It’s not uncommon for the folks at Marvel Comics to adapt some things seen in movies here and there. Just within the past year or two, we’ve seen a new Valkyrie pop up bearing a striking resemblance of Tessa Thompson’s character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then there’s the case of Yondu, a character that got a massive overhaul after Jame Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise made it big. The character took part in several current cosmic storylines for quite some time with no explanation about the character’s overhaul. All of a sudden, the character went from a noble warrior hero from Centauri IV to a space pirate with a shaved fin that looks surprisingly similar to Michael Rooker’s character from the silver screen.
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Now, cosmic Marvel fans have an answer as to why Yondu looks the way he does and believe it or not, it’s because there just so happens there are two Yondus and one of them just got a killer upgrade. Full disclosure, spoilers up ahead for the Yondu mini-series that wrapped up earlier this month. You’ve been warned!
As fate would have it the noble version of Yondu — the one that formed the “original” Guardians of the Galaxy along Vance Astro, Martinex, and company — is from the future. He’s a distant descendant of the Rooker-based Ravager Yondu that suddenly popped up in the comics lore a few weeks back. Thanks to the first-ever Yondu mini-series, we now have that explanation.
The characters joined together to deal with a new Marvel MacGuffin called the Herald’s Urn, a powerful artifact that contains the Power Cosmic. In layman’s terms, it’s a pretty big deal and can do some serious damage for whoever wields it.
In the story, one thing leads to another and future Yondu is killed in the middle of the action. He laid down his life in order to protect his ancestor (space pirate Yondu) and paid the ultimate price. That’s what sent the still-living Yondu on a redemption path of sorts, something that ended up resulting in a whole new look for the character.
Not only does the current timeline Yondu now have his full fin — which he presumably grew out to pay respects to his departed kin — but he also has a beefed-up costume include a swanky new jacket with killer space pirate shoulder pads. There’s even an instance where he’s using his great-great-great-great-great-great grandson’s bow and arrow in addition to his traditional yaka arrow. Pretty gnarly, right?
