Guardians of the Galaxy – one of the biggest movie successes of 2014 – introduced cinema audiences to the character of Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord. Played by Parks and Recreation’s Chris Pratt in the Marvel Studios offering, Star-Lord first appeared in Marvel comic books back in 1976.

In the comic books, his father turns out to be Jason of Spartax – the Emperor of the Spartoi Empire – and, while it was generally assumed that he was entirely human in the movie adaptation, it was confirmed at the end that he wasn’t.

Quill was able to briefly withstand the power of the Orb – an Infinity Stone – thanks to the fact that he is part-alien. But which alien being will turn out to be his father?

2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will reveal that information but, in the mean time, we can only speculate. Here are the five most likely candidates.

Jason of Spartax

Although this has seemingly been ruled out by director James Gunn, it would be foolish to take his word for it at this stage (after all, why would he want to give away information about a movie that’s two years away?).

Jason of Spartax AKA J’son is, as we’ve already mentioned, Star-Lord’s father in the comic books. He impregnated Quill’s mother when he visited Earth and the two reunited when Quill was older. Therefore, it does make sense that he would be his father in a movie based on the comic books.

There was something of a hint towards this outcome in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, when John C. Reilly’s character Rhomann Dey referred to Quill as “Star Prince“. This would seem to suggest that he stemmed from royalty, which is exactly what J’son is.

However, given Gunn’s comments, this seems to be one of the least likely outcomes out of those on this list at this stage.

Thanos

How would this be for a twist? It would be quite shocking if Thanos – the big-bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe played by Josh Brolin – turned out to be the father of one of the MCU’s most beloved heroes (and would make the obvious mutual attraction between Star-Lord and Thanos’ adopted daughter Gamora seem very weird).

Thanos is incredibly powerful – one of the few beings in the universe capable of wielding the Infinity Gauntlet, by all accounts – so it sort of makes sense that he would have passed on a portion of the ability to withstand the power of the Infinity Stones (like Star-Lord did at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy) to his son.

Granted, there’s a distinct lack of purple in Star-Lord’s appearance and it seems unlikely that his mother would have been attracted to a hulking purple alien, but stranger things have happened in comic books, so why not in the movies based on them?

This outcome would certainly make the inevitable battle between Thanos and the MCU’s heroes a lot more interesting.

Yondu

This is another strange one, because it was revealed in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie that Yondu (Michael Rooker) had taken Peter Quill from Earth on behalf of his father, but could it have been the case that Yondu actually was his father?

Could Yondu have been lying to his fellow Ravagers when he said he was collecting Peter Quill for someone else? When you think about the fact that Yondu didn’t actually deliver Quill to his father after apparently being paid to do so – and when you remember that he prevented some of his acquaintances from eating the young “Terran“ – it does actually make you think that perhaps he is Quill’s father.

Being the tough rogue that he is, perhaps Yondu just didn’t want to admit that he wanted his son in his life, so he invented a story about kidnapping him on behalf of someone else.

Yondu has been a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comic books and the reveal of him as Quill’s father could lead to him joining the team in the movies (after all, James Gunn has said the team will get a new member in the sequel).

Odin

This is certainly the most out-there entry in this list as there is literally nothing connecting Star-Lord to Odin at this stage (apart from the fact that Odin did venture to Earth to defend it from Frost Giants a long time ago) – either in the comic books or the movies – but could Anthony Hopkins’ All-Father character turn out to be Star-Lord’s father?

As things stand, there’s really very little connecting the Guardians of the Galaxy to the existing characters in the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe and this would be an ideal way to bridge that gap.

With Thor: Ragnarok just two years away – and, coincidentally, being released in the same year as Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – this outcome could be used to connect the Guardians of the Galaxy to Asgard. It is being speculated that Thanos could be part of Thor: Ragnarok and if Star-Lord found out Odin was his father he could aid Asgard in their fight against the Mad Titan.

Of course, Odin’s strength being passed on in part to Star-Lord would also explain his ability to withstand the Orb unequivocally.

Read More: Is Odin Stronger Than Thanos?

Adam Warlock

Without a doubt, the most likely candidate to be revealed as Star-Lord’s father is Adam Warlock. Warlock is a character who didn’t appear in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie (well, his cocoon did, but that doesn’t really count), but who is scheduled to appear in the sequel as an important character – and that definitely points towards him being revealed as Quill’s dad.

Moreover, given his human appearance, it makes sense that his son would look entirely human (more so than if Thanos or Yondu turned out to be his father, for example) and, given his power, it would also explain Quill’s ability to withstand the Orb’s power.

Warlock was actually created by scientists on Earth in the comic books, prior to departing to explore the universe, further strengthening his potential link to Quill in the MCU.

He was revealed to have escaped his cocoon in the aftermath of the huge explosion in the Collector’s museum and, as such, the door is open for him to become a big player in the MCU (not least in the Infinity War movies).

What do you think? Will any of these characters turn out to be Star-Lord’s father? Or could it be Loki, Ronan or someone different entirely? Have your say below.