Origin
Phyla-Vell was created when her brother Genis-Vell helped destroy and re-create the universe. The alternate universe that was created was one in which the genetic process that was used to create Genis was so successful that his mother chose to also create a daughter. Phyla is the genetic (albeit cloned) offspring of Elysius of Titan and Captain Marvel of the Kree, just as her brother Genis-Vell was; as such, she is an Eternal/Kree hybrid.
She was aged at an accelerated rate and trained by simulators on Titan in most things. She has been shown to have the tendency to come off as cocky and overconfident because of her extensive training.
Creation
Phyla-Vell was created by Peter David and Paul Azaceta and first appeared in Captain Marvel Voume 4 issue 16 (2004).
616 Phyla
Meeting a Brother
She was first seen attempting to neutralize her brother when he had gone insane, in effect helping to partly restore his sanity. She then immediately attempted to lay claim to the mantle of Captain Marvel, to which her brother refused. Also during this time she began a romantic relationship with Moondragon, who had recently been in a similar relationship with Marlo Jones , Rick Jones’ temporarily estranged wife. Moondragon was greatly hurt by the dissolution of the relationship, but Phyla piqued Moondragon’s interest. It was implied that the two took a vacation together. Sometime later she was seen at the trial of Starfox.
Annihilation
Later still, she was seen during the Annihilation crisis. She sought out Drax The Destroyer when Thanos had abducted his daughter, Moondragon, who Phyla had been seeing romantically. She then sided with Nova’s resistance movement and was instrumental in Annihilus’ defeat when the Quantum Bands chose her over Annihilus during his conflict with Nova, turning the tide of the conflict. With Annihilus defeated and Phyla wearing both a pair of Nega-Bands and the Quantum-Bands, she seems to be deciding to follow in the footsteps of her predecessors, her father, Captain Mar-Vell; the previous bearer of the Quantum-Bands, Quasar. Even going so far as to start calling herself the new ‘Quasar’.
Annihilation Conquest
Recently, Phyla and Moondragon were seen protecting a monastery to Pama on the edge of the Kree Empire. In the aftermath of the Annihilation War the denizens of the universe attempt to rebuild from the devastation, the war has left most without food or shelter and has made many desperate. Phyla is forced to defend the monastery from such people and have formed a gang of sorts, but she shows mercy in offering them shelter and food. She hears a voice from the Quantum-bands and it tells her to seek out the one who can save the Kree Empire which is now under assault by the Phalanx Recently, as Phyla-Vell has adapted to the power of the Bands, with the help of a Cotati priest discovered that Annihilus had indeed corrupted the Quantum-bands when he wielded them. Phyla was drawn into the bands themselves and found an area of inky darkness within them. Shortly thereafter, she learned that with the Phalanx having cut off the Kree empire from the rest of the universe, also have cut off the Quantum Bands from the Quantum Zone, leaving only the energy that happened to be within the Bands for Phyla to complete her quest to find the savior of the Kree people.
This savior turned out to be Adam Warlock, and the voice guided her to him was the last surviving sentience of the Supreme Intelligence. She raced against the Super-Adaptoid, who had been turned into a Phalanx Select, to reach Warlock and battle him over Warlock’s hibernation cocoon. Even with her power dwindling, she defeated the android. But Annihilus’ evil almost consumed her afterwards. It was only the intervention of Wendell Vaughn’s spirit purging the darkness from the Quantum Bands that saved her.
Phyla’s work was far from over, because her next task was to get Adam Warlock to cooperate. He emerged from his cocoon too early. He was amnesiac and unstable, not particularly wanting to listen to her about the Phalanx. Even when the Phalanx attacked, he was unconvinced, but he did at least escape with Phyla and Moondragon to a refuge he could remember. This refuge was a hidden facility belonging to the High Evolutionary. Having her doubts that Warlock was much of a savior, Phyla tried to explain the situation to the High Evolutionary instead and get his help. He could engineer an army of enhanced Kree warriors to combat the Phalanx. There wasn’t time to make plans, though. The Phalanx teleported into the facility along with their leader, Ultron. She could only watch as Ultron killed Moondragon in the first seconds of his arrival. The High Evolutionary chose to explode the star his facility hid within to destroy the invaders, and Warlock saved him and Phyla from the blast, heading to Hala where there was another lab. Phyla remained devastated by Moondragon’s loss.
