In case you’ve been living under a space rock, Marvel has been running an event called Imperial for the past few months, looking to reshape the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe. Running four issues, the mini-event has also launched a few one-shots, including the today debuting Imperial War: Imperial Guardians #1, written by Jonathan Hickman and Dan Abnett, with art by Cory Smith and Luca Maresca. And spoilers past this point, it sure looks like the shocking last page of the issue killed Gamora and Darkhawk.
To take a step back, we actually start months before the beginning of Imperial, with Gamora and Darkhawk (Christopher Powell) investigating the return of Veranke, the shape-changing Skrull who was behind the 2008 event Secret Invasion. After teaming up with Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, they get further into the mystery, with Carol ultimately heading in one direction, and Gamora and Darkhawk another. The latter two discover it is not Veranke — it’s a Chameloid, another shape-changing race, pretending to be the Skrull leader, returned.
A fight with the Super Skrull K’lrt ensues, after he decides that even if it isn’t Veranke, they still need to follow her teachings. Gamora and Darkhawk escape, only to be confronted by Maximus the Mad, one of the Inhumans. Readers of Imperial know he’s behind the whole plot of that series, and that’s exactly what he lays out for the duo: they’ve discovered the core secret of his plan to destabilize the galaxy and install the Inhumans back in charge, months ahead of schedule.
Naturally, despite Maximus hoping to win them to his side, Gamora and Darkhawk swear to stop him. Which is when Maximus pulls out the big guns. Or rather, gun: Cosmic Ghost Rider, who is a combo of The Punisher and Ghost Rider, but also with the Power Cosmic thanks to being Galactus’s herald. He also traveled back in time, but don’t worry about it.
Maximus orders Cosmic Ghost Rider to kill the duo, we see him fire two shots, and as CGR and Maximus exit, we see the smoking, dead bodies of Gamora and Darkhawk. RIP?
Well, maybe, maybe not. Marvel has already announced an Imperial Guardians series is launching in Winter 2026, though didn’t offer any details beyond that — likely waiting for this issue to be released, as well as the end of Imperial itself. As is, that would be a literal shot across the bow to kill two major characters one would expect to be in the cast before the book even begins. And it’s possible that Marvel may have murdered Gamora once agin, after her untimely demise in the MCU (though there she was resurrected via time travel).
But it’s also important to remember there are two, entirely different shape-changing races in this issue alone. We see some of the green of Gamora’s face and hands, but Darkhawk is covered in smoke. Who’s to say they aren’t Skrulls and/or Chameloids? And who is to say that Cosmic Ghost Rider, who was now and again been on the side of literal angels, wasn’t using non-lethal rounds?
We may know more when Imperial #4 hits stores on October 29 — and will definitely know more when Imperial Guardians launches, some time in 2026.
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