When audiences first meet the Mad Titan Thanos, the overarching big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Infinity saga, in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, he is the leader of the Black Order, the Chitauri army, and has two trusted adopted daughters — Gamora and Nebula. Though audiences get glimpses into Gamora’s backstory in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and how Thanos came to adopt her, the same cannot be said of Nebula, which begs the questions of where Nebula is from and how did she come to be Thanos’ daughter?
Nebula’s backstory post-Mad-Titan-adoption is established. Like Gamora, Nebula was trained to become a galaxy-class killer. Regularly, Thanos would have Nebula and Gamora spar with each other to test their strengths, but Gamora would win every match. And with every loss, Thanos would torture Nebula, replacing body parts with cybernetic enhancements to become Gamora’s “equal.” Gamora proved herself to be a “daughter of Thanos” when she fought the soldier restraining her during Thanos’ invasion of her home world, Zen-Whoberi, earning his respect. But how did Nebula become a “daughter of Thanos?”
The MCU’s Nebula Is From Marvel Comics’ Luphom
Nebula is a Luphomoid, a race of alien from the planet Luphom. They are a humanoid race notable for their blue skin. Not much is known about Luphom in Marvel Comics other than the planet was destroyed by the world-devouring Galactus, leaving those off-world, like Nebula, as the only surviving members of the Luphomoid species. The few surviving other members include Kraa, Spirit, and Zorr — all of whom have run into trouble with the Nova Corp. In Marvel’s alternate reality show What If…?, a clearer depiction of her race can be seen in “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?” In this dimension, Nebula’s original physical traits are on display as she never had the cybernetic enhancements that live-action Nebula was subjected to.
Due to character rights issues, Galactus has yet to be introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His character rights were originally held by Fox, but Marvel regained the film rights after Disney acquired the majority of Fox’s film and TV assets in its merger — the same merger that gave Disney The Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Deadpool. Galactus, being the powerhouse cosmic villain that he is, doesn’t seem like a solo movie threat, and it’s possible he could become the next overarching MCU big bad after Kang The Conqueror at the conclusion of the multiverse saga. But with the Devourer of Worlds absent from the MCU, what happened to Nebula’s planet of Luphom?
How Thanos Came to Adopt Nebula in the MCU
The movies don’t give a clear-cut answer as to what happened to Nebula’s home world. Though it can be assumed that Luphom suffered the same fate as Zen-Whoberi. From the backstory established in Infinity War, it seems that Thanos was carrying out his mission of “balancing the universe” before he even had the Infinity Stones in his possession. Thanos and the Black Order would invade a resource-starved world and wipe out half the population so as to allow the planet to prosper with a smaller population. The Infinity Stones were just a means to carry out Thanos’ vision all at once, rather than the centuries it could take to invade every single planet.
With no other information to go off of, audiences are led to assume that Nebula’s MCU backstory coincides with her adoptive sister’s. Nebula must have resisted Thanos’ invasion of her home world, fighting against her captors or even participating in an open rebellion against the warlord. Thanos must have seen the young child’s spirit and gumption to resist him, earning his respect and affinity to adopt her as a “daughter of Thanos.” Though Gamora’s biological family were tragically all chosen to perish in Thanos’ randomized half-elimination of her species, the fate of Nebula’s biological family is unknown. It’s possible they or other Luphomoids could appear in future Guardians of the Galaxy projects, leading to some potentially interesting character moments for Nebula, rediscovering her home world and coming to terms with the genocides she helped facilitate as a “daughter of Thanos.”
