Asgardians of the Galaxy Reveals Kid Loki Controls the Destroyer Armor

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Asgardians of the Galaxy #1 by Cullen Bunn, Matteo Lolli, Federico Blee and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.

Ask any fan who the premiere cosmic superhero team in Marvel Universe is, and the overwhelming majority of responses will be the Guardians of the Galaxy. They are currently the stars of their own franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, along with a revival in the comics as well. However, there is room for more than one team at the galactic superhero table.

Marvel released a teaser for "Who are the Asgardians of the Galaxy" in June, before revealing the new team led by Angela for a secret mission. Asgardians of the Galaxy would launch out of the Infinity Wars event from the creative team of writer Cullen Bunn and artist Matteo Lolli, with the lineup of Angela, Valkyrie and her human host Annabelle Riggs, Skurge the Executioner, Throg, the Asgardian Destroyer armor (being controlled by a mystery character) and Kevin Masterson, aka the son of the original Thunderstrike, Eric Masterson.

With the Guardians tied up in the Infinity Wars event, these Asgardians of the Galaxy are stepping up to stop Nebula, who has obtained an Asgardian weapon powerful enough to make her the new ruler of the galaxy. While all clues initially pointed to this weapon being the "Infinity Armor" displayed in the Infinity Countdown opening scenes, we Infinity Wars #1 revealed it was Nebula's sister, Gamora, underneath the armor as her new identity of Requiem.

The true Asgardian weapon was just one unsolved mystery heading into Asgardians of the Galaxy #1, but another lingering secret was the identity of the person piloting the infamous Destroyer armor. Aside from having Nebula as the central villain, the title's cast all have ties to Asgard, so the character could also have a link to the gods as well. Thankfully, readers weren't forced to wait long for an answer as the final page of Asgardians of the Galaxy #1 disclosed that piece of important information. Of course, the way these reveals usually work is after the cat is out of the bag, it raises all sorts of new questions, which is where the waiting game takes place.

Not only is the person inside the Destroyer a familiar face to Marvel fans old and new, but technically, the character shouldn't exist at all.

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An Armada Of The Dead

Nebula's plan revolved around a reliquary and the object inside it. Once the Asgardians caught up with her on Draeketh, they discovered the planet had a group of dead Nidavellir dwarves chained, tortured and floating dead in its orbit. Nebula had forced the dwarves to build her an ax that could through space, and also track down the horn she'd need to summon the Naglfar -- the mythical ship of the dead that ferries lost souls into war.

A twist to the Naglfar tale is instead of just one ship of dead god souls, Nebula somehow has an entire armada of corpses that have died from their own versions of Ragnarok. Nebula now has an army to compete with her sister, Gamora, for the bad guy spotlight, but how did Angela come to learn of Nebula's nefarious plan?

Guess Who's Back

Angela may be a great warrior, but devising a scheme and putting a team together aren't things she is typically known for. Asgardians of the Galaxy #1 ends with Angela speaking to the Destroyer -- or more accurately, the person inside the Destroyer. Angela reveals it was this person's idea to go after Gamora, and once the armor opens, the God of Mischief, Kid Loki emerges.

Marvel debuted the Kid Loki persona after the trickster died in the 2010 event Siege. With his memories erased, Kid Loki was much friendlier than his adult version, though he still stuck to his trickster ways. Much of Kid Loki's story revolves around trying not to fall down his same evil path, though with him being a Loki, that's easier said than done.

So you may be wondering how are there two Loki's walking around the Marvel Universe at the same time? Kid Loki merged with Ikol to become one being before joining the Young Avengers, with Kid Loki again "maturing" during the series to become the Loki making guest-appearances in Thor, Avengers and Infinity War.

Marvel's current event series may have something to do with how Loki and Kid Loki are able to exist together on the same plane. Infinity War has Loki undergoing a quest to find answers regarding his place in the universe, and the answers he seeks could result in recreating Kid Loki. There's nothing telling the reader where in Infinity War the Asgardians of the Galaxy series takes place, though we know it's after Gamora killed Thanos.

Kid Loki has eyes on the Naglfar armada for his own use, so there is another mystery to unravel, along with his own existence. So far, the newest addition to the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe is not short on surprises and mysteries for fans to speculate on.