SPOILER ALERT: This article contains SPOILERS for ‘Avengers: Endgame’. If you still haven’t seen it, you may wish to turn back! Otherwise, proceed with caution.

Now that James Gunn is back in the director’s chair for Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3’, rumor has it the new sequel will introduce two new cosmic champions from the pages of the comics– Beta Ray Bill and Quasar! Reportedly, both characters appear in the script, which he had already completed a draft of last year, before Disney fired him, before eventually hiring him back.

Beta Ray Bill is a member of the Korbonite alien race, who is a great champion, and as such, was worthy enough to wield Mjolnir, eventually being given his own war hammer, Stormbreaker. Bill pilots the sentient spacecraft Scuttlebutt. There were plans to include him in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, but it was a fleeting cameo that Kevin Feige felt didn’t do the character justice. However, there was an Easter Egg that did make the final cut, as Bill’s “horse-like” face is shown on the monument of combatants that have dominated the Grandmaster’s “Contest of Champions.”

Now that Thor is hanging out with the Guardians, it would make sense to bring in Beta Ray Bill to encounter them together.

As for Quasar, a few different characters have acted in that role in Marvel’s history, each possessing the Quantum Bands, capable of generating or absorbing massive amounts of energy.

The most notable Quasar was Wendell Vaughn, who was essentially used as Marvel’s answer to DC’s Green Lantern, with him acting as the champion of the universe. In the movies, that role has been established as belonging to Captain Marvel, but maybe she could use a hand… or a wrist… or two.

Vaughn starred in his own comic book, which lasted for 60 issues in the early ’90s and served as an Avenger during that same period. Unlike prior cosmic beings like the original Captain Mar-Vell, the Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock, etc., Vaughn was not an aloof, hyper-aware deity, but an “everyman” slightly overwhelmed by his new powers and responsibilities.

While Vaughn is the most well-known Quasar, there were two subsequent replacements that may be better candidates for the film universe, especially considering that Marvel has declared that it wants to be more inclusive.

For a time Wendell was replaced by Phyla-Vell, the artificially-created “daughter” of Mar-Vell (played by Annette Bening in ‘Captain Marvel’). This Quasar acted as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, so there is a precedent for her inclusion in a film.

Phyla-Vell was romantically involved with her fellow Guardian, Moondragon, a woman born on Earth (and former Avenger), but whose family was killed by Thanos, although her father’s soul was transferred into the body of Drax the Destroyer. So between the two, there are numerous connections to Marvel history, however, the movies are really only inspired by the comics and don’t adapt them directly.

However, Phyla-Vell’s backstory may be too convoluted, and the character has essentially been retired and replaced.

The newest Quasar in the comics is also a lesbian, Avril Kincaid, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that is given the Quantum Bands by Vaughn himself, who is retired from heroics. Vaughn sticks around as her mentor. As Quasar, Kincaid is established as being even more powerful than Captain Marvel, and other heroes like Spectrum and Blue Marvel. Considering how powerful Captain Marvel has been shown to be in the movies… that’s pretty damn powerful.

Kevin Feige has stated that the MCU will introduce an LGBTQ lead character. So either Phyla-Vell or Kincaid would fit that bill, but as an Earthling, Kincaid would probably be easier to relate to than Phyla-Vell. Steps would still need to be taken to differentiate her from Captain Marvel, though. Even their costumes look similar.

Gunn is also adding new characters, such as Polka-Dot Man, Ratcatcher, King Shark, and The Peacemaker to his script about another ragtag group of misfits, ‘The Suicide Squad’, which he is writing and directing for Warner Brothers and their DC Comics film universe, which he is tackling first, before coming back to Marvel for ‘Guardians 3’.

It’s unclear if Gunn’s original script took into account the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame’, most importantly, the addition of Thor to the Guardians team.

At this time, Gunn is expected to begin filming ‘The Suicide Squad’ in the fall, even though it isn’t scheduled to be released until 2021. Presumably, he will start work on ‘Guardians 3’ after that.

What do you think of Beta Ray Bill and Quasar joining the MCU?

Source: We Got This Covered