The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy 100 000–120 000 light-years in diameter containing 100–400 billion stars. It is the second-largest galaxy in the Local Group, and the only one not dominated by a single galactic empire.

Major civilisations

• The Badoon Hegemony: At one time the Badoon controlled more than 70% of the galaxy, but their empire faded and fractured after the Gender Wars ravaged their homeworld.
• The Eternals: A race of advanced super-beings who live on the moon Titan in the Sol System. Most are content to leave the universe in peace – except for the Mad Titan, Thanos.
• Humans: A minor, primitive race from a backwater planet that nonetheless keeps interfering with and reshaping the course of intergalactic affairs.
• The Rigellian Empire: The Rigellians rule dozens of star systems in the Milky Way, along with a similar number in the Andromeda Galaxy.

Notable locations

• Alpha Centauri System: A trinary star system; the Alpha Centaurian race live on the water world Arimas.
• Beta Centauri: Centauri IV, the fourth planet in the Beta Centauri system, is home to the primitive Centaurian race.
• Earth: Many galactic civilisations refer to this world as ‘Asylum 8’; a meaningless speck that keeps producing powerful, uncontrollable super-beings.
• Sirius X: This planet in the Hercules Star Cluster is the headquarters of the Universal Church of Truth, a fanatical religion that used its belief technology to carve an empire from surrounding systems.
• Zen-Whoberi: Home to a peaceful race of scholars, but also to the deadly assassin Gamora.