Marvel, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ Should Be the End of the Franchise

Third guardians of the galaxy simply put, one of the best movies Marvel has produced since… until now? I laughed, cried, gasped, etc. etc. But of course accordingly Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3scenes of two credits, the studio probably won’t do that.

(spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 under.)

first guards 3‘s credits scenes are halfway through the very long list of names. This movie stars Rocket Raccoon (perfectly voiced by Bradley Cooper), who spends most of the movie in a coma on his deathbed; instead, we had flashbacks to his horribly traumatic childhood, when he and his fellow animal companions were manipulated and abused by a mad scientist known only as the High Evolutionist (Chukwudi Iwuji).

Now that Rocket is back on the move, he’s taken the place of the Guardians, thanks to his friends getting the tools to revive him. (De facto leader Star-Lord, alias Peter Quill, alias Chris Pratt, left the team to reunite with his family on Earth, leaving Rocket in charge.)

As we saw in this mid-credits scene, this new team features some familiar faces and some less familiar faces. Here is old Groot (voice of Vin Diesel), now an adult again; Cosmo is the talking space dog, the perfect, wonderful good boy (voiced by Maria Bakalova, the perfect, wonderful good woman); and Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and Cosmo’s best crazed foe, who turned from foe to friend of the OG Guardians team. We also meet Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), an extremely powerful, gold-plated, very childlike being with his pet Blurp.

Then there’s Phyla-Vell (Kai Zen), one of the teenage girls the Guardians rescue after defeating the High Evolutionary, who once captured Rocket, who trapped and experimented with countless other species. He’s not explicitly named in the movie, but he gets a credit in the credits. Comic book fans will recognize the name and know that Phyla is important, even if this single scene doesn’t give her much depth. The rest of us will appreciate her taste in mainstream, teenage girl music.

These characters are all Guardians from various comic book series, so canonically speaking, the new formation makes sense. And it’s a cute scene – we’re happy to see the giant cow Rocket have new friends, where he immediately questions his musical tastes and then judges them on the factors of composure. They’re already looking forward to embarking on new adventures and I’m really happy for them.

Then, an eternity later, we see the post-credits scene: a quick check-in with Peter. For the first time in decades, she’s hanging out with her grandfather (Gregg Henry with old man make-up) and eating cereal at the kitchen table. A small town life where a title card promises it won’t last forever: Star-Lord will return.

That’s not surprising, nor should it be surprising that Marvel introduced the entire new Guardians team during the credits. These characters have popped up out of nowhere to build a huge fanbase of their own that Marvel would have been foolish to let go of. Still, with director James Gunn leaving – who Marvel briefly fired in 2018 for his old tweets, only to successfully protest the reinstatement of the cast – to take over the DC Cinematic Universe, guardians of the galaxy In no way will it ever be the same again.

As much as we love Rocket, Groot, Peter, Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Nebula (Karen Gillan), and especially Cosmo, it’s time to put their stories aside. Yes, they should definitely guest star in future MCU movies. Star-Lord shouldn’t go forever living a peaceful life in a random town. He’s a superhero! And one of the funnier, more interesting ones! And if I really have to, I’ll obviously get 700 new guards instead of a single movie from random directors Eternals more

But Gunn, like the core structure of the original group, was a crucial element to the success of the series. guardsThe rags chosen family, led by the stupid, horny, tune-loving Earthling Peter, was perfectly constructed. Rocket’s growl perfectly complemented Drax’s sweet, naive lack of self-awareness, while Mantis was a gentle barrier to the eternally enraged Nebula.

Most of all, with the heart-wrenching love story between Peter and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) ending with a mature ending in this third movie, it feels wrong to try to introduce a new main drama. But love and relationships are so basic guards Going without it also feels wrong, so it’s better to just…not have someone else. Individual personal troubles of the crew – feeling loved; feeling seen; feeling helpful – all enjoyed this movie’s candid character work, which helped each character successfully find their true purpose. Let’s not spoil this progress.

Emotional storytelling similarly ranks second to the familial dynamic. avengers The films perfectly accompanied Gunn’s whimsical directing style. After all, he comes from a B-movie background; his love of grotesque, exaggerated action, well-choreographed kills and black comedy deaths, guards Stand out above the fuzzy action of the rest of the Marvel suite. This third entry features a gorgeously shot fight scene that I still consider Gunn’s best (and pushing the limits by standard Marvel standards). I can’t imagine any of the MCU’s usual hired hands could film something like this cathartic full-team-kill attack that lets each character’s special abilities shine through all the carnage.

There’s zero chance of Gunn returning to make another one. guards film; DC would never allow that. And many members of the cast have expressed interest in moving from the MCU to other projects now that the trilogy is complete. While I’m going to miss out on a full two-hour adventure with Rocket Raccoon, by far my favorite MCU character, he and the rest will be better presented as cameo appearances to delight us and remind us of the good times.

But unfortunately Star-Lord will be back. The new Guards team is assembled. Phase 5 is ongoing and Phase 6 is in the planning phase. MCU mandatory, repetitive places and guards will drag it along. no there’s not guards 4 It’s still being worked on – but there’s plenty of time for that to emerge. I’ll be watching the next ones guards Projects, whatever they may be, are out of professional necessity. (Looking back, it’s a life in Marvel beat, not the life I’d choose for myself, but sadly.) But while I fear this Unarmed, reassembled future for the series, at least I’ll always remember the good times.

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