In the Marvel Universe, it is very clear that Earthlings are not alone. Intelligent life with technology far more advanced than our own, and the desire to invade, enslave, or destroy us exists just beyond our solar system. Luckily, Marvel’s impressive roster of heroes always seems to rise to the occasion, saving the Earth (and occasionally the universe) from certain annihilation. Interstellar travel is a large part of many of Marvel’s most well-known properties, such as the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. But, as any Marvel fan will tell you, their comics are as much about presenting readers with relatable characters as they are about saving the day. 

Related: Sexual Healing: 15 Of Wolverine's Greatest Romances

As such, characters are frequently courting, seducing, and shacking up with one another even when light years from home. With Marvel’s mastery of the sprawling space epic extending onto the big screen, certain aspects of the comics are continually being glossed over in adaptation in an effort to avoid the dreaded ‘R’ rating. In the wake of the D23 coverage of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, we thought we’d remind readers about the raunchier side of interstellar travel by compiling a list of 15 Marvel characters who shacked up with an extraterrestrial.

15 SILVER SURFER & DAWN GREENWOOD

silver-surfer-kissing-dawn-greenwood

Once upon a time, the Silver Surfer -- longtime herald of Galactus was bound by a wish to a young girl who had never left her hometown in Massachusetts. It’d be years until their paths would finally cross, but in Dan Slott and Michael Allred’s Silver Surfer series they do just that. Silver Surfer (AKA Norrin Radd) and his companion, Dawn Greenwood journey across time and space with an episodic Doctor Who-esque dynamic.

During their adventures, the two companions begin to grow closer. As time goes on, they start to share kisses, and even living quarters. One of the pair’s most touching romantic encounters occurs in 2017’s Silver Surfer #10. Dawn and Norrin are each flung to opposite ends of the universe, and are forced to seek out each other. Against all odds, their reunion occurs before the end of the issue, culminating in a deep and passionate kiss.

14 PROFESSOR X & LILANDRA

prof_x_lilandra

Lilandra Neramani (created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum), member of the Shi’ar Empire’s royal family was drawn to Earth by an enormous burst of psychic energy, united by Professor X (AKA Charles Xavier) in an effort to quash an attempted invasion of Earth by an alien species known as the Z’nox. After Phoenix saved the universe from the destructive energy of the M’Kraan Crystal, Lilandra joined Xavier and his X-Men on Earth, where the two began to cultivate a strong bond that would eventually become a sexual relationship.

Lilandra was eventually appointed to be the Shi’ar Majestrix (a more Earth-friendly term would be ‘empress’). Upon her return to the Shi’ar homeworld, she brought then-lover, Charles Xavier along as her royal consort in X-Men #110-114. Due to some unfortunate circumstances surrounding an assassination attempt on Xavier’s life at the hands of Lilandra, their marriage would later be annulled.

13 VISION & MANTIS

mantis-seduces-vision

While you might know her from her on-screen appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Mantis (created by Steve Englehart and Don Heck), the Kree-mutate, is actually a bit more tightly connected to a different Marvel team -- The Avengers (she debuted in issue #112 of the comic, way back in 1973). She even helped Mar-Vell figure out how to defeat a cosmic-cube-powered Thanos! During her time with the Avengers, Mantis’ affections for her then romantic counterpart, the Swordsman began to fade.

As their fire started to burn out, Mantis began flirting with the Avengers’ resident synthezoid: Vision, who rejected her advances, while allowing the two of them to remain friends. Five years later, following the Vision’s separation from Scarlet Witch, and Mantis’ time away as the Celestial Madonna, Mantis makes another attempt at seducing the synthezoid. This time she succeeds, and the two begin having regular intercourse.

12 TONY STARK & GAMORA

gamora_tony_stark

What kind of billionaire playboy would Tony Stark be if during all of his spectacular off-planet adventures, he had never once hooked up with an extraterrestrial? In 2013’s Guardians of the Galaxy #4 (by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli) Tony Stark goes to a bar in outer space to drink with the Guardians of the Galaxy. While intrigued by their alien technology, Stark spends the majority of the outing slathering on the charm and flirting a great deal with Gamora.

Tony and Gamora go back to the ship for a little alone time, where her reputation as the ‘most dangerous woman in the universe’ reveals itself to be well-earned. After their romp in the sheets, Gamora goes back to the bar, leaving Tony shirtless in bed. All Iron Man can say after she leaves is, “Ow.” Guess he should’ve worn his armor.

