14. Undergoing several variations of the character across a more than forty-year lifespan, Quasar is a recurrent staple of Avengers story-lines but is yet to appear on the silver screen
Whilst the original Quasar – Neutron, debuting in 1977 – was a member of an alien species, who combated rogue members of the X-Men in his capacity as part of the Imperial Guard of the Shi’ar Empire, his eponymous successors brought the character into the mainstream with a more conventional personality. Granting immense power to an individual fused with them, the Quantum Bands – created by Eon for his designated Protector of the Universe – are permanently attached to the individual who becomes symbiotically dependent upon them. Allowing the bearer to draw from the “Quantum Zone”, Quasar is gifted the powers of inter-dimensional travel as well as becoming a powerful cosmic entity.
Most famously the title held by Wendell Elvis Vaughn, the development of this rebooted version of Quasar in 1979 was a historically important moment for comic books. In contrast to the Silver Age cosmic heroes, such as Silver Surfer or Adam Warlock, Vaughn was an everyman. A member of S.H.I.E.L.D., although deemed unsuitable for fieldwork, the construction of Vaughn’s Quasar marked a crucial turning point of superheroes from inherently special individuals to encompass ordinary members of society at large. Subsequently a leading member of the Avengers, with the expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the Quantum Realm as well as outer space, Quasar would be a perfect inclusion going forward.