The High Evolutionary betrayed her on Hala, siding with the Phalanx and giving them Warlock. There was nothing Phyla could do at this point. Her Quantum Bands had been completely drained of their energy stores. She could not stop Ultron transferring himself into Warlock’s body and taking it over. Then as the battle waged on elsewhere, Phyla found a mysterious new charge in her Quantum Bands. She joined the battle and found where Warlock’s empty husk of a body after Ultron had been purged from it.
It turned out that the energy she wielded was Adam Warlock’s soul, and she put it back into his body. She was then able to draw energy from all the souls the Phalanx had killed to power their Spire, reforge her sword and strike the killing blow upon Ultron.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Peter Quill, the Star-Lord, put together a team of heroes in the aftermath of the Phalanx conquest, and Phyla was among those he recruited. What she did not realize was that he used Mantis to telepathically nudge her into joining. A bond formed between her and Adam Warlock from their shared experiences fighting the Phalanx, and she spent much time with him on Knowhere, the new base for the Guardians of the Galaxy. She also tried to bond with Drax the Destroyer, wanting a connection to Moondragon’s father.
When what Star-Lord had done to get them all to join was revealed, Phyla was deeply offended as most of the others were. She left with Adam but would later be seen traveling with Drax in his search for Cammi. This search took a detour when instead of Cammi they received information that could lead them to Moondragon, bringing them to Mentor whom promptly murdered them!
Quasar No More
She found herself ion a borderland called Oblivion, where the Quantum bands fell of her wrists seeing as the bearer was now dead. Not long after she was faced by her own demons (Her father, brother, and Annihilus) but Drax soon send them packing. They however were joined by Maelstrom whom used Moondragon as bait to lure them for his master Oblivion with the intent of then using them to cross back over into reality. After his apparent defeat he agreed to lead them to her but he led them to the Dragon of the Moon where he said Moondragon was supposed to be within the dragon that was regaining its strength after Ultron dispatched it back to Oblivion. Maelstrom however regained the upper hand once the Quantum bands re-bonded with him and quickly encased Phyla and Drax with the intent of feeding them to the Dragon in exchange for the Dragon using its energy to release Maelstrom from Oblivion.
After Maelstrom dropped Phyla into the Dragon’s mouth, who was rising. and after a short battle with the original Quasar, Phyla tore herself out of Dragon of the Moon, carrying Heather in her arm. With the Dragon dispatched and Maelstrom gone Quasar tried to return the bands to her but Phyla declined stating that she couldn’t fill his shoes and that she had powers of her own.
Together with Heather and Drax she returned to Mentor’s place where Heather demands to know what the price that Phyla paid for her was after Mentor startled observation of Phyla’s change. Back on Oblivion, Maelstrom reveals that their plan succeeded Oblivion now has a new avatar Martyr.
War Of Kings
She and Drax rejoin the rest of Guardians of the Galaxy back on Knowhere accompanied by Heather. where she shows a more pessimistic view on things as well as more confrontational which disquiets the rest of the group. Upon Warlock and Gamora’s return they are informed of the Shi’ar/Kree war and the Guardians need to intervene for the sake of the Galaxy. She is then placed on Star-Lord’s team to visit the Kree Empire.
During the visit Phyla once more demonstrates a more combative stance when she mouths of against both Peter and Medusa. Upon her quick frustration with Medusa she draws her sword which prompts the battle eager Gorgon to try and engage her but she quickly blasts him sending him flying back to crash into a pair of soldiers. Even when Crystal tries to intervene on behalf of the Guardians Phyla once again tiring of the lack of resolution to the surprise and strong disapproval of her fellow team members snatches Crystal with the intent of forcing the Inhuman’s to listen. Peter realizing that they lost any chance of peaceful talks thanks to Phyla’s actions apologizes to King Black Bolt and teleports his team back to Knowhere.
Where Phyla teleports in bringing Crystal as a hostage with them infuriating the already angry Star Lord even more. She argues that they now have a bargaining chip to force negotiations. Moondragon is clearly disappointed in her but as she tries to reason with her they are interrupted by both the Shi’Ar Imperial Guard and the Inhuman Elite led by Black Bolt himself. Crystal having enough of it quickly turns things around on Phyla freeing herself.
