After the success of not only their own franchise within the MCU, but their work in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, one of the most popular superhero teams in the known Marvel galaxy has to be the Guardians of the Galaxy, the rag tag group of heroes who fought alongside the Avengers against Thanos.
Many fans know the core members of the team by now. Led by Star Lord, the team includes Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon and of course everyone’s favorite, Groot. There have been others however, so here are ten heroes you might not have known joined the GoTG.
10 Major Victory
One of the first heroes we have to mention has to be Major Victory, a hero from Earth 691 who helped form that world’s Guardians of the Galaxy. A man named Vance Astrovik, he was chosen to be the first man to attempt an interstellar trip to Alpha Centauri.
Upon arrival he learned that due to not have faster than light speed travel, his ship arrived 1,000 years in the future, when humans had learned to create FTL drives and settled the planet. There he met Yondu, and when the Badoon attacked the colony they formed their universe’s GoTG team.
9 Cosmic Ghost Rider
One of the more unique characters in recent years to join the GoTG has to be the Cosmic Ghost Rider. An alternate version of Frank Castle where Thanos had conquered that reality’s Marvel Universe, Cosmic Ghost Rider had a similar path as The Punisher. However upon being one of the last heroes to fall to Thanos, he made a deal with Mephisto to become the Ghost Rider.
With Thanos leaving Earth and no one else left on the planet to punish, he made a deal with Galactus to become cosmically powered. He eventually joined GoTG, albeit the Dark Guardians version.
8 Jack Flag
One surprising character not many would recognize as being a part of the Guardians of the Galaxy happens to be Jack Flag, the computer hotline aid to Captain America who became a vigilante hero who gained metahuman abilities from a chemical attack by King Cobra and the Serpent Society.
Having defeated the likes of AIM, Madcap and others, Jack found himself imprisoned after saving people’s lives during the Civil War storyline, and disabled after having his spine severed by Bullseye. However during a meeting and rescue by the GoTG, he was given his legs again and served as a liaison.
7 The Thing
When the All-New, All-Different Marvel storylines began to form, the Guardians of the Galaxy got a brand new team member that few fans thought would ever happen. That member was none other than Ben Grimm, aka The Thing. A founding member of the first superhero family of Marvel Comics, Ben helped form the Fantastic Four.
With Reed and Sue missing in action after the events of Secret Wars, Ben decided to take up a role with the GoTG. This works well for Ben, who only became a hero during his dream job of piloting a ship into space.
6 Ant-Man
While the events of Secret Empire affected a lot of the heroes of the Marvel Universe, one hero in particular felt his reputation tarnished, and that was Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man. While helping the heroes of the resistance against the faux HYDRA Captain America, it was revealed he was forced to be a double agent for the evil leader after his daughter Cassie was taken hostage.
After defeating HYDRA, Scott needed to escape and left Earth behind, joining the one team who was formed out of down on their luck heroes, the Guardians of the Galaxy, becoming a member.
5 Angela
One interesting character to join the team has to be Angela. What makes her interesting is that she was originally an antagonist from IMAGE comics, more specifically the Spawn series. However after legal disputes between the two creators, (Neil Gaiman and Todd McFarlane), her rights were sold over to Marvel to be adapted into their stories.
It is shown she is the daughter of Odin and Freyja, believed lost during the war with the tenth realm of Heaven. She joined the GoTG during the Age of Ultron storyline, and was introduced to her brothers later after the event Original Sin.
4 Captain Marvel
One character who had a brief stint with the team has to be everyone’s favorite new hero in the MCU, Captain Marvel. Carol Danvers herself joined the team briefly. A former Air Force Pilot who gained extraordinary powers after being caught in an explosion with Kree warrior Mar-Vell, she became one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
After stopping a Kree threat shortly before Secret Wars, she lost a large portion of her memory and needed to escape to find herself again. This led to her brief period as a member of the GoTG, flying into space to join the team.
3 Agent Venom
One character that has a unique place within the Marvel Universe and the Guardians of the Galaxy team itself has to be Agent Venom. The hero made up of the Symbiote Venom and Spider-Man ally Flash Thompson, Agent Venom is asked to join the team in an effort for the Avengers and Guardians to solidify a partnership.
During his time on the team, the Symbiote begins to lose control and believes everyone to be enemies wanting to hurt it, capturing the team members in the process until they arrive at its home planet, where it heals.
2 Kitty Pryde
One of the more prominent heroes to join the team that not many people realize did happens to be one of the more popular mutants of the X-Men, Kitty Pryde. The powerful mutant hero who can phase through solid matter joined the team and actually took up the mantle of Star Lord after Peter Quill was made the King of Spartax.
After leading the team in helping Peter stop an invasion by Hala the Accuser, Peter loses his royal status and rejoins the team. Kitty then leads the team to Earth during the Civil War II storyline, ultimately staying.
1 Iron Man
The final hero to join the team and the most prominent of all the Marvel Heroes currently from a fan perspective is none other than Iron Man, aka Tony Stark. The Armored Avenger and one of the founding members of the Avengers, Tony joined the Guardians of the Galaxy a few years before the events of Secret Wars.
When he helps stop the Badoon attack on Earth, Stark joins Peter Quill and the other members of the Guardians of the Galaxy on a journey into space. He does this to better prepare for threats from the universe to planet Earth.