s an interesting fact; they fly around in a space ship that is powered by a fragment of the Bifrost.
The Asgardians of the Galaxy have had quite a few crazy adventures in their ongoing miniseries, and are currently the crossover in Marvel’s “War of the Realms”.
Of course, we can’t know for sure if name-dropping the Asgardians was anything more than a light-hearted joke or a serious comic Easter egg. But it would be really fun to see at least some version of the team in “Guardians of the Galaxy 3”.
In the MCU, Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson, doesn’t have a human alter ego, and is also currently the ruler of New Asgard after Thor’s abdication, Thor destroyed the Destroyer at the end of the first “Thor” movie, and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is also dead (although, no one can know for sure) and so far hasn’t been resurrected as a teenager, and there’s no version of Thunderstrike yet.
Also, Nebula (played by Karen Gillan) is a hero now, and a full-on member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. And most importantly, there’s no Throg.
Leaving us completely to speculate about Thor’s quip at the end of Avengers: Endgame about the “Asgardians of the Galaxy”.
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