As Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are figuring out, the Marvel Universe is packed with heroes. Even when it feels like we know them all, another pops out with what seems like decades of history. Like the Star Brand, a character that’s actually one of the most powerful heroes in Marvel Universe that’s taken a back seat over the years.
However, seemingly that’s all about to change with Jason Aaron’s Avengers, which has been both using the Star Brand in some stories and referencing the impact its power will have in the years to come. With that in mind, this list will tell you all you need to know about Marvel Earth’s secret weapon.
10 WASN'T ORIGINALLY PART OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
The Star Brand originally had nothing to do with Marvel, and was instead a part of a world known as the New Universe introduced in the mid-1980s. Created by former Marvel EiC Jim Shooter, Star Brand was meant to be the primary book for a brand new line that would form an entirely different universe.
The Star Brand’s incredible power would alter the Earth permanently in something called the White Event, triggering the existence of superpowered individuals in humanity. Later, we would see this event happen again, only this time it would be in Warren Ellis’ newuniversal, where the Star Brand was meant to guide humanity once the laws of physics changed on their planet after coming in contact with strange matter.
9 ONCE BELONGED TO QUASAR
As if gaining power from the child of Eternity and Infinity and being called Protector of the Universe wasn’t enough, Wendell Vaughn held the powers of the Star Brand briefly. He was transported to the New Universe during one of his adventures, and the only power sufficient to bring him home was that of the Star Brand.
Vaughn sought out the owners of the power in Jim Hanrahan, a man who’d never used the power for fear of what it could do. Vaughn spent hours convincing him he was a person of good enough character to be given the Star Brand, and with it he was able to transport himself back home.
8 THE POWERS CAN BE SHUT OFF BY COVERING THE BRAND
This one’s a little bit silly considering the power the Star Brand is supposedly capable of. After Quasar was given the powers to aid him in escaping the New Universe and return to his own, the powers seemed to fade.
Wendell believed this was because those powers had been maxed out on his return to Earth, but in actuality they were just being covered by the Quasar bands, sealing them off. Now why these powers couldn’t have been transferred to a different spot on his body isn’t known, but he passed the powers on to his secretary on accident immediately after landing back on Earth.
7 WAS ONCE SEALED BY THE LIVING TRIBUNAL
Once the Star Brand found its way into the Marvel Universe via Quasar, it leapt around from user to user. Eventually, it fell into the hands of the Stranger, who uses its immense power to transport the Earth of the New Universe into the Marvel Prime Universe for the purposes of studying it.
This makes the Living Tribunal take notice, calling the power a threat to the greater cosmic powers of the Marvel Universe, and making that world quarantined from the rest of the Marvel multiverse.
6 FELL INTO THE HANDS OF REED RICHARDS
During Jonathan Hickman’s first storyline on the Fantastic Four, “Solve Everything”, Reed decided to put his genius intelligence to use by attempting to solve every problem in the universe. The result led to him meeting the Council of Reeds, a bunch of versions of himself from alternate timelines who had all come to the same conclusion about their general intelligence.
These Reeds were all different from one another, and one of these variants had gained the power of the Star Brand. Unfortunately, it didn’t help him when the Reeds came into contact with the Celestials of a specific universe and he died in the battle against them.
5 GRANTS INCREDIBLY LONG LIFE
When the Star Brand was first introduced in the New Universe, it’s power allowed its user a vastly extended lifespan. The first known owner of the Star Brand was a person known as The Old Man, who had possessed the Star Brand for several centuries before finally growing tired of its power.
He attempted to get rid of it once without giving it to an actual person, but that only wound up causing the “White Event”, which granted a bunch of individuals in his universe their powers. Eventually he wound up passing the powers on to the first person he met, though even this didn’t seem to kill him off.
4 CAN GRANT INFINITE POWER
When the Star Brand was a part of the New Universe, it was supposedly capable of generating nearly infinite power. It was only limited by the user’s imagination, which makes it sound a lot like a certain Emerald Knight’s ring.
During the time it was a part of the New Universe, it was capable of keeping someone alive for over 500 years and longer, even after the person passed the powers on. It was also able to create a bunch of other superheroes just by a failed attempt to pass on the powers. The second failed attempt obliterated the entire city of Pittsburgh in the Black Event. Even without hyperbole, the Star Brand is major league.
3 IS CONSIDERED A PLANETARY DEFENSE SYSTEM
During Hickman’s Avengers, the Star Brand was folded into the Marvel Universe proper with the introduction of a new White Event. This event would result in Kevin Conner gaining the power but destroying his entire college in the process.
Though this would normally result in the Avengers viewing the Star Brand as a threat, they’re informed that the Star Brand is actually a defense mechanism for the planet when it’s in grave danger. Backing this up, later we would see other planets gain Star Brands as well for the purposes of protecting their planets.
2 HE WAS A MEMBER OF AVENGERS ONE MILLION B.C.
Jason Aaron’s Avengers goes a little further in making this character feel like they’re a part of the proper Marvel Universe by making a version of the Star Brand a member of his Avengers One Million BC.
This is the same team that has Phoenix (as a Jean lookalike), Odin, and the original Black Panther, Iron Fist, and Sorcerer Supreme working against incredibly powerful forces at the dawn of man’s existence. We don’t know much about this version of Star Brand yet, other than him resembling the Hulk and having incredible powers.
1 MOST RECENT STAR BRAND WAS KILLED BY GHOST RIDER
Generally, it’s impossible to know who has Star Brand’s powers until they reveal themselves. They can pass from person to person without being aware of it. Part of Hickman’s Avengers run involved them tracking down the person who had the Star Brand’s powers and bringing them into the fold.
While Kevin Conner didn’t seem to have any control over his powers at first, he was gradually taught what to do with them while he was with the Avengers. Still, most recently his powers went out of control and he attacked Ghost Rider, causing him to use the Penance Stare on Kevin. The Stare’s power caused Connor to explode, leaving only the Starbrand behind.