Marvel Finally Reveals Star-Lord’s New Look (& It’s a Wild Throwback)

Star-Lord will have a new look and costume for Marvel’s upcoming cosmic event, Imperial. The leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy has undergone a few different transformations over the years, with even Star-Lord’s twin blasters getting a makeover. Imperial will see Peter Quill go back to one of his classic costumes, which calls back to the character’s first appearance in 1976’s Marvel Preview #4. Gone is the duster jacket that fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are used to, replaced with a shorter jacket that color-matches Star-Lord’s pants. We’ll see how long Peter keeps the new look fresh before it gets battle scars from the war ahead.

Marvel released a set of covers for Imperial #1 by writer Jonathan Hickman and artists Federico Vicentini and Iban Coello. One of the covers is by Todd Nauck and is labeled an “Iconic Variant Cover,” most likely as a callback to that classic costume. The other covers feature all the major players involved in Imperial, including Hulk and She-Hulk, who return to Sakaar to restore order; Nova and Star-Lord, who team up to prevent the galaxy from falling into the worst hands; and the Shi’ar, who will be torn asunder in a battle for the throne!

Jonathan Hickman is known for his influential work on Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men. Just as he revolutionized those franchises, the same is planned for the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe in Imperial, a four-part event series that lays the foundation for an entirely new landscape of interconnected space-set series.

“I’m very excited about this project as I’m obviously a huge fan of all things Marvel Cosmic,” Hickman said. “The goal here is to kind of do what we did with the recent Ultimate line for all of our space titles, except having the setup book (Imperial) be more of an event than a world-building exercise (like Ultimate Invasion). The art team is killing it and we’re all just very excited for what’s happening in this special corner of the Marvel Universe.”

[RELATED: How the X-Men’s Latest Crossover Lays the Groundwork for Jonathan Hickman’s Imperial]

Federico Vicentini and Iban Coello are two of Marvel’s Stormbreaker artists, and they’re bringing new designs for fan-favorite characters, just like we’ve seen with Star-Lord. ComicBook got to speak with the Imperial artists, and we also got to show off interior art from the first issue.

“Working with Hickman is a great challenge,” Vicentini shared. “I love his scripts. He writes really brilliant dialogue and puts incredible attention to details when it comes to the story’s setting. I had only knew Hickman as a reader, so it was incredible to be approached to work with him and Iban, who is a phenomenal artist! I’m working hard to produce my best work, and I’m certainly having a lot of fun!”

“Being involved in this project is incredible,” Coello added. “Creating all these new characters and costumes is really fun. Working with Hickman is something I never expected to be able to do, and it’s both cool and intimidating at the same time because of the magnitude of what he’s doing in the scripts. I look forward to being able to rise to the challenge and do a great job!”

What do you think about Star-Lord’s updated costume? Let us know in the comments below!