If you continue reading only do so at your own risk as some major story elements will be discussed in this article.
At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, we meet a new group of Guardians that are all under the leadership of Rocket Raccoon. After facing his experiences and past with the High Evolutionary, he embraces who he is and also takes over from Star-Lord, who has returned to Earth and spent some time with the family he believed he had lost all the way back in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film.
Among the members of this team are some familiar faces with an even bigger Groot, Kraglin, and Cosmo. Though, there are two new members with Adam Warlock joining after his encounter with the team throughout the third film. The biggest reveal is the inclusion of a small girl that was among the group of High Evolutionary’s next creations.
Surprisingly, the film doesn’t really say her name but subtitles reveal that she is, in fact, Phyla-Vell. It’s quite a departure from her comic origins, as she was the daughter of the original Captain Marvel and an Eternal. To be fair, she wasn’t conceived in a normal matter but rather the Eternal Elysius took some of his matter after he died from cancer and impregnated herself.
The first person born from this unusual creation was Genis-Vell, who would take on the Captain Marvel mantel. Though, after he lost his mind and created a new universe, Elysius redid the process and gave birth to Phyla-Vell and would also take over the title of Captain Marvel. She would eventually take on the mantle of Quasar when she joins the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comic event Annihilation.
So, the version we are introduced to here is quite a bit different. She’s part of a race created by the High Evolutionary as the “perfect lifeform” that he was going to use to re-populate a new planet. She doesn’t have any connections to Annette Benning’s Mar-Vell but there’s a chance her DNA could’ve played a role in this character’s creation. It’s also unclear if she has the powers from the comics, as there’s no mention of it.
Phyla seemingly has endless stamina when compared to a normal human and she is part of a bigger group of children that have the same origin. Also, there’s some uncertainty if the Guardians will actually return in the future given how the film simply states that Star-Lord will return. Rocket’s new group may as well do their thing in the galaxy but we don’t see them anytime in the near future.
It’s a shame if this is our introduction to such an important cosmic character alongside Adam Warlock, but we’ll have to wait a bit until we find out what exactly the future has in store. Given that her race is genetically created, there’s a good chance that she will grow into adulthood just as fast as Adam did. They might have a sibling-like rivalry that would be a fun dynamic if we see more of them moving forward. For now, it’s a great little Easter egg for comic fans knowing the character now exists in the universe.
