| Knowhere | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Nova (vol. 4) #8 (January 2008) |
| Created by | Dan Abnett Andy Lanning |
| In-universe information | |
| Type | Space Station |
| Characters | Cosmo Guardians of the Galaxy Nova Knull Black Order |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Knowhere (pronounced "nowhere") is a fictional location appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics and in related media. It is depicted as the enormous severed head of an ancient celestial being and serves as aninterdimensional crossroads and scientific observatory.
Knowhere appears in the live-actionMarvel Cinematic Universe filmsThor: The Dark World (2013),Guardians of the Galaxy (2014),Avengers: Infinity War (2018),The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), andGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)[1] as well as theDisney+ animated series'What If...? and the Disney XD animated seriesGuardians of the Galaxy.
When asked about how they came up with the idea, authorsDan Abnett andAndy Lanning said:
Honestly, they just came to us. The severed Celestial head was, I think, something that popped out of Andy's mind one day. Similarly, one morning, I said "what about a talking Russian dog?" We run with these things and develop them together. It's hard to pin down where exactly they originate.[2]
Located within what appears to be a severed head of aCelestial floating along the Rip (the extreme outer edge of allspacetime with no specific physical location), Knowhere acts as a makeshift port of call and observatory of theEnd of the Universe for intergalactic travelers of all species and from all times. First appearing inNova (vol. 4) #8 (seeAnnihilation: Conquest), the station is administered by its chief of security,Cosmo, atelepathic andtelekineticSoviet space dog originally lost in Earth orbit in the 1960s.[3]
Knowhere maintains minor facilities for close observation of the end of the Universe, a main hall, a marketplace and other amenities including the bar, Starlin's. Cosmo assigns special "passport" bracelets allowing instantaneous transportation to and from anywhere in the Universe via the deceased Celestial's "Continuum Cortex", located within the brain-stem, from where sensors can also detect subtle disruptions in space-time occurring outside The Rip in the greater Universe.[3] Facilitated by Cosmo andRichard Rider, Knowhere comes to be used as the base of operations for the newGuardians of the Galaxy.[4]
The origins of Knowhere as well as who could conceivably decapitate the godlike alien and how it appeared at the end of the Universe were uncertain for a time. Abnett and Lanning have said that the origin is "A mystery that will have to wait for now, but it's a biggie!"[5] Eventually, an answer was given: theSymbiote GodKnull, while recounting his origins toEddie Brock, revealed that he was the one who originally beheaded the Celestial with the use ofAll-Black the Necrosword and used the detached head to create more symbiotes, then long after Knull abandoned it, it would become the location of Knowhere.[1][6][7]
During theSecret Wars storyline, Knowhere is shown to be the moon that orbitsBattleworld. According toGod Emperor Doom, this Knowhere is the head of the Celestial who came to collect Battleworld but was slain in battle by the God Emperor himself and its head is still in orbit around Battleworld as a reminder of Doom's power.[8]
Knowhere appears inGuardians of the Galaxy (2015).
Knowhere appears in media set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). This version initially serves as theCollector's headquarters,[9] in which his Tivan Corporation mines cellular material to sell on the black market, before it is later sold to theGuardians of the Galaxy, who convert it into their headquarters.[1]
Russ Burlingame considered the rendering of Knowhere "one of the most striking and potentially bizarre images" from theGuardians of the Galaxy movie trailer.[3]
David S. Silverman and Douglas Brode described Knowhere as a "criminal lair" at "the fringes of space". They considered the setting a modern incarnation of the frontier of classicWestern films, "a place where outlaws and renegades skirt the trappings of society far from the dictates of civilization".[16]