Phyla is convinced that she did the right thing but they soon find themselves fighting Blackbolt himself who after grabbing Crystal pulls out with his Inhumans from Knowhere leaving the Guardians to the deal with the Shi’Ar alone.
The team find themselves scattered with Moondragon, Gamora and Phyla heading in a different direction they however soon are missing Moondragon while fighting the Shi’ar soldiers. They soon find Moondragon but she is clearly concerned for her lover. Then Knowhere awakens from his slumber with a message from the future, sent by Starlord.
The message says that the fate of the universe depends on Adam Warlock. But it is too late. The Inhumans detonate a device known as the Terrigen Bomb, which creates a massive, expanding rip in space-time known as the Fault. Adam Warlock uses his powers to stop the Faults expansion, but at a cost to himself. He overlaps the time line with an unused future: the future in which he becomes the Magus.
Phyla stabs and attempts to kill Warlock, which enrages Gamora who in turn kills Phyla. Thanks to the help of Kang the Conqueror, Starlord and some other Guardians are transported to before this event, where Starlord stays Phyla’s hand. She had made a deal with the Dragon of the Moon to kill the Avatar of Life, which she believed to be Adam. This was the price of releasing Moondragon to her. But the help from Kang was not enough, and Adam transformed into the Magus anyway.
As the Magus, he killed Phyla, along with Gamora, Mantis, Cosmo and Major Victory. Using the Cosmic Cube which he received from Kang, Starlord is able to revert the Magus back into Warlock, but only temporarily. At Adam’s request, Starlord shoots and kills him. Phyla watches the entire thing happen outside of her dead body along with the rest of her fallen comrades. The Magus has staged their deaths and takes them back to Sacrosanct.
With the power of the Church’s belief fonts, Phyla and the others are made prisoners, tortured into worshiping the Magus. The Magus is particularly interested in the Avatar of Oblivion being one of his followers. While unconscious, the others help formulate a plan with Phyla, who has the power to escape the Magus hold on them. Cosmo and Mantis assist and Phyla is able to send a message to Moondragon and break herself and the others free. As they begin to fight their way out, Phyla is approached by Maelstrom, who is not happy that she did not complete her deal with Oblivion.
He tells her a cocoon abroad contains the Avatar of Life that she has sworn to kill and if she does her job she will be released from service. But it is a trap, for inside the cocoon is the new Avatar of Death, Thanos. The enraged Thanos kills Phyla in a single blast.
Soul Gem
Years later, Gamora finds Phyla’s spirit trapped inside the Soul Gem. Inside, Phyla is seen battling a doppelganger of herself while Warlock battles the Magus.
Earth-18897 Variant Replacement on Earth-616
Infinity Wars
Variants of Moondragon and Phyla-Vel were attempting to keep their Reality Stone safe from a villain named Requiem, who already collected the other five. As they are about to lose and their world is destroyed, Moondragon is able to telepathically control Requiem long enough to use the stones to send her and Phyla out of their home universe. They land on “Warp World,” a world created by Gamora on her quest to retrieve the part of her soul left behind in the soul gem. This world is full of souls grafted together by Gamora to be fed to Devondra, the being within the soul gem.
Both Heather and Phyla fell in with the other heroes that Loki, who avoided being merged with anyone, had rounded up to fight Gamora. When they are able to open a portal back to Earth-616 and separate all the souls, Heather and Phyla tag along with no other home to go back to.
Guardian of the Galaxy…again
Somehow, the variants of Heather and Phyla were invited to the will reading of Thanos, where Thanos revealed he implanted his consciousness in another body in case he died, his “Final Gauntlet.” The reading was attacked by a weaponized Knowhere controlled by the Black Order. They stole Thanos’ body and opened up a rift in space and time with a black hole gun. Many of the heroes in attendance were pulled through.
Heather and Phyla were rescued by Star-Lord and Groot, who were late to the meeting and avoided the black hold gun. Along with Beta Ray Bill, the five became the new Guardians of the Galaxy, banded together to protect Gamora from the other survivors of the will reading (the Dark Guardians), who believed she was the Final Gauntlet.
