Guardians of the Galaxy – Annihilation: Conquest

Annihilation: Conquest introduces us to the Guardians of the Galaxy before they became the team we now know and love.

The Annihilation War is over and the Marvel galaxy is trying to get back on its feet. The Nova Corps doesn’t exist anymore. The galaxy needs someone to protect it against Ultron.

Annihilation: Conquest by Marvel Comics

Nova (2007) 1-12, Annual 1; Annihilation: Conquest Prologue 1; Annihilation: Conquest – Star-Lord 1-4; Annihilation: Conquest – Quasar 1-4; Annihilation: Conquest – Wraith 1-4; Annihilation: Conquest 1-6; Annihilation Saga

Writers: Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning


Phalanx invades Kree home planet, and Star-Lord has to sharpen his skills and gather his team of misfits once again. Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Mantis and Bug must all jump into action to battle the enemy on its home ground.

Annihilation: Conquest follows Annihilation which came out in 2006. The 2007 and 2008 crossover sees the beloved Marvel heroes fighting against the Phalanx.

Drax the Destroyer and Rocket Racoon in Annihilation: Conquest

Ultron is now the main villain, and the universe must be protected at all costs. Quasar, Star-Lord is back together with Nova and a newcomer – Wraith.

Ronan the Accuser, Moondragon, Super-Skrull, Gamora, Mantis and Rocket Racoon all reprise their hero roles, but this timeline also includes Adam Warlock who comes back to Marvel Universe for the new adventures.

Why is this an important Guardians of the Galaxy comic?

Annihilation: Conquest is a four-part miniseries that bridged the gap between Annihilation and the modern Guardians of the Galaxy team.

The story featured the Guardians characters working together before Dan Abnett and Dan Lanning developed the newer line-up.

Star Lord, Gamora, Drax and Rocket Racoon in Annihilation Conquest

Featuring Starlord aka Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Mantis, Bug, Groot and Rocket Raccoon this book stars all of your favourite GOTG characters.

Helping revive the cosmic Marvel universe, Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest paved the way for our favourite galactic misfits to become the team we now see in the MCU movie adaption.

What Is The Plot Of Annihilation Conquest

The Phalanx is a techno-organic race that resembles the Borg from Star Trek. The Kree Empire is not capable of fighting against them after their encounter with Annihilus, and the Phalanx is building a weapon to assimilate entire planets.

Star-Lord and his team of misfits have to stop the development and use of this weapon.

The Plot Of Annihilation Conquest

Phalanx used the Space Knights to crush the Kree Empire on Hala, their home, using their techno-organic nature and the previous star lord Peter Quill.

Assimilation with the Phalanx meant the Kree were unable to fight back, and a protective field prevented anyone else to help from outside.

When the Phalanx capture Wraith, they finally meet their match. Wraith infects his enemies with fear, making them weak. He doesn’t want to fight but has no choice.

When Wraith defeats the Phalanx, Ronan the Accuser who is now their pawn tortures Wraith who later escapes. Wraith and Super-Skrull have their own mission. They want to find who killed his family.

Wraith’s history is revealed when Ronan questions him. His father was a Kree scientist banished from his home. The whole family except Wraith himself were killed, and the boy stolen away by the Nameless Ones.

Wraith speaks of a bond with Exolon who steal souls and magnifies strength. eventually, Wraith escaped, killing his prison guards and goes to find his family’s murderer in Kree space.

Is Gamoras one of the Phalanx?

Meanwhile, Nova is now aware of the shift within the Kree space, but only later discovers he’s trapped there. The attempt to leave wounds him and his powers get transferred into another warrior, a new Nova.

The Phalanx virus infected Gamora who assimulates Nova, triggering a fight between Richard Rider and the newly created Nova. Following the battle, Gamora kills the new Nova.

Nova uses Worldmind to shake off the Phalanx clutches and his own Select programming. The virus stays in his system while Nova tries to escape from the Phalanx field.

The only way to escape is to collapse a dwarf star that throws him out of the force fields of the Kree space. Nova doesn’t know that Gamora and Drax are following him while under the Phalanx influence.

When the Phalanx invade the Kree space, Peter Quill is right there and has to find a way to hide. He stumbles upon a Kree prison where he meets Mantis and Captain Universe among other heroes.

What Is The Role Of Star Lord?

Quill decides to become Star-Lord once again and make sure they beat the Phalanx. It isn’t smooth sailing and two of their warriors die in battle soon after.

Star-Lord now knows of the Phalanx plan to spread the airborne virus throughout the Kree space. He and his team that now includes Groot in a small plant form have to run.

Although they soon get captured again, Mantis and Captain Universe slip away turning into the last hope the team has.

The story opens a door to a great universe full of character building and action sequences. Each character becomes lovable and their adventures – frightening and exciting. The four issues will see you clutching the edge of your seat, hoping the heroes survive in the face of pain and suffering.

Does Annihilation Conquest Relate To The Guardians Of The Galaxy Movies?

Many of the Marvel movies during the first and second phase come from old stories. They received an update and continue their ride of success among returning and new fans.

Hovever, Gunn’s Winter Soldier and now Guardians of the Galaxy come from more recent stories from the comic books.

The Guardians of the Galaxy in Annihilation Conquest

The Guardians of the Galaxy team introduced in 2006, introduces new concepts into Marvel cosmic characters who had been neglected up till that time. They revived the extended Marvel universe with two war stories; Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest.

Annihilation: Conquest introduces the Guardians of the Galaxy that fans meet in the movies.

The MCU Movie plot is closely related to the original Annihilation volumes, but Annihilation: Conquest is an enjoyable comic book where we meet the Guardians characters as the team is assembled.

The differences between Annihilations and Guardians of the Galaxy MCU are mainly the stories. The comic book versions deal with the war itself, but the movie had to narrow it down. If the Guardian’s couldn’t stop Ronan the Accuser in the first movie, he would commit genocide against Xandarian.

The heroes in the comics face a struggle within their group. The Guardians don’t trust one another at first, but over time they find camaraderie and friendship. The heroes come together.

Their adventures shape their emotions and character development. In the comics, the battles against the Phalanx and the Wave have a sad outcome. Everyone pays the price of war.

The comics and the movie deal with the human reaction to trauma. All of the heroes question their place in the universe and their identity. They must make often split-second choices then leading to devastating results. Often they take a path without wanting to and end up damaging their relationship with the group.

Comics and the movie also share their tagline warnings against fanatics and their followers. Demagogues who try to push their warped sense of the universe onto others. The heroes must come to a mutual understanding.

In the end, in both the villains are knocked down from their self-created pedestal. It unleashes raw emotion in both and offers a resolution to the stories of the beloved heroes.


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Hot Toys Groot And Rocket Racoon with Gun

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Fans of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies love collecting the Lego sets that allow them to recreate scenes from their favoirite movies.

Each Lego set includes Minifigures of the Guardians to collect.

If you know someone who would live to build the Guardians of the Galaxy ship, Rocket’s Escape pod or Thor’s Weapon Quest you will find the perfect Lego set here.





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Guardians of the Galaxy Annihilation: Conquest was featured in the Top Guardians of The Galaxy Comics list.

Images from Marvel Comics

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