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Nebula (character)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Marvel character who met the Fantastic Four disguised as Nebula, see Ravonna.
Nebula
Nebula as depicted in Nebula #1 (February 2020). Art by Jen Bartel.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe Avengers #257 (July 1985)
Created byRoger Stern
John Buscema
In-story information
SpeciesLuphomoid
Team affiliationsGuardians of the Galaxy
Dark Guardians
Graces
United Front
Notable aliasesCaptain Nebula
Ms. Peale
Abilities
  • Superhuman strength, agility and durability
  • Regeneration
  • Tactical expertise
  • Skilled hand-to-hand combatant
  • Master assassin
  • Weapons specialist
  • Energy blasts via Wrist blasters
  • Bionic enhancement
  • Accelerated probability

Nebula is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roger Stern and John Buscema, the character first appeared in The Avengers #257 (July 1985).[1] Originally depicted as a supervillain, Nebula was later depicted as an antihero and member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Nebula has appeared in various adaptations of the character in other media, including animated television series and video games. Karen Gillan portrayed the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) in addition to voicing alternate timeline versions in the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021).

Publication history

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Nebula was created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Buscema, and first appeared in The Avengers #257 (July 1985).[2]

Fictional character biography

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Nebula on the cover of The Avengers #318 (June 1990). Art by Paul Ryan and Tom Palmer.

A brutal space pirate and mercenary, Nebula seizes control of Sanctuary II, a massive spaceship previously under the command of Thanos.[3] Thanos is believed to be dead at this point, and Nebula claims to be his granddaughter.

Nebula schemes to gain absolute power by using an atomic compressor to release vast amounts of energy. This nearly causes a second Big Bang and threatens to destroy the universe before Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man and Sersi shut down the equipment in time to prevent the destruction of the universe.[4]

After Thanos is resurrected, he becomes offended by Nebula's claims of kinship. He reclaims his ship and uses the Infinity Gems to nearly kill Nebula, leaving her in a disfigured, zombie-like state.[5]

When he claims the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos boasted that Nebula is his greatest creation, being in a state between life and death. When Thanos defeats Eternity and takes his place, he expands his consciousness into the universe, leaving his body comatose. Nebula takes the Gauntlet from Thanos and uses it to heal herself and banish Thanos. Thanos agrees to help the heroes of Earth defeat Nebula.[6]

Nebula in interior artwork from Nova: The Human Rocket #1 (May 1999). Art by Joe Bennett.

The group confronts and defeeats Nebula, with the Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock taking the Infinity Gauntlet. Nebula is captured by Starfox and taken to Titan for trial, while Warlock retains the Gauntlet.[7]

Nebula is later confronted by Firelord in the Titanian prison, where the murder of her abusive father was depicted in a flashback, which left her in a catatonic state.[8] Nebula is later freed from prison by her lieutenant Geatar and converted into a cyborg by Doctor Mandibus.[9]

In Gamora's self-titled miniseries (2016), it is revealed that Nebula was raised alongside Gamora by Thanos, in a retcon inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.[10][11]

Powers and abilities

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Nebula is an athletic woman, and an excellent armed and unarmed combatant. She possesses a gifted intellect and is a brilliant battle strategist.[12]

Nebula uses blasters worn on her wrists that fire concussive blasts of unknown energy or heat blasts that can incinerate a human being almost instantly.[13]

Nebula briefly possessed the Infinity Union, a combination of three devices that together could channel all forms of ambient energy into her, infusing her with vast power. This enabled her to manipulate her size, teleport, manipulate matter, and project her consciousness as pure energy.[4] She also briefly possessed the Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Gems, which enabled her to manipulate the fundamental forces of the universe.[7]

Nebula was later converted by Doctor Mandibus into a cyborg.[9] Her bionic left arm can stretch to nearly twice its length and has a potent energy cannon in the palm. Nebula's optic receiver had been augmented with the addition of an accelerated probability generator implanted into her systems, giving her detailed understanding and analyzing of variables.[14]

In Asgardians of the Galaxy, Nebula gains the ability to survive in the vacuum of space after completing the God Quarry's trial. Additionally, she obtains an axe created by the dwarf Urzuul that enables her to teleport and the Naglefar Beacon, a horn that controls the ships of the dead.[15]

Reception

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Accolades

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  • In 2020, Scary Mommy included Nebula in their "Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic" list.[16]
  • In 2022, Comic Book Resources (CBR) ranked Nebula 4th in their "Thanos' Most Powerful Children" list.[17]

