In the Marvel comics universe, Peter Quill's father is J'Son of Spartax, but for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, director James Gunn opted to toss out Star-Lord's royal heritage in favor of making his daddy Ego, played by Kurt Russell. Comic book readers know Ego as a living planet, but as we've seen in the latest Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 trailer and learned in various reports, the MCU has take some creative liberties with the character. With only two months to go until the highly-anticipated sequel's release, Gunn has provided a few more details on what to expect from Ego, namely how exactly he goes about looking "normal" in front of other beings. Gunn said:
Ego is a living planet who is able to manifest himself in different ways he's been alone for millions of years and he's learned how to control the molecules around him in such a way as to create avatars of themselves, such as Kurt Russell. I think Ego was a very lonely character out there by himself and went off in search of love and perhaps found it in Quill's mother.
James Gunn elaborated on Ego's special abilities while chatting with Complex, confirming that although he'll primarily look like a human in the movie, his natural form will still be a planet just like in the comics. I can't even tell you how excited I'll be if this means that we actually get to see a whole world with Kurt Russell's bearded face superimposed on it. Joking aside, there was a shot in the last Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 trailer (seen below) of a beautiful planet with unusual characteristics, so maybe the Guardians will actually get to visit Ego when he's back to his "usual self."
Anyway, because of his loneliness, the MCU's Ego created these avatars so he could interact with other alien beings, and in the '80s, he eventually found his way to Earth and fell in love with Peter Quill's mother, Meredith. Maybe if the comic book version of Ego had such powers, he wouldn't be such a diabolical figure. He wouldn't be so uptight if he could blend in as a humanoid, have some drinks and go out on dates.
Ego went unnamed in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, and all we knew about Peter Quill's father by the end of that movie was that he was an ancient being that the Nova Corps "had never seen before," and that he was described as both "an angel" (by Meredith Quill) and a "jackass" (by Yondu). It remains to be seen how exactly Ego fits into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's plot, although it has been revealed that he raised Mantis, one of the Guardians' new recruits.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theaters on May 5.
