WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy #10 by Al Ewing, Juann Cabal, Federico Blee, and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.

Right now, the Marvel universe is under assault by an evil more ancient than time itself. Knull, the dark god of the symbiotes, has made his way to our world, and in only a few short moments after his arrival, the Earth fell to his clutches. As the heroes on the surface battle against nearly endless symbiote terrors, those among the stars aren't faring much better. When all seems lost to the living darkness, the only thing anyone can do is look for a beam of hope. Thankfully, a bright and shining golden god has emerged from perceived tragedy, though he isn't the first to do so.

The Guardians of the Galaxy, now led by Rocket Racoon and Nova after Star-Lord's untimely death, are unsure how to approach the situation at hand. They've seen Knull take control of multiple worlds, including those of some of their closest allies. With one of Knull's dragons on course for Spartax, a planet home to nine billion people, the Guardians are off to try to save as many as they can. Within hours the team has arrived on the planet and evacuated thirty thousand of its inhabitants. Rocket alerts Nova to the severity of the situation, and the two regroup to try and get a better handle on things. In the thick of it, Rocket picks up a familiar scent, running off to find Peter Quill, alive and as well as he can possibly be.

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Peter has returned from what seemed like a hundred years in Morinus, a place beyond places, where he learned hidden secrets of the universe and emerged as a glowing golden god. While Star-Lord still can't fly, he has friends who can, and are willing to go with him out into space and down into the gaping maw of one of Knull's dragons for a confrontation with the image of the dark god himself. Knull might be the master of the void, but Peter Quill has been gifted with power from the Master of the Sun, and light always shines brightest in the darkness. Star-Lord's new look is certainly incredible, and though it's new to the character, the motif has been around for a very long time.

DC One Million #4 by Grant Morrison and Val Semeiks introduced readers to a new kind of Superman in the 853rd century. After spending over fifteen thousand years in his Fortress of Solitude, now located in the heart of the Earth's sun rather than in the freezing cold of the South Pole, Superman emerges from his sanctum as a glimmering and golden vision of his future self. After so much time spent absorbing the energy of our yellow sun, Superman has become more unstoppable than ever, and he uses his power to defeat the evil sentient sun Solaris. The idea that a supercharged hero would become a literal beacon of light in their greatest moments hasn't just come back to the Marvel universe, though. DC saw the concept return recently at the conclusion of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Dark Nights: Death Metal.

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Golden Wonder Woman Death Metal

After the Earth fell to the Batman-Who-Laughs, acting as the right hand of Perpetua, things were as bleak as ever for DC's greatest heroes, including Diana Prince. Wonder Woman would rise to defend not only her world, but all of creation, becoming imbued with incredible power that saw her too become a literal golden god, her entire being transformed into a glistening form reminiscent of her true self. At the moment of the multiverse's birth, Diana turned the fires of the sun at the end of all things to burn the Darkest Knight out of existence.

The precedent that has been set by these golden heroes is a powerful one, and with any luck, Peter Quill will live up to his predecessor's examples by being the god of light needed to snuff out Knull's artificial darkness once and for all.

KEEP READING: King in Black: Is a Major MCU Hero Destined to Be Marvel's Anti-Knull?