The Guardians catch up to the Dark Guardians, but they had been played by Starfox, who turned out to be the Final Gauntlet. He was taken by the Black Order to Hela, who had reconstructed Thanos’ body and planned to transfer Thanos’ consciousness from Starfox back to his original body. The two teams combined into one super Guardians team to stop the transfer. Gamora kills Starfox, but Thanos’ body awakens with pure instinct. That’s when they use the black hole gun on Thanos’ body, destroying it yet again. In the wake of this, Quill pitches to the new roster that they should stay together. Phyla agrees to stay.
Soon after, while answering a decoy distress call from J’Son of Spartax, Phyla was caught in a Universal Church trap and brainwashed into a worshiper. This version of the Church was from the future and had already brainwashed J’Son into their new patriarch. Heather and Groot were the only active Guardians to escape. So, with the help of Rocket Racoon and Magus, they were able to save the rest of the team and defeat the Universal Church.
Two Moondragons Become One
Nova sought out the Guardians when Olympians from Earth were plaguing the universe. They were reborn after being exterminated by Nyx. Heather and Phyla, still outsiders among these Guardians, immediately volunteered. Gamora turned him down on behalf of the rest of the Guardians, but Quill and Rocket snuck away to join the fight anyway. They planned on using a black hole bomb on their ship, but the plan went south rather quickly. The gods were able to steal the black hole bomb and disable the timer forcing Quill to choose to manually set it off, killing himself in the process. Gamora took the news of Quill’s death pretty badly and as a result the Guardians split into two teams.
Heather and Phyla stuck with Nova, who was short-handed trying to keep peace in the universe. They were investigating a casino run by Gnawbarque that was made out of Galactus gear that Gnawbarque was using to extort energy from the planet. Unfortunately, Gamora’s half of the Guardians took a job with Blackjack O’Hare to become Gnawbarque’s new security. Among their members was the 616 Moondragon, who had heard about these variants and wanted to confront them. After a brief fight in the mindscape, the two Moondragons ended up merging into one entity, much to Phyla’s chagrin. She doubted if this new person is actually her Moondragon.
The merging of the Moondragons led to an uneasy truce between the two teams that was immediately solidified in the wake of both the Cotati and Klyntar invasion of Earth, the mysterious resurrection of Star-Lord, and the forming of the Kree-Skrull alliance. With no other option, the Galactic Council deputized them as the new official peacekeepers.
The Official Peacekeepers of the Galaxy
Now, as the peacekeepers of the galaxy, the Guardians required a bigger roster, so that they could split up and take on various cases. Phyla’s leadership skills made her an invaluable member of the team, especially when a Skrull cult performed a blood ritual on Ego, which ultimately allowed the planet to be possessed by Dormmamu and release Mindless Ones on five strategically placed planets.
According to Doctor Doom, a reluctant new recruit who sensed the growing supernatural influence, the planets Dormammu was targeting make a pentagram on a star chart, thus implying a bigger ritual incoming. Doom’s cross universe spell set the stage for Nova, Star-Lord, and Gamora to combine their strengths into one killing blow against the possessed Ego.
Although, ending Dormmamu’s plan ushered in a relative peace, Heather and Phyla stayed on as active Guardians and were thus available during The Reckoning War as well as Vox Supreme’s targeting of Kree soldiers, of which Phyla was one. She was put into a super-suit by Vox Supreme that puppeteered her to fight Carol Danvers. Using Stark Tech sonic weapon, they were able to stabilize the suit and free Phyla to help Carol fight back against Vox.
Return of Genis-Vell
Phyla was getting some R and R with Carol Danvers on a beach when she sensed that nega bands had been clanged together. She quickly flew off without Carol and tracked the location to Rick Jones. Rick was going to give them to Phyla to get to Genis, but without the bands, he started turning intangible again. The two decided he should continue wearing them for the time being. Phyla hoped to appeal to his heroic nature and convince Rick to re-merge with Genis, but he refused. So, Phyla knocked him out and took him to space herself.
When they finally caught up to Genis, he was fighting Shatterax, the hired gun for Ren-Varr, the scientist responsible for Genis’ cloning. The more Genis fought, the more they both destabilized until Rick used the nega-bands to merge with Genis once again.
