The MCU might have the Guardians of the Galaxy, but the DCU has the Guardians of the Universe. These ancient immortal aliens are the beings who oversee the Green Lantern Corps, the intergalactic police force that protects the universe. Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) has already mentioned them in episode one of Lanterns. At Comic-Con in San Diego, DC Studios confirmed Oscar nominee Laura Linney would play one of the Guardians in the HBO Max series. But just who are these little blue aliens with big heads and white hair? What if we told you there is no DC Multiverse without them? And that their history goes back over ten billion years?
The Guardians of the Universe First Appeared in Green Lantern #1 in 1960
The Guardians of the Universe first appeared in DC Comics’ Green Lantern #1, way back in 1960. Artist Gil Kane designed them to look like David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel. There weren’t many details given about them at first. All we knew was that they lived on the planet Oa, at the center of the known universe, and gave Green Lanterns their marching orders. Eventually, as time went on, the Green Lantern mythology evolved. And DC readers learned how these aliens were more than just the Green Lantern Corps’ superiors. Their history ties into the very fabric of the DC Universe itself.
The Origins of the Guardians Tie Into the Genesis of DC’s Multiverse
The Guardians weren’t always the Guardians. Billions of years ago, these blue-skinned humanoids evolved on the planet Maltus, one of the first intelligent species in the universe, if not the first. They had incredible psychic powers, which they used to build a utopian society. These Maltusians were all about the pursuit of scientific knowledge, but they had one rule. Do not seek answers as to who (or what) created the universe. But one Maltusian dared, with dire consequences for reality.
A Maltusian by the name of Krona dared to create a portal to witness the birth of the universe. These experiments shattered reality, and fractured a single universe into an infinite multiverse. It also created an anti-matter universe, essentially unleashing evil upon the cosmos. To atone for the sin of one of their own, a group of Maltusians gave up their mortality and dedicated their existence to containing evil and chaos in the galaxy. These Maltusians relocated to the planet Oa, where they renamed themselves as Guardians of the Universe. To properly protect the universe, they also let go of all emotion, similar to Vulcans on Star Trek.
Over the eons, the Guardians’ brains got bigger, but their stature got smaller, rarely standing more than four feet high. The females of their species departed Oa, evolving into the Zamarons, leaving the Guardians of the Universe as an all-male population. And by the present day, there were only a handful of them in existence. In addition, several male Oans refused to give up emotion, departed the planet, and evolved into the race known as the Controllers. The Guardians’ powers grew, as their telepathy and telekinesis were without equal. They could wield the green energy without a ring, and even reality- warping. They were as close to gods as possible.
The Manhunter Army Was the Guardians of the Universe’s First Great Failure
The Guardians’ first attempt at a universal peacekeeping force sadly resulted in catastrophe for the galaxy. The Guardians created a race of sentient androids dedicated to peacekeeping, known as the Manhunters. These synthetic Manhunters served the Oans for millennia, but were never able to eradicate evil. Their programming led them to conclude that life itself inevitably gave way to malice. Therefore, all organic life must be destroyed. Before their creators could deactivate them, they murdered trillions of lives in an entire space sector.
The Guardians of the Universe Create the Green Lantern Corps
The Guardians’ next attempt at universal police proved more successful. Harnessing the green energy of willpower, one of the energies governed by a color-coded emotional spectrum, they filtered all that power into a giant green power battery on Oa. From that battery, thousands of power rings drew their emerald power. They bestowed these rings on sentient life forms from across the universe they deemed worthy, and thus, the Green Lantern Corps was born. For millions of years, the Green Lantern Corps patrolled the space ways, taking orders from their emotionless and logical Guardians.
The Death and Rebirth of the Guardians of the Universe
For a time, after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Guardians left Oa to reunite with their female counterparts, the Zamarons. They left the Green Lantern Corps to self-govern for a short while. They eventually returned, but their comeback did not last very long. After refusing the request of a grieving Hal Jordan, he defied them and stole the energy of the central power battery on Oa. He killed the entire Green Lantern Corps, and all the Guardians but one, whose name was Ganthet. This lone Guardian gave the remaining power ring to the human, Kyle Rayner.
Eventually, Kyle Rayner resurrected the dead Guardians, whose essences were contained in his power ring, as children. And this time, they were both male and female. They grew to adult size in record time, and restarted the Green Lantern Corps. After many tumultuous events, including the Sinestro Corps War, the Blackest Night, and the emergence of other spacefaring police forces (some under the control of their relatives, the Controllers and the Zamarons), the Guardians of the Universe once again vanished, leaving the United Planets government to control the Green Lantern Corps. But without a doubt, they will return one day to take the reins of their galactic peacekeepers once again.
The Guardians of the Universe in Outside-Comics Media
The Guardians of the Universe first appeared in outside-comics media in the 1967 Green Lantern cartoon, part of the Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. Paul Frees, best known as the Ghost Host in Disney’s Haunted Mansion, voiced a (not blue) Guardian on that series. They would then reappear as the bosses of Green Lanterns John Stewart and Kyle Rayner in the DC Animated Universe. First on Superman, then shows like Justice League Unlimited. But they weren’t given much character or individuality, besides “stern and aloof bosses.”
Laura Linney Will Play a Guardian in Lanterns
In the short-lived animated 2011 Green Lantern series, the Guardians were fleshed out more, and Guardians from the comics like Appa Ali Apsa, Ganthet, and Sayd had significant roles. In the 2011 Green Lantern live-action movie, they were entirely CGI characters, whose role was simply to sit in a circle and give the Corps its orders. However, we expect the Guardians in Lanterns on HBO will have more to do than simply be distant immortal aliens who give stern orders. You don’t hire Laura Linney for that. We’ll find out what the DCU Guardians of the Universe are like very soon, as the intrigue on Lanterns continues to unfold.