Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

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The Guardians of the Galaxy settle in Knowhere to help rebuild society there, but not all of them are up to the task, with Quill still reeling over what happened to him and Gamora. The gang’s discussion on what to do with him is abruptly interrupted as they are attacked by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), an artificial being created by the Sovereign and considered as Ayesha’s son. While the team manages to subdue and have him flee, he leaves Rocket heavily wounded and dying. They discover a kill switch attached to his heart and realize that the only way to save him is to trace his origins which leads them back to the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), Rocket’s creator and a scientist playing god in search of creating the perfect society. With the help of a now aloof Gamora who wants nothing to do with them, they race against time across the galaxy to salvage their friend’s life.

You know a film is good when an animated talking racoon brings you to the verge of tears. It is rather strange because I never liked Rocket. He is a dick, even though we all know there must be a reason behind that as hinted upon in the first two movies. As the trilogy reaches its culmination, we get those answers, and those answers are ugly, horrifying, and downright wrong. Perhaps that’s what’s responsible for making the audience emotional after all because animal cruelty, or any form of cruelty for that matter, is never nice.

It is good that the storyline does not focus on Quill this time around despite his subplot with Gamora still being persistently pursued. On second thought, they really just need some kind of closure, which they actually get here. Gamora’s storyline died with her when she was pushed off that cliff on Vormir in Infinity War. Bringing an alternate version back is problematic for the mere reason that this Gamora is not and will never be our Gamora, and seems to be just some sort of fan service to ensure the gang is complete to wrap up the threequel. Her ending with the Ravagers is perhaps the best way out for her.

If anything, what this Gamora manages to do is let another side of Nebula surface. Role reversal? It seems like a bad thing, though, because it makes you yearn for more of Nebula yet we just don’t know if Marvel still has any plans for her after this. Drax and Gamora are more or less done since Bautista and Saldana already announced their departure from the MCU, which is fine because this also feels like a dead end for Drax. A more interesting expansion of his storyline would probably be tackled best in a prequel.

We do not really know anything about Mantis. She just popped out of nowhere and was accepted as part of the group. Where did she come from? Is Ego really her daddy? She has a rich backstory on the pages of the comics. Since she doesn’t seem to be that popular to carry her own film, a Disney+ series with her discovery of her origins would be nice. Imagine if they adapt her Celestial Madonna storyline! They can do it a la Wandavision, but without much retcon since Mantis’ backstory is totally a blank slate.

And then we reached the post-credits scene saying that The Legendary Starlord will return. The question is, does anybody actually want him to? Of all the characters in this franchise, he’s probably the most uninteresting. Whatever they have in store for him, I won’t be holding my breath. I’d rather have a Disney+ series with the new Guardians team just to see more or Rocket and Groot. Such a project might also end up redeeming Adam Warlock, who has been basically inconsequential and useless here.