Editor’s Note: The Following contains Guardians of the Galaxy 3 spoilers.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 sees the return of Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, the High Priestess of an alien race called the Sovereign. Ayesha last appeared during a post-credit scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Driven mad by her latest defeat and humiliation caused by the Guardians, she’s seen looking over her new creation, a type of birthing pod, housing a being she intends to use to destroy the Guardians of the Galaxy — Adam Warlock, who makes his official MCU debut in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, portrayed by Will Poulter.
There is a lot of hype surrounding the MCU debut of Adam Warlock, who has a wide-ranging history in the original Marvel Comics. But what about Ayesha? Ayesha also has a long-complicated history in the original 616 Marvel Comics Universe that goes all the way back to the 1970s. However, Ayesha’s comic book background is far different from her MCU counterpart, and her character originated as a male entity. It’s time to take a deep dive into the Marvel Comics history of Ayesha…aka Paragon…aka Kismet…aka High Priestess Ayesha of the MCU!
In Marvel Comics, Ayesha Was Born as Paragon
In the MCU, Ayesha is part of a very proud, regal, and noble alien race of ultra-scientific, golden-skinned beings known as the Sovereign. They are beings who designate every facet and attribute of their DNA. They reproduce through scientific means and birthing pods. Well, in the Marvel comics, Ayesha’s origin is more Earthbound. She is not an alien, and she is not a part of the Sovereign at all. She was not even born with the name Ayesha. Technically, Ayesha made her first appearance in The Incredible Hulk Annual, Vol. 2, Issue #6, originally published in 1977. However, in this comic, Ayesha was first created as an artificial, male being called Paragon.
In this story, a group of human super-scientists called The Enclave attempt to recreate the genetic experience that previously created the being known as HIM, aka Adam Warlock. The Enclave summon Doctor Stephen Strange to their hideout, known as The Beehive, and they request his assistance to complete the experiment. They want Strange’s help to ensure the experiment will succeed since he’s an experienced brain surgeon, and their hope is that Strange’s expertise on the brain will iron out any kinks in Paragon’s brain design. Doctor Strange knows The Enclave are acting sketchy, but he goes along with their plan, and the being known as Paragon is born. At this point, Paragon looked nothing like Ayesha of the modern comics or the MCU, and Paragon appeared to be anatomically male. The Enclave scientists then test the loyalty of Paragon by ordering it to kill Doctor Strange. Doctor Strange manages to fight Paragon off long enough until Hulk arrives for assistance.
Eventually, Paragon metamorphizes, changing into what appears to be a shape made of pure energy. It rebels against The Enclave and destroys the Beehive, allowing Doctor Strange and Hulk to escape. With The Beehive demolished Paragon returns to its birthing cocoon. Realizing it is forming without a purpose and direction, it seeks to meditate within its cocoon until it can figure out what it wants to do with its life, noting, “And on that day, Paragon shall live again!”
Paragon’s Rebirth as Her/Kismet
The being known as Paragon did make a return several years later in an issue of Marvel Two-in-One in March 1980. At the beginning of the story, some dockworkers in New York City unwittingly fish out the cocoon of Paragon last seen in The Incredible Hulk Annual comic. However, the being that emerges from the cocoon is no longer Paragon. It’s an anatomically female creature with golden hair and skin.
During its cocoon metamorphosis, Paragon meditated on its new direction and purpose. Paragon ultimately concluded that it must help sire a new perfect race of superhumans since it was the second attempt to recreate a “perfect human being” like HIM, who is now known as Adam Warlock. Paragon decided that its best option was to mate with HIM to propagate a new perfect race. During its new metamorphosis, Paragon altered its physical structure, becoming a physical female counterpart to Adam Warlock. The being known as HER is now trying to find Warlock, and the last person to see HIM was Alicia Masters. HER then interrupts a romantic evening for The Thing (aka Ben Grimm) and Masters, kidnapping her and incapacitating The Thing to find Adam Warlock’s whereabouts. Unfortunately for HER, Warlock was killed at the hands of Thanos and buried on Counter-Earth, as they are later informed by Moondragon. HER requests Moondragon take HER and Alicia Masters to Counter-Earth, so she can potentially revive Adam Warlock’s body, to which Moondragon agrees. Unfortunately, they run into The Thing and Starhawk, aka Stakar, who try to stop them, not realizing HER’s true motives. Starhawk is a member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy team from the future 31st century. Before returning to his own timeline, Starhawk detects a massive disruption in the fabric of space-time caused by HER’s arrival. Curious about HER, he agrees to help Ben Grimm track her since Grimm wishes to rescue Alicia.
