Marvel Announces ‘Asgardians of the Galaxy’ Lineup

Marvel Comics has revealed the character lineup and creative team for their upcoming title, Asgardians of the Galaxy, due in stores this fall.

The series, which will spin out of Infinity Wars, was teased yesterday as the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy, but with little other information.

Asgardians of the Galaxy will be written by Cullen Bun and feature art by Matteo Lolli.

You can check out the official lineup, along with some commentary from Marvel’s announcement, below.

• ANGELA, the not-so-beloved half-sister of Thor.
• The hotheaded VALKYRIE – and the human who shares her form, Annabelle Riggs.
• SKURGE the EXECUTIONER, freshly returned from Hel.
• THROG, the mightiest frog of thunder.
• Kevin Masterson, the boy who took his father’s mace to become the hero THUNDERSTRIKE.
• And the DESTROYER, the Asgardian armor built to take down Celestials – its wielder unknown.

You can see the cover below.

Putting a mysterious “someone” in the Destroyer armor makes sense, given the mystery that Jason Aaron had been building up around the identity of the Jane Foster Thor when he first started that run and how much fun the fans had picking through Marvel history and Thor’s mythology for an answer.

It also seems like several of these — the sword-wielding warrior woman, the hip earthman, the funny animal, etc. — are archetypes embodied by the Guardians that these characters will be replacing.

Of course, Valkyrie and Skurge — at least in name — played a key role in the wildly popular Thor: Ragnarok, a movie that felt shaped by the Guardians of the Galaxy films that came before it more than any other Marvel property. That a more screen-accurate take on Valkyrie was recently introduced to the Marvel (Comics) Universe is indicative of the appreciation the comics talent has for that film, so do not be surprised if the characterization, especially for Skurge, is more akin to what we saw onscreen than what has come before in the books.

What this group’s mission statement is and why they are taking over for the Guardians — indeed, why the Guardians are gone at all — is anybody’s guess at this point.

Asgardians of the Galaxy #1 will be in stores in September.