Warning! Spoilers ahead for Imperial Guardians #4!
Marvel just confirmed that at least one person in the universe wants Gamora to be the next Thanos. Who? No, it’s not Gamora herself, nor Thanos. It’s Lady Death, the Mad Titan’s constant object of desire in the comics. Who Gamora now believes is “hunting” her, intent on claiming her.
“I will not let that happen,” Gamora says defiantly in Imperial Guardians #4. This sets up an epic confrontation down the road, as the Mad Titan’s daughter and his mistress, the personification of Death, are now officially on a collision course. But for all Gamora’s heroic bravado, could Death actually end up making her the next Thanos?
Marvel fans can’t rule it out. Gamora has been through the ringer since she was introduced 51 years ago, thanks to her connection to one of Marvel’s all-time greatest villains. She’s even taken his place as an antagonist before. But now that she’s “visible to Lady Death,” and apparently being targeted by the entity, Gamora has a whole new realm of problems to deal with.
Marvel Sets Up A Conflict Between Gamora And Thanos’ True Love, Lady Death
Imperial Guardians #4, Written By Dan Abnett; Art By Eduardo Pansica
In Imperial Guardians #4, Gamora explains that her death and resurrection has put her on captial-D Death’s radar. She reveals this in a cutaway from the story’s action, a “private log” Gamora is recording, planting a clear seed for the character’s ongoing arc. “I think she wants me to take my father’s place at her side,” she speculates, before resolving to disappoint Lady Death.
It’s a small moment in the issue with big implications. In just a few lines, author Dan Abnett outlines a clear and engaging heroic plotline for Gamora: resist Death, reject Thanos’ legacy, and once more save the Marvel Universe in the process. That’s an exciting, potentially large-scale opportunity for the character, whose Marvel Cinematic Universe counterpart was a star, but who struggles to stay on the A-list in the comics.
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And there’s also another alternative. Marvel fans had mixed feelings when Gamora went bad about a decade ago, killing Thanos (at the time) and taking the name Requiem. Yet if Marvel wants Gamora to “go heel” (to borrow a pro wrestling term) again, having her literally supplant Thanos as Lady Death’s favorite, emissary, and maybe even lover would be a more dramatically effective way to do it.
Gamora’s Fate Hangs In The Balance As Marvel’s Next Moves With The “Imperial Guardians” Remain Unclear
Is Marvel Setting Up Gamora’s Next Chapter Or Teasing A Storyline It Won’t Pursue?
Gamora’s reveal about Lady Death is one of the major takeaways from Imperial Guardians #4. The big question now is about more than just how this potential storyline might play out. It’s about when and where it will play out. That is, Imperial Guardians is solicited for a fifth issue, hitting shelves in July, but it’s unclear if the book will continue beyond that. Right now, it doesn’t seem like the odds are in its favor.
Which means it’s unclear if there are still concrete plans for Gamora and the rest of Marvel’s cosmic characters. The promised widescale Imperial reinvention of the line has fizzled, after an ambitious start, and Imperial Guardians isn’t expected to survive much longer. So, Gamora’s potential showdown with Lady Death might be in limbo. (Not Marvel’s literal limbo, but creative limbo.) It could be a thread intentionally inserted into the issue to tease something ahead, or it could be left dangling.
In either case, it’s worth keeping an eye on for Marvel fans. After all, it also has the ring of a storyline that could be adapted into the MCU in the future, if actress Zoe Saldana ever decided to reprise her role. (Saldana is reportedly not in Avengers: Doomsday, but the door to a comeback is never fully closed.) Until then, comic readers will have to wait to discover how Gamora’s potential as Marvel’s Thanos replacement plays out.
Imperial Guardians #4 is available now from Marvel Comics.
What do you think, Marvel fans? Is this a good direction to take Gamora in?