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A founding member of the Guardians of the Galaxy once took up the iconic shield of Captain America and made it even more powerful.
The iconic shield of Captain America is one of the most recognizable weapons in the Marvel Universe. Comprised of a mixture of adamantium and vibranium, two of Marvel’s strongest metals, the shield has always carried an edge in combat. However, when the shield was wielded by an original member of the Guardians of the Galaxy it proved to be even more powerful.
Vance Astro was one the founding members of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. He first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (by Arnold Drake, Gene Colan and Stan Goldberg), alongside Charlie-27, Martinex and Yondu. The 1969 iteration of the group lived in the far future, and united to fight off an invasion of Earth by a group of aliens called the Badoon. The modern Guardians lineup was introduced in 2007, and since their introduction, the original group fell from the spotlight.
Like Marvel’s X-Men, Astro is a mutant who possesses psychokinetic powers. Not only can he lift objects with his mind, but he can also use his abilities to pilot their trajectory. As a founding member of the Guardians who existed in the future, Astro was initially limited to a special skin tight containment suit that kept him alive although he was over 1,000 years old. When his suit was breached, he was kept alive by a combination of the magic of the Sorcerer Supreme Krugarr and a transfusion that imbued him with the ionic blood of Wonder Man.
The first four issues of the nineties run of Guardians of the Galaxy (by Jim Valentino and Steve Montano) followed the team searching for Captain America’s lost shield. Upon discovering the powerful artifact, Vance was inspired to become the leader of the group. When he was freed from his containment suit, he took up the name Major Victory in issue #20, and adopted a costume reminiscent of the one worn by the Star Spangled Avenger. Astro was able to wield the shield to amazing effect by using his mutant abilities in conjunction with the weapon to fortify and control its path in a way that was even more impressive than the skills of the Sentinel of Liberty himself.
Although the classic Guardians line-up appeared in a post-credits sequence for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Vance Astro was omitted entirely. Although Major Victory would never make an appearance in any X-Men storylines, 20th Century Fox owned the movie rights to his character because of the fact that he is a mutant. However, with the Disney/Fox purchase making mutants Marvel property once again, perhaps the character has a future in film.
In a way, Major Victory’s use of the shield resembles Yondu’s arrow in the films. Now that time displacement and dimensional rifts are more commonplace in the MCU, there’s a chance that this mutant could carry this shield onto the big screen. It’d be hard to picture exactly how and when this team would assemble, but director James Gunn has expressed interest in exploring the characters of the traditional group.
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