Character Profile
- Height: 5’9″
- Weight: 103 lbs
- Eye Color: Blue
- Hair Color: White
- Citizenship: Titan, Kree
- Place of Birth: Titan, Saturn
- Marital Status: Married
- Occupation: Official peacekeeper with the Guardians of the Galaxy; formerly Avatar of Oblivion, Avatar of Death
- Known Relatives: Moondragon/Heather Douglas (wife), Captain Mar-Vell (father, deceased), Elysius (mother), Genis-Vell (brother), Hulkling/Teddy Altman (paternal half-brother), Wiccan/Billy Kaplan (brother-in-law)
- Distinguishing Features: As Quasar, she had a gold band running down the right side of her face. Her alternate reality replacement occasionally has glowing milky way appearance
Powers
Due to her Kree-Eternal hybrid genetic make up Phyla possesses superhuman attributes which outclasses both her parents. She has superhuman strength, speed, durability and natural resistance to most diseases. She has exhibited flight as well. With the Nega Bands boosting her energized physiology, she could exceed the speed of light; able to traverse the universe.
Phyla can also act as an “energy sponge” absorbing energy blasts and redirecting them as energy blasts of her own. Phyla uses ambient energy to sustain her without the need of physical nourishment. Phyla-Vell could absorb energy in order to magnify her physical abilities to incredible levels.
Phyla possessed a fraction of her father’s cosmic awareness. While not as prolific her brother’s or father cosmic awareness, it provided her with a predominant boosting of her instinctive combat skills and inductive reasoning. When she gained the Quantum Bands and they absorbed her Nega Bands, she supposedly lost these abilities as a result.
For a time she came into the possession of a pair of Kree Nega-Bands which were apparently her birthright. After the events of Annihilation, she laid claim to the Quantum Bands which seemed to absorb the Nega bands. She primarily used the Quantum-Bands to manifest a “Quantum-Sword”. Recently Phyla lost the Quantum-Bands during a trip to the realm of Oblivion to rescue the soul of her love, Heather Douglas.
Having apparently made a deal for Heather’s soul, Phyla-Vell seems to have accepted a position as Oblivion’s avatar and has a new set of powers which have yet to be explained, though she still seems to be able to manifest a sword, but this doesn’t appear to be made of quantum energy.
Other Media
Television
The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
Phyla appeared (as Quasar) in the episode “Michael Korvac,” voiced by Moira Quirk. She was shown as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy and traveled to Earth to captured escaped fugitive Michael Korvac. During the battle with the Avengers, she was taken down by Iron Man.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Phyla appears in the episode “Happy Together,” voiced by Ming-Na Wen. This version of the character is an Accuser for the Kree Empire.
Movies
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Phyla-Vell made her MCU/Live Action debut in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 portrayed by Kai Zen.
Phyla-Vell is one of the Star Children, genetically engineered by the High Evolutionary. After being rescued by the Guardians of the Galaxy, Phyla-Vell joined a new lineup of the Guardians in a post-credit scene, where she is first referred to by her real name.
Games
Marvel: War of Heroes
Phyla-Vell appears in several cards in the mobile card game Marvel: War of Heroes. Her cards are:
- [Martyr] Phyla-Vell
- [New Marvel] Phyla-Vell
- [The Martyr] Phyla-Vell
- [New Hero] Quasar
- [Death Avatar] Phyla-Vell
- [Unexpected Behavior] Phyla-Vell
Marvel Avengers Alliance
Phyla is a playable character in the game. She can be recruited by reaching Adamantium League at the end of PVP Tournament: Season 32.
Her bio says: The genetic offspring of the original Captain Marvel and Elysius, Phyla-Vell is the byproduct of using Titan cloning technology to create her genetic twin brother, Genis-Vell. Trained on Titan, Phyla quickly took up the mantle of Captain Marvel after her brother was driven mad by his own cosmic awareness. Phyla sparked a romance with Moondragon, and the two eloped, exploring the galaxy together. For a time, Phyla-Vell became the new Quasar and joined the Guardians of the Galaxy alongside Moondragon. However, when Moondragon was killed by Ultron, Phyla became the Avatar of Oblivion to bring her back to life. As Martyr, she fights alongside her fellow Guardians of the Galaxy but with a dark purpose yet to be revealed…
Merchandise
- Phyla was featured in the HeroClix game as both Quasar and Martyr.