A new incarnation of theGuardians of the Galaxysquad is coming to the Marvel Universe, led by Captain Marvel; this makes Carol Danvers the first character in nearly sixty years to have led both the Avengers, a role she has become synonymous with, and the ragtag group of interstellar heroes known as the Guardians.
Imperial War: Imperial Guardians#1, by the creative team of Dan Abnett, Jonathan Hickman, and Corey Smith, will spiral out of Hickman’s currentImperialseries.
Surprisingly, though, the cover for the issue hints at an untraditional version of the team. Most notably, itappears that Captain Marvel will be taking pointwhen the new Guardians launch into action.
Marvel Teases That Captain Marvel Is Leading The New Guardians Of The Galaxy Team In The Fallout From “Imperial”
Imperial War: Imperial Guardians#1, Creative team: Dan Abnett, Jonathan Hickman, And Corey Smith; Available October 2025 From Marvel Comics
In Jonathan Hickman’sImperial, the fragile peace between Marvel’s spacefaring civilizations has been shattered. Various groups,including the Shi’ar Empire, the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, classic alien races like the Kree and Skrulls, and more, are now steeped in conflicts that threaten to upend the stability of the entire universe.
What could be a more perfect jumping off point for a new Guardians of the Galaxy team? Here is how Marvel describes the story:
As the events of IMPERIAL explode in fatal fashion, the SUPER-SKRULL finds himself at the center of a seditious scheme with consequences that will be felt by the entire cosmos! But he’s not the only superpower looking for answers — an unlikely team is on the hunt to avert disaster before galactic order is lost for good!
In other words, the publisher is playing the details of the new roster close to the vest, but one major hint has given fans at least some sense of who is set to appear.
That is, the team’s line-up appear in silhouette at the top of theImperial Guardians#1 cover. Astute readers are confident that one ofthe characters is Cosmic Ghost Rider, while the consensus is thatanother is Amadeus Cho, in his Hulked-out form as Brawn. Most intriguing, though, is that front-and-center appears to be Carol Danvers.
Carol is currently still leading the Avengers back on Earth, and so speculation has turned to the implications of her inclusion in theImperialstoryline for her tenure with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. If this means a leave of absence from the team, that would be one ofImperial’smost reverberating changes yet.
A Big Deal For Captain Marvel And The Guardians
Whatever prompts Carol Danvers to get tangled up in interstellar geopolitics, it is worth noting that once she is confirmed to be the leader of this version of the Guardians of the Galaxy,Captain Marvel will officially be the first Marvel hero to lead both the Guardians and the Avengers.
Whether she will fill both positions concurrently remains unclear. It is possible her appearance inImperial Guardianswill be distinct from her role in Marvel’sAvengersongoing; Hulk, for example, is carrying on a separate adventure in his solo series while also jetting off into space toget embroiled inImperial.
In any case, it is more of a milestone in terms of theGuardiansfranchise’s rise to prominence since their breakout MCU success made them household names a little over a decade ago. The team, in its various forms, has been a Marvel fan-favorite since their debut in 1969, but only now are they truly being elevated to top-team status.
At the same time, it is also another signal of Captain Marvel’s upper-echelon status, who has had a similar trajectory to the Guardians since her first appearance in 1968.Carol Danvers “paid her dues,” so to speak, and now she is an A-list hero, who can bring star power to any book, and fit at the head of any team.
Captain Marvel’s Cosmic Ties Draw Her Into Space
In Marvel lore, Carol Danvers is part Kree herself, and she inherited the Captain Marvel title from the Kree hero Mar-Vell.Imperial Guardiansis not the first story to send her into space, and in truth, it wouldn’t be all-out-war in the wider Marvel Universe without Carol participating in some way. Meaning, in short, she is much more than an Earth-bound hero.
Imperial Guardianswill seemingly give Carol the chance to play a pivotal role in the story; beyond that, her role in Marvel’s cosmic landscape, and the long-term status of her Guardians squad, are all answers that fans will have to wait to discover when the issue drops. Luckily, the mainImperialseries should offer some more hints along the way.
Meanwhile, Carol Danver has also been teased as acandidate for Marvel’s next Sorcerer Supreme, another major shake-up for the character that could potentially take her attention away from the Avengers. For some fans, this has led to concerns that Marvel is responding to Captain Marvel’s surging popularity by spreading her too thin.
Only time, and her upcoming stories, will tell where Captain Marvel’s heroic energies are best focused. What is clear, though, is that she is acertified Marvel Comics powerhousenow, and that she is about to prove, once more, that she is among the most powerful figures in the entire Marvel Universe, by leading a newGuardians of the Galaxyteam.
