WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy #5 by Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, David Curiel and Cory Petit, in stores now.
In Marvel's Infinity Wars, Thanos was beheaded by Gamora, who then became Requiem in an attempt to gather the Infinity Stones and reshape the universe. During her mission, she adopted the mentality of the Mad Titan, insisting, however, her vision for the cosmos was better than her adopted father's.
Which is why it came as no surprise she was atop the list to be Thanos' Final Gauntlet, aka, the body he was due to be reborn in. In Guardians of the Galaxy #5, however, we learn it's not Gamora the Mad Titan had set up as this failsafe - it was actually his brother, Starfox. And while it make's sense for Thanos to pick his sibling and fellow Titan as the vessel for his rebirth, there's a lot of history making this as much an act of revenge as it is one of survival.
Starfox was raised as the Titan known as Eros, a proud man who had a heated rivalry with his brother. He and Thanos always help differing philosophies of life; Thanos was way more serious, always planning how he could rule the galaxy, while Eros was mainly concerned with being a womanizer. That said, it wasn't until Thanos attacked their homeworld and killed their mother that Eros undertook a genuinely heroic path, as the pair's relationship was completely and irrevocably destroyed.
Eros became the polar opposite to the conquering Thanos, joining the Avengers and rechristening himself as Starfox. In the following years, he aided Earth's Mightiest Heroes repeatedly. He also grew close with Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel, annoying his brothe to the point that when the Mad Titan finally first wore the Infinity Gauntlet, he ensured Starfox would be seated front and center to witness how he toyed with reality. Eventually, as Thanos dipped in and out of retirement, Eros retreated to the nightlife again, courting women all over the universe, seemingly uninterested in actively herring any longer.
However, the trigger for Thanos' act of retribution, one which just saw Thanos transfer his mind from Starfox's body into a clone, likely runs deeper than mere differences in principles and the need for a fellow Titan's body. It may, in fact, have to do with Thanos' son, Thane.
When Thane recently tried to kill his father, he recruited Starfox as an ally. And yet, when Thane got the Phoenix Force, Starfox shockingly aligned with Thanos to take his power-hungry son down. Thanos' legacy was shattered as he left Thane in the God Quarry stuck in rocks, and while Thanos wanted everyone to think he didn't care, it was a blow to his legacy. He promised Starfox he'd exact revenge for encouraging Thane to go on this mission in the first place. Now, it seems Thanos is exacting that vengeance.
Not only is he literally turning Starfox into the very thing he hated, Thanos is using clones to do so, yet another link to their shared past. When Eros went on a cosmic trial decades ago, for using his mental powers illegally, Thanos showed up to testify against and ruin him. The Mad Titan claimed he became obsessed with death because Eros was into killing animals when they were small. It turned out this Thanos was merely a clone, one with a false memory implanted. Eros even absorbed this memory as part of an elaborate trap, gaslighting himself, and almost suffering the punishment for Thanos' crimes.
Starfox would eventually win his freedom, but he shut his powers down after that trial, giving Thanos the true victory. But now, under Hela's watch, we're seeing Thanos' most vindictive reprisal ever. On Knowhere, under the watchful eyes of the Black Order, the transfer is still just beginning, but you shouldn't put it past Hela to have placed some sort of control on this process. After all, we know she still distrusts Thanos and his affection for Mistress Death. Starfox has been caught up in the crossfire, and one has to wonder what Thanos' endgame has in store for his brother.