11 SHE-HULK & STARFOX

she-hulk-and-star-fox

Starfox (AKA Eros of Titan) is the brother of Thanos, a one-time Avenger, and a certified creep. One of Starfox’s many powers is psychic control over the emotions of others. He primarily uses this to incite pleasure and euphoria in others, something he’s used on occasion to get women to have sex with him. In the case of She-Hulk (AKA Jen Walters), it was confirmed (in She-Hulk #6, by Dan Slott and Will Conrad) that Starfox WASN’T using this power when the two had a brief sexual fling during their time as Avengers.

This was only brought up because the law firm that employed She-Hulk at the time was hired by Starfox’s father, Mentor, to defend his son (long after Starfox had left the Avengers) against allegations that he had used his powers to manipulate a married woman into having sex with him against her will. Yikes.

10 HAWKEYE (KATE BISHOP) & MARVEL BOY

marvel_boy_hawkeye

Noh-Varr, a genetically enhanced Kree warrior from an alternate dimension, enjoys Earth a great deal. So much so, that he remained stationed at a satellite base in Earth’s orbit even after shedding his costumed identity (Protector). During this time, the alien sex-symbol takes on a new mantle: Marvel Boy. While in Earth’s orbit, Marvel Boy joined the Young Avengers in order to put his powers to good use.

During Marvel Boy’s tenure with the team, he began a romantic relationship with Hawkeye (AKA Kate Bishop) that was marked by playful joking and small acts of kindness, such as gifting her a Kree Composite Soul Bow for use on future missions. As one would assume, the young Noh-Varr and Kate Bishop’s relationship soon went one step further than just gifting each other weapons.

9 THE HULK & CAIERA

hulk-caiera-happy

Caiera is a fearsome warrior from the planet of Sakaar (AKA Planet Hulk ). Created by writer Greg Pak and artist Carlo Pagulayan, she was introduced in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #92. Initially his adversary, Caiera joins forces with Hulk after she learns that the Red King was directly responsible for the death of her family and destruction of her village.

After overthrowing the Red King with Hulk and the rest of his Warbound, Hulk takes the throne as the newly appointed Green King of Sakaar. Immediately after, Hulk takes Caiera as his queen consort. She soon becomes pregnant, but is forced to relinquish her body to protect she and Hulk’s two sons from the explosion that results in her death in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #105. Despite being Hulked-out at the time, Bruce Banner’s still an Earthling, and by Earth standards, Caiera is still an alien.

8 CORSAIR & HEPZIBAH

Hepzibah_Corsair

In X-Men #107 Cyclops’ absentee space pirate of a dad, Christopher Summers (AKA Corsair) rescued an alien woman from certain death. He later nicknamed the woman, ‘Hepzibah,’ because her given name was made up of series of scents, and as such, was impossible to verbally communicate. This rescue took place during what would be known as the formation of the Corsair-led team, The Starjammers. Hepzibah (created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum), in her eternal gratitude, swore an eternal bond to Corsair.

Prior to Corsair’s death, this bond had blossomed into a relationship of a more romantic and sexual nature than one would expect from two teammates. Hepzibah is a Mephitisoid, a humanoid cat-like species of alien that possess cat-like senses and reflexes, sharp retractable claws, and the ability to release powerful mind-altering pheromones. Who knew Cyclops’ dad was a bit of a furry?

7 TIGRA & CRITI NOLL (HANK PYM SKRULL)

Tigra_Hank_pym

During “Secret Invasion” it was revealed that a number of Marvel’s heroes were replaced by Skrulls in years prior. It was revealed in Mighty Avengers #15 that Hank Pym (AKA Giant Man, Yellowjacket, etc) was unlucky enough to be among their ranks. Pym was abducted and replaced after a Skrull named Criti Noll (created by Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr.) posed as a university student in order to extract information from Pym.

Two issues later, Criti Noll was deemed a traitor by other Skrulls, killed, and replaced by a clone. Tigra (AKA Greer Grant) became pregnant after sleeping with the replacement Criti Noll posing as Hank Pym. The silver lining in this situation is that Skrulls shapeshift on the genetic level, meaning that the resulting child was a hybrid of Pym’s human DNA and Tigra’s cat person DNA.

6 THANOS & DEATH

Thanos-Death

You know him as the mad Titan, destroyer of worlds -- but did you know Thanos is a bit of a romantic? The object of Thanos’ affection is none other than the embodiment of Death! While Thanos’ advances went largely ignored for a very long time, he sought to change that with a particularly powerful accessory known as the Infinity Gauntlet, in the 1991 crossover even mini-series, The Infinity Gauntlet.

After allowing a veritable army of Marvel characters to believe they had some chance of victory, Thanos eradicates half of all existing life in the known universe with a single motion. Slaughtering billions in order to present Death with their souls must have made a good impression. Eventually, Death admitted her feelings for the purple-chinned alien, an unholy union that resulted in a child named Rot. It would appear that Death has chosen a suitor.

