As the Guardians of the Galaxy recruit their most powerful member of all time, the team are elevated to a whole new level, now boasting a powerhouse so powerful, even Thanos ended up destroyed when the two went head-to-head. What’s shocking is that despite this hero’s power, he’s not out of place on the new roster, which includes several god-tier powerhouses.

New Guardians of the Galaxy Roster Recruits Cosmic Ghost Rider

It Takes a Lot to Be a Team’s Heavyweight When the Leader Is Captain Marvel

Marvel is currently rewriting its cosmic ecosystem with the sprawling Imperial, which sees the galaxy’s different space-faring civilizations plunged into war, with heroes including Hulk, the Black Panther and Professor X dragged into the conflict. In response, a new Guardians of the Galaxy is forming to keep the peace in a chaotic galaxy, with the ultra-powerful Cosmic Ghost Rider taking one of the slots.

The new team is made up of Captain Marvel, Darkhawk, Gamora, Cosmic Ghost Rider, an unknown hero, and likely the Super-Skrull, bringing together some of the biggest guns in the galaxy. However, easily the most powerful of the lot is the Cosmic Ghost Rider – a being so brimming with cosmic power, even his footsteps can destroy an entire planet.

A far-future version of Frank Castle (aka the Punisher), the Cosmic Ghost Rider possesses both the Spirit of Vengeance and the Power Cosmic, as well as a shattered version of the Time Stone, facilitating limited time travel. It’s interesting that Marvel is putting the Cosmic Ghost Rider in a team book, since his power level is so far off the charts. However, if the Guardians are worried about encountering Thanos as the universe is thrown into chaos, they picked the right guy to have their backs.

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Cosmic Ghost Rider Burned Thanos Down to the Studs

When the Two Fought, the Mad Titan Was Obliterated

In 2018’s Cosmic Ghost Rider miniseries (from Donny Cates and Dylan Burnett), Cosmic Ghost Rider decided to end the threat of Thanos for good. After being kicked out of Valhalla by Odin, Cosmic Ghost Rider traveled back in time to kill Thanos as a child. However, after encountering Thanos as an innocent, Frank was unable to end his life. Instead, he decided to raise him.

While Frank Castle did his best to teach Thanos values that would stop him becoming a psychopathic tyrant, he ultimately failed. The Cosmic Ghost Rider did alter Thanos’ path, but ultimately only turned him into a different kind of villain – one obsessed with punishment rather than nihilism. After a while trying to instill his values in the child Thanos, Frank and his charge head into the future to see how the timeline has changed. The two emerge into a world conquered by a version of Thanos obsessed with punishment and penance.

In an earth-shaking fight, Cosmic Ghost Rider takes the adult Thanos to pieces, first blasting him through the fallen world he created, then burning him down to the bones and claiming his skull. Cosmic Ghost Rider explains that with the combined power of the Ghost Rider and the Power Cosmic (the energy wielded by Galactus and the Silver Surfer), he is constantly holding back near-infinite power – power which he uses to erase his mistake in a spectacular clash of the Titans.

Despite Thanos’ enhanced physiology, he doesn’t stand a chance against the Cosmic Ghost Rider’s fury, dying in terror and pain. UItimately, Frank goes back in time and returns the baby Thanos to his parents, only to learn that he is partly responsible for the monster the villain will become. Death always intended for Thanos to travel with the Cosmic Ghost Rider, giving her servant his first taste of murder on a cosmic scale.

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Why Cosmic Ghost Rider Has Such a Huge Grudge Against Thanos

He’s Seen the Mad Titan’s Endgame, And He Won’t Let It Happen

Cosmic Ghost Rider put a lot of effort into trying to redeem Thanos, but he had good reason. Cosmic Ghost Rider was first introduced in Thanos Volume 2 #13, by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw. In the now-iconic ‘Thanos Wins’ arc, the Thanos of Earth-616 travels into the future, where he meets his future self, King Thanos. King Thanos has conquered the universe, slaughtering Earth’s heroes and turning the Hulk into his cannibalistic lapdog.

One of the last heroes to go up against Thanos was the Cosmic Ghost Rider, who was empowered by Galactus to help bring down the tyrant. Having upgraded his powers to godhood, King Thanos slew Galactus and kept Cosmic Ghost Rider as a court jester and enforcer, forcing him to witness the endless evil of his reign. Cosmic Ghost Rider died in King Thanos’ service (killed by a future Silver Surfer who wielded Mjolnir), ending up in Valhalla and eventually forced back to life after getting on Odin’s bad side.

Cosmic Ghost Rider has seen what the universe becomes if Thanos wins, and has personally borne witness to all the atrocities and death that King Thanos unleashed, giving him an enduring obsession with bringing down the Mad Titan.

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Cosmic Ghost Rider Is the Right Hero for the Moment

He’s an Unstable God, But With the Galaxy Engulfed in War, He CAN Keep the Peace

While the Cosmic Ghost Rider gave up on redeeming Thanos via time travel, he has kept working to stop the Mad Titan in the modern day, even allying with the Dark Guardians and Guardians of the Galaxy to prevent Thanos’ resurrection. If Thanos does return to take advantage of the chaos surrounding Imperial, he’ll find the Cosmic Ghost Rider waiting, and more than happy to kill him all over again.

This future version of Frank Castle is acutely aware that despite being given near-infinite power, he failed to stop evil when it counted, and doesn’t deserve all the second chances he’s been given. While the awe-inspiring powers he’s been granted cause extreme instability, Frank is on the side of the angels, desperately searching for ways to make the universe a better place and make up for some of his past sins and failures.

As the entire universe finds itself plunged into war by a shadowy antagonist, the Guardians of the Galaxy need some huge hitters to stay relevant, and the man who torched Thanos definitely fits the bill.

Imperial War: Imperial Guardians #1 is coming October 1, 2025 from Marvel Comics.

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  Created by

  Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning

  First Film

  Guardians of the Galaxy

  Latest Film

  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

  Upcoming Films

  guardians of the galaxy 4

  First TV Show

  Guardians of the Galaxy

  Latest TV Show

  I Am Groot

  The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, rooted in Marvel Comics, has expanded into a prominent series within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), blending action, humor, and a distinctive 1970s and 1980s soundtrack.

  
  

• Alias

  Thanos

  Created By

  Jim Starlin, Mike Friedrich

  Franchise

  Marvel

  Race

  Eternal-Hybrid

  First Appearance

  The Invincible iron Man

  Alliance

  Infinity Watch, Black Order

  Hailing from the planet Titan, Thanos is a primary antagonist throughout the canon of Marvel Comics. First appearing in The Invincible Iron Man, Thanos is a powerful and calculating warlord primarily concerned with earning the affection of Death herself. In many of his tales, Thanos seeks to gather the six infinity stones in order to lay waste to half of all life in the universe.