# D'Bari
The D'Bari are a fictional extraterrestrial race in [Marvel Comics](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-comics), created by writer [Stan Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/stan-lee) and artist [Jack Kirby](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-kirby) and introduced in *Avengers* #4 in 1964 as the race of the alien Vuk, who battled the Avengers on Earth. The race is best known for its apparent extinction in *The Dark Phoenix Saga*, when the Dark Phoenix consumed the D'bari star and destroyed the inhabited planet D'bari IV, and for its later role as the antagonists of the 2019 film *X-Men: Dark Phoenix*.[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari) • [2](https://comicbooks.com/issue/the-avengers-4-18287) • [3](https://www.marvel.com/characters/phoenix-jean-grey?=___psv__p_46246686__t_a_)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First appearance | *Avengers* #4, 1964, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; the D'bari appear unnamed, represented by Vuk[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari) • [2](https://comicbooks.com/issue/the-avengers-4-18287) |
| Nickname | "Asparagus people", for their green skin and green, shaggy hair; white eyes, average height 5'4", average weight 130 lbs[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari) • [4](https://www.bustle.com/p/the-dbari-aliens-marvel-comics-storyline-may-reveal-how-the-x-men-will-meet-the-avengers-17953151) |
| Home world | D'bari IV, in the D'bari system of the Shi'ar Galaxy, within the Shi'ar Empire's sphere of influence[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari) |
| Nature | A peaceful, long-lived race; lifespans measured in centuries, with reproduction sexual or by budding about once per millennium[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari) • [5](https://www.marvel-world.com/encyclopedie-834-fiche-d-bari-les-biographie.html) |
| Defining catastrophe | The Dark Phoenix consumed the D'bari star, destroying D'bari IV and its five billion inhabitants, in *X-Men* #135 (April 1980)[5](https://www.marvel-world.com/encyclopedie-834-fiche-d-bari-les-biographie.html) • [6](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari_IV) |
| Named representatives | Bzztl, Gvyn, Tas'wzta, and Vuk (Starhammer)[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari) |
| Film role | Antagonists of *X-Men: Dark Phoenix* (2019), led by Vuk, with shapeshifting abilities added for the film[7](https://xmenmovies.fandom.com/wiki/D%27Bari) |
## First appearance: Vuk and the Avengers
The D'bari entered Marvel continuity through a single individual. In *Avengers* #4, the D'bari explorer Vuk, later known as Starhammer, had crash-landed on Earth centuries earlier when his ship became stuck at the bottom of the ocean. To defend himself he used a ray gun that turned humans to stone, contributing to the legend of Medusa, and he turned the Avengers to stone when the Sub-Mariner promised to recover his ship in exchange. After [Captain America](https://www.edgepedia.org/captain-america) unmasked him, he restored the Avengers and left the planet with his ship.[8](https://marvelreading.com/index.php/character/starhammer) The race itself was unnamed in this debut issue.[2](https://comicbooks.com/issue/the-avengers-4-18287)
## The Dark Phoenix Saga
Sixteen years later, the race's name became inseparable from the *X-Men* storyline that destroyed it. In *The Dark Phoenix Saga*, Jean Grey, seemingly merged with the cosmic Phoenix Force, departs Earth as the Dark Phoenix and consumes the D'bari star, a type-G sun, causing it to go nova. The destruction wipes out D'bari IV, the D'bari home world, along with the ten other, uninhabited planets of the D'bari system; the planet's five billion inhabitants die.[3](https://www.marvel.com/characters/phoenix-jean-grey?=___psv__p_46246686__t_a_) • [5](https://www.marvel-world.com/encyclopedie-834-fiche-d-bari-les-biographie.html) • [6](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari_IV) The event occurs in *X-Men* #135, cover-dated April 1980.[6](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari_IV)
The catastrophe drives the saga's climax. The Shi'ar empress Lilandra, judging Phoenix a threat to the galaxy, takes the Imperial Guard to Earth's moon to neutralize her, clashing reluctantly with the X-Men before the Phoenix seemingly commits suicide.[9](https://www.marvel.com/teams-and-groups/shiar)
