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INTERVIEW: SAM HUMPHRIES ON ‘LEGENDARY STAR-LORD’ AND THE WEIRD HISTORY OF MARVEL’S NEXT MOVIE STAR

By Chris Sims

Of all the Marvel characters who have made it to the big screen over the past few years, none have seemed less likely than Peter Quill. An obscure sci-fi character who debuted in the ’70s and made a handful of appearances in his first three decades of existence, he rose to fame during the Annihilation crossover as the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, a ragtag band of spacefaring heroes who battled evil across the stars.

Now, with a Guardians of the Galaxy movie set to debut this summer, Peter Quill is getting his first ever ongoing series as The Legendary Star-Lord, thanks to Sam Humphries (Avengers A.I., Sacrifice), artist Paco Medina (Nova, Ultimate Comics X-Men) and colorist David Curiel. To find out more, I spoke to Humphries about the history of Star-Lord, how his obscurity helped to propel him to fame, and why his hair has to stay gloriously uncovered.

ComicsAlliance: Is there something about these characters who don’t have that long history that makes them inherently appealing to you as a creator, or as a fan?

Sam Humphries:Just on a real practical level, it’s like, Wolverine has so many appearances and pages devoted to him over the years that he comes with a lot of baggage. In terms of a creator’s appeal with these much more obscure characters, you have much more of a blank slate, and you have a freedom to interpret them in a fresh new way. Wolverine has been constantly reinterpreted for the modern day, whatever the “modern day” happens to be on that particular date.

For fans, I think you can come to it with, I guess, less anxiety in your heart when that character gets revamped. When you revamp Wolverine, before it’s even announced, people are going to be up in arms about it. But for Star-Lord, pre-Annihilation, who didn’t have a huge fanbase, you didn’t have people second-guessing everything you’re doing, and readers can come to that reading experience with a much more open heart and less fear clouding their reading experience. I think there’s something that’s definitely attractive there.

And if we’re talking about how an obscure character like Star-Lord went from his humble origins to headlining this summer blockbuster, I think you have to give all the credit to Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning for the way that they took the character, reinterpreted him, and really executed him into this compelling, charming, adventurous, fun character. I think having an obscure character has its advantages, but with any character, it comes down to the talent of the creator behind him.

CA: So what you’re saying is that Star-Lord is definitely, 100% better than Wolverine.

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Wow, Humphries really hit the nail on the head there with revamps.