5 WICCAN & HULKLING

wiccan_hulkling

Not only are Wiccan and Hulkling (both created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung) one of Marvel’s most prominent LGBTQIA couples, they’re an interspecies couple as well. Hulkling (AKA Teddy Altman AKA Prince Dorrek VIII) is a Kree/Skrull hybrid. He and his boyfriend/fellow New Avenger, Wiccan (AKA Billy Kaplan) have been established as an official couple since way back in 2005’s Young Avengers Special #1 (by Allan Heinberg and Gene Ha).

Their relationship is one of the more stable and serious in the Marvel Universe, with a flashforward in 2016’s New Avengers #6 (by Al Ewing and Gerardo Sandoval) showing the couple playing with a young daughter in the future. Given the time they’ve spent together and all that they’ve been through, we’d be shocked if they haven’t consummated the relationship. Honestly, we’re just wondering when one of these two young heroes is going to pop the question.

4 NOVA & GAMORA

gamora-and-nova-in-bed

Gamora is without a doubt the most dangerous woman in the universe. As such, she’s allowed to appear on this list twice. In the face of the Annihilation Wave, she and fellow Guardians of the Galaxy, Drax and Star-Lord join a team led by Nova (AKA Richard Rider), known as the United Front as a means of resistance. During this time, Gamora and Nova began to grow close.

While their relationship was largely founded on lust, Gamora and Nova are shown in varying states of undress, following what we can assume was their first sexual encounter in Annihilation #1 (by writer Keith Griffen and artist Andrea Di Vito). Keep in mind, despite spending the majority of his on-panel time in space, Richard Rider is an Earthling. This means that when his and Gamora’s closeness blossomed into a full-blown sexual relationship, Richard Rider had sex with an alien.

3 HAWKEYE & H'RPRA (MOCKINGBIRD SKRULL)

hawkeye_mockingbird_skrull

It was revealed in Secret Invasion #8 that Mockingbird (AKA Bobbi Morse) had been replaced by a Skrull named H’rpra. But it wasn’t until New Avengers: The Reunion #2 that it was revealed to readers exactly when this occurred. Mockingbird was replaced in Avengers West Coast #91 way back in 1985. At the time that she was abducted by Ultron, prior to being abducted by Skrulls, the real Mockingbird was carrying divorce papers to give to Hawkeye.

But because of her abduction, it never came to light that Mockingbird had already filed for divorce. Hawkeye assumed that he and his wife had reconciled, as H’rpra (as Mockingbird) told him that she never really wanted to get divorced. What ensued was the amorous behavior of a newly invigorated marriage. While Hawkeye believed he was hooking up with his wife, he was really bumping uglies with H’rpra, a Skrull sleeper agent.

2 DEADPOOL & ORKSA

deadpool_orksa

After sending intergalactic bounty hunter Macho Gomez to his supposed death, Deadpool was roped into an affiliation with the deceased’s in-laws’ outer space towing business. Shortly after arriving, Deadpool is confronted by the Gomez’s widow -- a gigantic hippo-like alien named Orksa (created by Daniel Way and Carlo Barbieri). Deadpool, being the mouthy merc that he is, soothes her with a kiss, completing her culture’s marriage rituals. Their marriage only lasts two issues (Deadpool #33-35) more than enough time for Deadpool to get down and dirty with his new lady.

Deadpool #34 shows a scantily clad Orksa on top of Deadpool in bed, and when Marcus Gomez reappears two issues later, Deadpool declares that Orksa, “really knows her way around a Crisco kiddy pool, if you get my meaning!” Even though the accidental marriage was quickly annulled, the merc claims his time with Orksa left him a whole new fetish.

1 STAR LORD & PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE

star_lord_sex

While the Guardians of the Galaxy movies might not mimic the comics exactly, their characterization of Star Lord (AKA Peter Quill) as a charming and promiscuous rogue is spot-on. Through the film adaptation of the character’s interest in his teammate, Gamora, and the dozens of interstellar one night stands shown in Guardians of the Galaxy and its associated titles, it’s clear that Star Lord doesn’t have any hangups about sleeping with someone outside of his species.

Who’s to say how many different species of alien Star Lord has shared a bed with over the course of his adventures across the cosmos? More than anyone on this list with human blood, that’s for sure. From us at CBR to you, Star Lord: we hope you're being safe and using protection. Maybe try to make a habit of being tested every so often. Emphasis on “often”.

Did we miss any other intergalactic romps? Let us know in the comment section now!