**The retcon.** A later change reframed who was responsible. Marvel's accounts state that during the saga the Phoenix Force was not truly merged with [Jean Grey](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-grey) but impersonating her, having copied her appearance and personality; this is the reason it was later retconned that the "Jean" of the Dark Phoenix Saga was not the real Jean Grey but the Phoenix itself.[9](https://www.marvel.com/teams-and-groups/shiar) • [10](https://www.denofgeek.com/comics/x-men-dark-phoenix-easter-eggs-reference-guide/)
## Survivors and later comic appearances
The race was not entirely erased. The few surviving D'bari developed a hatred of the Phoenix and of humanity generally, and named representatives include Bzztl, Gvyn, Tas'wzta, and Vuk.[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari) Comic Vine characterizes the group as an alien species "all but wiped out" by the destruction of their home planet, and lists the D'Bari across 34 issues.[11](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/dbari/4060-57681/lists/) Appearances cataloged by the Marvel Database range from *Phoenix: The Untold Story* and *Sensational She-Hulk* issues in the 1980s and early 1990s to *Wolverine* #136–138, *Uncanny X-Men* #387, *Captain America Corps*, *X-Men: Gold Annual*, and recent series such as *Nova: Centurion* and *The End 2099*.[12](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Category%3AD%27bari/Appearances)
## Other media
**Animation.** [In the Earth](https://www.edgepedia.org/in-the-earth)-92131 continuity of *X-Men: The Animated Series* and *X-Men '97*, the D'bari are a race within the Shi'ar Empire whose planetary system is destroyed by Jean Grey possessed by the Phoenix Force, but the species survives elsewhere in the empire; the destruction is depicted in *X-Men: The Animated Series* season 3, episode 13, and the aftermath carries into *X-Men '97* season 1, episode 6.[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari)
**Film.** *X-Men: Dark Phoenix* (2019) made the D'Bari the film's central antagonists for the first time. In this version, their planet was destroyed by the Phoenix, leaving their leader Vuk and a few survivors alive; seeking to avenge their people, they go to Earth to claim the Phoenix Force and kill Jean, and are eventually killed by the Phoenix after the X-Men intervene.[7](https://xmenmovies.fandom.com/wiki/D%27Bari) • [1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari) The film's D'Bari depart from the comics in several ways: they are shapeshifters, a power the comics D'Bari never possessed, which traces to the production's original plan to use the Skrulls, changed because the Skrulls were featured in *Captain Marvel*, released the same year; a linguist was hired to create a D'Bari language; and the film does not show the comics' light green skin and shaggy green hair.[7](https://xmenmovies.fandom.com/wiki/D%27Bari) • [4](https://www.bustle.com/p/the-dbari-aliens-marvel-comics-storyline-may-reveal-how-the-x-men-will-meet-the-avengers-17953151) The film is set in 1992 within the X-Men movie timeline.[13](https://time.com/4674853/logan-wolverine-x-men-timeline/) Commentators on the adaptation noted that the film combined several D'Bari story elements to serve Jean's narrative, giving the aliens a villain role in place of the comics' impersonal cosmic catastrophe.[4](https://www.bustle.com/p/the-dbari-aliens-marvel-comics-storyline-may-reveal-how-the-x-men-will-meet-the-avengers-17953151)
## References
1. [D'bari, Marvel Database (Fandom)](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari)
2. [The Avengers #4 "Captain America Joins... The Avengers!"], ComicBooks.com](https://comicbooks.com/issue/the-avengers-4-18287)
3. [Phoenix (Jean Grey) Powers, Villains, History, Marvel](https://www.marvel.com/characters/phoenix-jean-grey?=___psv__p_46246686__t_a_)
4. [The D'Bari Aliens' Marvel Comics Storyline May Reveal How The X-Men Will Meet The Avengers, Bustle](https://www.bustle.com/p/the-dbari-aliens-marvel-comics-storyline-may-reveal-how-the-x-men-will-meet-the-avengers-17953151)
5. [Fiche encyclopédique (Races) : D'Bari (les), Marvel-World](https://www.marvel-world.com/encyclopedie-834-fiche-d-bari-les-biographie.html)
6. [D'bari IV, Marvel Database (Fandom)](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/D%27bari_IV)
7. [D'Bari, X-Men Movies Wiki (Fandom)](https://xmenmovies.fandom.com/wiki/D%27Bari)
8. [Starhammer, Complete Marvel Reading Order](https://marvelreading.com/index.php/character/starhammer)
9. [Shi'ar Members, Enemies, Powers, Marvel](https://www.marvel.com/teams-and-groups/shiar)
10. [X-Men: Dark Phoenix Easter Eggs and Reference Guide, Den of Geek](https://www.denofgeek.com/comics/x-men-dark-phoenix-easter-eggs-reference-guide/)
11. [D'Bari (Team), Comic Vine](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/dbari/4060-57681/lists/)
12. [Category:D'bari/Appearances, Marvel Database (Fandom)](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Category%3AD%27bari/Appearances)
13. [How X-Men: Dark Phoenix Fits Into the X-Men Timeline(s), TIME](https://time.com/4674853/logan-wolverine-x-men-timeline/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Film characters and fictional worlds › Marvel Comics characters › Species and cosmic entities*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license