In other media

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Television

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Marvel Cinematic Universe

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Main article: Nebula (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Karen Gillan portrays Nebula in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.[22] This version is one of several adopted children raised by Thanos alongside her adopted sister Gamora, with whom she developed a rivalry. Over time, Nebula developed an obsessive need to best Gamora in combat, but every time she lost, Thanos subjected her to torturous mutilation, replacing parts of her body with cybernetic enhancements. This imbued Nebula with a deep hatred toward Thanos as well as resentment towards Gamora for not treating her like a sister. Throughout the films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Nebula reconciles with Gamora, becomes a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy,[23] and from the Blip becomes a member of the Avengers, eventually defeating Thanos after 5 years. She then rejoins the Guardians.[24]

Additionally, Gillan voices alternate timeline versions of Nebula in series What If...?,[25][19] and reprises her role in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.[26][27][28]

Video games

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References

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  1. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 254. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  2. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains. New York: Facts on File. p. 244. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.[1]
  3. ^ The Avengers #255–260 (May - October 1985)
  4. ^ a b The Avengers #311–318 (December 1989 - June 1990)
  5. ^ The Infinity Gauntlet #1 (July 1991)
  6. ^ The Infinity Gauntlet #5 (November 1991)
  7. ^ a b The Infinity Gauntlet #6 (December 1991)
  8. ^ Silver Surfer Annual #5 (July 1992)
  9. ^ a b Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #69–73 (August - October 1992)
  10. ^ Gamora #1 (February 2017)
  11. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (December 21, 2016). "Gamora #1 Review". IGN. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  12. ^ The Secret Defenders #9 (November 1993)
  13. ^ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #8 (June 2009)
  14. ^ Nebula #1–2 (April - May 2020)
  15. ^ Asgardians of the Galaxy #1 - 5 (November 2018 - February 2019)
  16. ^ Kaye, Deirdre (November 16, 2020). "Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic". Scary Mommy. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  17. ^ Allan, Scoot (September 21, 2022). "Thanos' Most Powerful Children, Ranked". CBR. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  18. ^ Craig, Richard (April 8, 2024). "10 Best Episodes Of Silver Surfer The Animated Series". Screen Rant. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Nebula Voices (Marvel Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved June 21, 2017. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  20. ^ Parkin, John (July 14, 2010). "TV stars invade Marvel Super Hero Squad". CBR. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  21. ^ Vanessa Marshall [@vanmarshall] (August 24, 2015). "@IAmCreeSummer Hey Nebula, GuuuRRRRLLLLL!!!! You are amazing! xoxo" (Tweet). Retrieved August 25, 2015 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ "Marvel Studios Begins Production on Guardians of the Galaxy". Marvel.com. July 20, 2013. Archived from the original on July 24, 2013. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  23. ^ Vejvoda, Jim (July 15, 2016). "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Zoe Saldana on Gamora, Nebula And Thanos". IGN. Archived from the original on July 17, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  24. ^ Yamato, Jen (May 10, 2019). "'Avengers: Endgame's' Karen Gillan tells all about Nebula's surprising redemption (and Marvel future)". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  25. ^ Hughes, William (July 21, 2019). "Marvel just released an extremely intriguing cast list for Disney+'s animated What If…?". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  26. ^ Oddo, Marco Vito (October 20, 2021). "Will Poulter Comments on Adam Warlock Casting for 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3': "I Feel Very Lucky"". Collider. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  27. ^ Schager, Nick (May 13, 2019). "Karen Gillan on the Future of Nebula Post-'Avengers: Endgame' and James Gunn's Return to 'Guardians'". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  28. ^ Lussier, German (April 12, 2022). "Karen Gillan on How Avengers: Endgame Changed Nebula Going Into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  29. ^ Capcom (1996). Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Capcom.
  30. ^ Linnea Sage [@LinneaSage] (April 7, 2016). "I'm the voice of #Nebula in #Marvel's '#AvengersAcademy' smartphone app. Pretty proud of this one. Another kick... fb.me/2NexFvage" (Tweet). Retrieved June 21, 2017 – via Twitter.
  31. ^ Ashly Burch [@ashly_burch] (April 19, 2017). "Yo! @telltalegames' Guardians of the Galaxy is out and I play Nebula! Stop being mean to my dad!" (Tweet). Retrieved October 18, 2017 – via Twitter.
  32. ^ "Entering Marvel Contest of Champions: Nebula". Marvel.com. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  33. ^ ""The way I see it, the fun is only just beginning." Nebula will not let her plans for herself be denied". Marvel Future Revolution. Twitter. July 15, 2021.
  34. ^ Adler, Kai (2022-11-29). "Marvel Snap: All Of The Guardians Of The Galaxy Cards, Ranked". DualShockers. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
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