Summary
Warning: Spoilers for Annihilation 2099 #2!There’s a newStar-Lordin town, and with her, a new version of the Guardians of the Galaxy’s spaceship. Whether he’s flying solo or he’s flying with the Guardians, Peter Quill always kept a competent spaceship on his person. In his arsenal he’s had the Milano, the Bowie, the Almond (in honor ofMarc Almond, one-half of Soft Cell) and perhaps the mostperfectly named of them all, the Pryde.
Now,the new Star-Lord introduces the Umbingeleli to the Marvel UniverseinAnnihilation 2099#2 by Steve Orlando, José Luis, Oren Junior, and Arif Prianto. In the distant future, Amandla Estrellas adopts the Star-Lord mantle and makes it her duty to protect the cosmos.
In the same breath thatestablishes the new Star-Lord’s costume and origin story, her debut issue does the same for her sentient ship.Annihilation 2099showcases how highly the new ship lives up to expectations set by those belonging to the original Star-Lord.
The New Star-Lord Debuts New Ship, the Umbingeleli
Powers and Abilities Explained
By the time the story kicks off, Amandla has long been operating as the new Star-Lord and already has an established relationship with the Umbingeleli. While she doesn’t explain what inspired the ship’s name,it is worth noting that the word Umbingeleli translates to “The Priest” in Xhosa, the Nguni language spoken by the people of South Africa and Zimbabwe. In this comic, the Umbingeleli is introduced as having once belonged to a fleet that guards the star systems and was built on the grounds of Planet Wakanda. As such, it’s made of vibranium and equipped with adamantine cavorite anti-gravity.
This ship is sentient and can carry on full-blown conversations with Star-Lord, conversations, which the Umbingeleli can adjust in its banter quota system. Thankfully, there’s no need, asthe synchronous chemistry between the two proves useful in defeating Quasar during the comic’s climax. The Umbingeleli can simultaneously achieve long-range scans of far-out regions of the solar system. To salvage its inhabitant’s eyeballs when orbiting around the sun, the spaceship can tint the glass of its windows. While combating Quasar, the Living Star, Amandla sets her ship on autopilot.
How The Umbingeleli Compares to Peter Quill’s Spaceship Collection
A Ship Worthy of Star-Lord’s Arsenal
The Umbingeleli reads as wholly impressive in its on-panel debut, and the best part is that, while it unleashes a bevy of useful abilities, there is likely more to come from it in future appearances. There’s still a lot that readers have yet to learn about the spaceship, and yet what is learned manages to still reveal the Umbingeleli to be an elite ship. It’s not hard to imagine Peter Quill being impressed himself if he ever stepped aboard the Umbingeleli, as the spaceship stands tall in comparison to the originalStar-Lord’sships of old.
