Who is Shatterstar? A Deep Dive Into the (Other) Queer Hero of ‘Deadpool 2’
Who has a long red ponytail, wears a giant (single) shoulder pad, a sparring helmet and a short white cape, carries two double-bladed swords, has a star tattoo over his right eye, is a man-kisser and will be featured in Deadpool 2? If you told Alex Trebec “Who is Shatterstar?” then you’d be correct.
The second and final trailer for Deadpool 2 gave us our first good look at Lewis Tan (from Netflix’s Iron Fist) as fan-favorite ’90s mutant Shatterstar. But who is Shatterstar really?
Get ready for our deep-dive.
First appearing in New Mutants #100 (by Fabien Nicieza and Rob Leifeld), Gaveedra Seven is a genetically engineered humanoid from the future. He was (or will be) created on Mojoworld, an alien planet where society revolves around television and is ruled over by the yellow skinned, robot-spider-legged despot Mojo. Designed specifically to compete in gladiator-style battles, Shatterstar eventually breaks away from Mojo’s control and joins the Cadre Alliance, a resistance movement.
On a mission for the Cadre Alliance, he time-travels to the present to seek the X-Men’s help but instead encounters and joins Cable’s newly formed mutant team X-Force.
Later, after being gravely injured, Shatterstar begins having memories of a mutant named Benjamin Russell who’s been in a coma since his powers emerged. He has his soul merged with Benjamin’s body (which is transformed to look like Shatterstar, conveniently) and is made to feel “whole” for the first time in his life. (This has been a dangling thread that no Marvel writer has attempted to tie up.)
Later we find out Shatterstar is actually the child of former X-Men Longshot and Dazzler, and he was born while they were part of the resistance on Mojoworld. But it could never be so simple. As it turns out, after being thrown through time to the past on Mojoworld, his genetic material is collected to create Longshot. So Shatterstar is his own grandpa! Oh, and on other time-travel jags he actually kidnaps his baby self, wipes his parents’ knowledge of his existence and delivers baby Shatterstar to the future to ensure his own existence (yep).
Between all of his time-jumping, Shatterstar leaves X-Force along with fellow member Rictor to join him for a personal mission involving Rictor’s criminal family. They part ways shortly after.
But eventually the two are reunited as members of the X-Factor detective agency. During Peter David’s run on that book, their long-hinted-at sexual relationship is confirmed with a kiss. So while Shatterstar is considered to be bisexual and polyamorous, his only depicted relationship is with another man. (How refreshing is that?!)
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After going through several changes in his appearance over the years, Shatterstar has shown up recently in his full ’90s glory to the pages of the Cable comic book. I’m sure that since that’s the look Tan is sporting in Deadpool 2 this is no coincidence.
Who is Shatterstar? Here are his stats:
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 195 lbs.
Powers: Enhanced strength, speed, agility, durability and healing; can focus energy through custom swords to create concussive force blasts
Abilities: Shatterstar is an experienced warrior, highly trained in the use of multiple types of weaponry.
Group Affiliations: X-Factor Investigations; formerly X-Force
