Rocket, Groot, Drax, Gamora and Star Lord. 9 years ago when the MCU was barely into it’s Phase 2 these names were ones that some voices questioned as no names of Marvel. With the Avengers hitting the big time for Marvel who were just bought by Disney, Fox still owning the X-Men and Spider-Man movies still being pumped out by Sony, a movie about the Guardians of the Galaxy along side big name sequels like Thor, Iron Man and Captain America puzzled some. Now 9 years later The Guardians have more than slated themselves part of the heart of the MCU and with one more ride in Volume 3 in cinemas is it still time for one more ride?
For anyone who is a bit fuzzy on their Guardians of the Galaxy history in the MCU we can do a quick refresher but we might need to skip a few beats as the Guardians have been pretty important to the Infinity Saga aka the first 22 films of the MCU. The Guardians of the Galaxy are for lack of a better explainer – Space Avengers, a team that has been around for sometime in the comics with a roster and line up that has changed much over the years with the very first team appearing in 1969 and no way resembling the MCU line up that was based/mirrored the Marvel Comics relaunch of 2008.
The Guardians, while not exactly like the Avengers, were more like space mercenaries/heroes for hire who went through many iterations including characters like the archer Yondu Udonta before the big screen adaption. The team made up of Star-Lord, aka Peter Quill who was abducted from earth as a child and brought up in the ways of space piracy, Gamora the adopted daughter of Thanos. Drax the Destroyer whose wife and child were killed by the actions of Thanos, Rocket a trigger happy mechanical genius/genetically modified raccoon and Groot a Flora colossus or talking humanoid tree creature aka Rockets muscle – met in the first film as thieves and bounty hunters clashing with Ronan the Accuser who was aligned with Thanos for control of one of the Infinity Stones.
By the end of the first chapter the Power Stone was safely held by the Nova Corps (galaxy peace keepers) and the Guardians had their past criminal records expunged and Groot ‘died’ to give offspring to a new Baby Groot. The newly minted gun for hire team started taking on jobs for groups such as the Sovereign (a genetically grown civilisation) who vowed to destroy the Guardians after Rocket stole some of their Harbulary Batteries. While happening we learn about Quill’s actual ancestory and that his father is in fact a planet sized creature named Ego. The in-fighting Guardians come together to defeat Ego and if the first film was about friends the second is about the lessons of the Fast and the Furious franchise in how friends can be family.
Thanks to the interconnected nature of the MCU the Guardians story continued into Infinity War and End Game where Gamora (and Nebula her also adopted by Thanos sister) were captured by Thanos with Gamora dying as Thanos retrieved another Infinity Stone (after retrieving the one the Nova Corps had destroying the Corps in the process). After half of the universe was wiped out by Thanos the remaining Avengers and Guardians (led by Rocket) did a ‘time heist’ where they jumped to other timelines to retrieve Infinity Stones to restore the half of the Universe which also led to a version of Gamora from before she met any of the Guardians being brought into the main timeline.
And that is basically where we are up to, no Nova Corps, Thanos defeated, Guardians 2 times galaxy savers (so they can really jack up their prices) oh and they bought Knowhere as a base which is a floating head of a dead celestial during a Christmas special.
So what happens now for the Guardians? That is a good question as while almost still a complete team there are still some loose threads with the Sovereign still wanting revenge o the Guardians for the insult and Star-Lord who lost the version of Gamora who he was very much in love with for one who doesn’t know his name. Well while the first two movies were definitely all about Star-Lord this third and final chapter is definitely about Rocket.
Much like Volume 2 of the Guardians Volume 2 takes a few concepts from the comics and adapts them into the MCU. Where Rocket was originally created on Half-world by robots who evolved from the pets of their human rulers the MCU takes us down the more emotionally scarred history of Rocket with The High Evolutionary – a Doctor Moreau like character who created counter earth in the comics. A version of earth that sat on the same orbit as earth but hidden behind the sun and populated by human/animal hybrids.
While the Guardians are often known for the incredible soundtrack and humour it is easy to forget that each instalment in the series has included a pretty serious emotional gut punch right from the opening of the first film where Quill’s mother dies from cancer before the opening credits. Volume 3 being the first and only trilogy written and directed by the same person throughout the level of feels you will have for Volume 3 have been turned up to 11 as we bounce between present and past for Rocket’s origins in the MCU.
As a film and not an emotional rollercoaster Volume 3 is peak MCU and on par with Phase 1-3 films which may be important for some who have felt a difference in the films in Phase 4 onwards. While mostly set in outer space and alien environments the mixture of special and practical effects blends as smoothly as it has done on the previous films leaving you completely immersed from start to finish. Which is good because with the emotional rollercoaster you are going to go on between the action is not going to leave you a chance for a bathroom break during the 2 hour and 29 minute run time.
So should you go see it? If you have ever been a fan of the Guardians then that is an absolute certainty. This is the last outing for some of the Guardians with James Gunn leaving Marvel to head up the new DC Comics Cinematic Universe. If the second film was about family than this one is about overcoming trauma and moving on from your past and while you might feel anxious to go see your friends one more time before they head into the forever know that you will feel better for it.
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 is in cinemas across Australia from today