In the second part of the story, Moondragon takes Alicia aboard her ship to find Counter-Earth, the tenth planet furthest from the sun in the solar system in the Marvel Comics Universe at the time. However, the planet has mysteriously vanished, and they are only able to find its moon and a base for The High Evolutionary, who is unconscious. Stakar and The Thing arrive and battle HER and Moondragon, and Alicia resolves the conflict, getting all the parties to stand down. Moondragon uses her telepathic abilities to revive High Evolutionary, who agrees to help the group locate the missing Counter-Earth and the whereabouts of the late Adam Warlock. It turns out the planet, which was created by High Evolutionary, was stolen by a group of aliens called the Sphinxor, on the orders of the Beyonders. A seemingly benevolent High Evolutionary bargains with the Sphinxor, allowing them to continue their courier business of Counter-Earth to the Beyonders in exchange for HER and everyone else concluding their business on the planet’s surface.
Finally reaching Counter-Earth and finding Adam Warlock’s grave, HER attempts to revive Adam Warlock. While her abilities successfully resurrect him, Warlock’s body is soulless and mindless. Realizing she has failed, HER sends Warlock’s mindless body back to its resting place. Having failed, HER leaves Counter-Earth, traveling the cosmos on her own, leaving the other heroes behind.
Ayesha would become a recurring character over the years, having encounters with the likes of Quasar, Alpha Flight, and others. Eventually, she and the cosmic superhero Quasar, aka Wendell Vaughn, become companions. In Issue #40 of the Quasar series, HER decides to take up the name Kismet, the Arabic word for fate, as her nickname. And thus, Kismet was finally born.
Kismet Becomes Ayesha
Kismet did not gain the Ayesha name until Fantastic Four Vol. 3 Issue #11. At this point, she resurfaced as a minion of the armored villain known as Crucible. Crucible’s true identity is that of Doctor Maris Morlak, one of the scientists of The Enclave from Paragon’s original appearance, thought to have perished in The Beehive. Doctor Morlak has seemingly brainwashed Ayesha and made her subservient to his control. Unfortunately, her final appearances in this storyline are rather disappointing. None of the history she had built over the years as Kismet is truly acknowledged. The Thing seems to have no recollection of Ayesha either. In Fantastic Four Issue #12, a black hole grenade is set off that consumes Crucible’s base and seemingly kills Ayesha.
Ayesha’s Role in the MCU
Looking at Ayesha’s history in the comics, it’s notable which ideas were appropriated and reworked to create her character for the MCU. The connection with Adam Warlock is still there. However, in the films, Warlock and Ayesha are both humanoid aliens of the Sovereign race, versus their comics’ origins, where they are the subjects of Earthbound genetic experimentation by human scientists. The prideful arrogance that motivated The Enclave is similar to the attitudes imbued within the Sovereign. They view themselves as a genetically perfect and superior race. Everything about them is genetically designed and modified to perfection. However, rather than The Enclave creating HIM, who later becomes Adam Warlock, Ayesha is now Adam Warlock’s creator.
Additionally, Ayesha is a secondary antagonist in the Guardians of the Galaxy films. In Vol. 3, Ayesha returns, dead-set on vengeance against the Guardians and ready to unleash Adam Warlock upon them. Ayesha battled heroes throughout her appearances in the comics, but it’s usually from a stance of misunderstandings or mistaken motivations. Ayesha is usually on the side of the heroes unless she is mind-controlled or brainwashed, or if the heroes fight her because they don’t understand her true motivations.
One aspect that is consistent with the comics and the films is the odd, somewhat twisted Adam and Eve relationship between Adam Warlock and Ayesha. When Paragon is reborn as the female HER, she seeks to mate with Warlock to sire a new race. Although that is not their actual purpose in the films, there is still a bizarre aspect of two powerful beings, who are male and female counterparts. However, in the comics, they never actually get together, and when Kismet later encounters Adam Warlock again, he rejects her.
In the films, Ayesha’s personality is missing the primordial naivety and innocence that is depicted in the comics. In the comics, Ayesha is incredibly powerful, yet also immature. She mainly seeks a mate to procreate, which has been a recurring subplot within her comics’ history. In the films, Ayesha isn’t truly motivated to find a companion or mate. However, in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, she does suggest that Star-Lord, aka Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), give her a “history lesson” of how to “make people the old-fashioned way,” so she can learn more about the “archaic ways” of her “ancestors, for academic purposes.” Of course, nothing ever comes of that.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is playing in theaters now.
