Now that is a conclusion to a trilogy.

I know I say this almost every time, but seriously I can’t believe this movie has already come and gone. I can honestly say I think for the most part it lived up to quite the hype and I might even be inclined to agree with someone who tweeted that this is the movie that should have started Phase 5. While like any movie, I have a few things that I didn’t love, I have to say the writing and plot genuinely overpowered things that weren’t my favorite. But I will get all these thoughts out momentarily. First, you guys know the drill. Go ahead and click the button to find your platform of choice to start listening or listen live in this blog post hitting the play button on the link.

Our Reactions

Taylor and I actually had very different reactions originally, mainly because I can confess that I let the ending deter how I truly felt about the whole film. I will get into more detail about my issues with the ending later on, but I want to say I really can now confidently give this movie a 7/7.5 out of 10. I could even argue higher, I just didn’t love some of the character moments. Either way, I want to address the plot first and foremost because it was beautifully done. James Gunn made it clear that the movie runtime was as long as it was because every second was needed, and while of course, the director would say that, he really was right. There wasn’t a moment in the theater that I was wondering how long I’d been there and if the film was almost over because I was quite literally entranced in everything happening. Whether I was possibly going to cry, shake due to nerves and fear, or laugh due to a well-placed comic relief joke, every second truly was needed to see this whole story through. And I can also say not a part of myself or Taylor could have predicted this plot. I could never have imagined they would sideline Rocket for most of the movie and have saving his life be the driving factor of the whole thing, but it worked so well. And while I will definitely take some time to talk about Rocket’s story a little later, I have to say as a whole, this is one of the best plots we’ve seen in a Marvel film in a very long time.

We also just all need to take a pause and appreciate not only the CGI of this film (as that has been a pretty constant issue in some of the past films) but also that we arguably just got one of the best fight scenes we have ever seen in an MCU movie. And you all know that pains me to say, as I will die on a hill for the Winter Soldier vs Captain America bridge battle. Yet genuinely, I found myself in awe watching the fight scene with all the Guardians as they faced the weird mutated beings the High Evolutionary made. I replay this scene in my head, I’m not even kidding. The song choice, the close-ups, and the choices of when to do a more slow-mo shot versus a real-time shot, truly were perfect. It felt like we were really in the big battle, we were in the end(game) and you could tell that it was going to be the end of that team like that, so we got the best of the best. It was just too good to even describe and I already can’t wait to be able to watch it again when the movie comes on Disney+.

Now the reason I said I had some issues with the characters is mainly because I felt like there were a few things in the character department that I would have liked to have seen done differently. Starting with Adam Warlock, I have to first say that I am happy they told us from the start that he pretty much has the brain of a 6-year-old. Did I expect that? No. I thought we’d see some pretty cool Adam Warlock moments and instead only got a glimpse at what he could become. But quite frankly, while I didn’t love to see how it played on the screen, personally, it did really excite me for more of him. I mean, even in his child-like state, he bodied the Guardians. And while I felt like his presence at times could be removed from the movie and it wouldn’t have changed the plot that much, it was still the only film I could have seen him naturally brought in. So I can technically call a truce here, as I personally can’t say I loved some of the way Adam was in the movie, but could see why he was written that way and where his character can/will go.

I also have to say that the Guardians Holiday special set up some really great relationships that I didn’t think played out very much in the movie, specifically Mantis and Peter. And maybe to Taylor’s point, some of the conversations they had coming from his sister maybe held more weight, but personally, I just felt like you could have never told me that they were siblings and not a thing would change for me. It honestly felt like there was more of a relationship between Drax and Mantis than between her and Peter. It just felt off to me and I wish we would have had a little more exploration into that relationship. Especially, since now they both have gone off to do their own thing and there’s no telling when/if we will see them on screen again together.

Rocket’s Story

From the very first trailer, many people assumed Rocket wasn’t going to make it through this movie. We knew that it was going to focus on his past and how he was created, but I’m honestly not sure a single one of us was mentally and emotionally prepared for what we would witness. Someone said that the High Evolutionary was the easiest villain in the MCU to hate and didn’t get it until I spent 2.5 hours watching the worst man to live grace the big screen. Unlike some of our beloved villains (or even some of the more forgettable ones), the High Evolutionary had no redeemable traits. He did what he did with his experiments to create a perfect specimen that shouldn’t exist. And even when he supposedly did it, he just kept going to try and make it better, without a care in the world for the lives he ruined in his wake. If any part of you felt sympathy for this man I would be genuinely flabbergasted. So not only was everything he did absolutely horrendous, we then see how his past meets Rockets in a painful and emotional origin story.

Every single time a flashback moment would come up, I would almost inwardly cringe. There wasn’t a single flashback that didn’t cause me some sort of emotional pain and so when we would cut to them, I never felt prepared for what I would see. And the truth is, I never was. I didn’t expect to see Rocket’s torture so clearly or spend so much time seeing how the High Evolutionary had no regard for life and threw away animals for the sake of science. Worst of all, I didn’t know what was going to happen to Rocket’s friends, other than the general knowledge he didn’t see them anymore. The scene in the trailer of him hugging Layla never once made me think it was a flashback, so I thought we were going to have a happy reunion at some point. Not for a second did I believe that beautiful moment would be seconds before disaster. There was just so much pain in Rocket’s past, more than just his own torture and making that I never anticipated seeing so clearly.

Then to finish out Rocket’s story, bringing it all full circle to the present, James Gunn created a masterpiece by having Rocket be the person to go back and find/free the animals. He failed to free his friends years before and now he returned to free all the other animals the High Evolutionary had. And I have to tell you, the moment he found all the baby raccoons and grabbed them, while at the same time finally accepting himself as a raccoon and taking the mantle of Rocket Raccoon for the first time in the MCU was so wholesome. We’ve got some awesome official “suit-ups” if you will, but this one just hit different. I had never thought of Rocket much, which may be because I have always seen the Guardians as their own group away from everyone else, but this story has quickly made him a character I won’t forget exists.

The Ending + Plus End Credit Scenes

So if you haven’t picked up on my vibe at the beginning of this post, then I’ll be quite clear about it now. I didn’t love the ending and one of the end-credit scenes, and at first, the recency bias really screwed with my head. Luckily, I’ve gotten over that hump, but let’s get into this ending a little. The very first thing was that I can’t be the only one who felt that this movie had been set up and talked about in a way to assume there were going to be character deaths. I mean, we had a whole section in our predictions episode about who we thought would genuinely die. That isn’t to say I was hoping it would happen, but in a big finale ending, it felt like at least a few heroes wouldn’t make it. So imagine my shock when every single one of them made it out alive. I guess I’ve started to get used to some of those dark and sad storylines we’ve seen recently that I just figured the worse would happen, I don’t know. It’s just weird to me for there to be a relatively happy ending. But I accepted it, I was okay with it.

And then they all split up, which I think is where I really became bothered by the ending. If people lost their lives, it would make sense as to why the Guardians would morph into another group or just collapse completely. It just felt a little off that instead, after they worked so hard to save their friend, so many would decide to leave. Don’t get me wrong, they all had fairly valid reasons as to why they were, it just felt a little out of place for me, especially when it was just about all the Guardians walking away, with the exception of Groot and Rocket. I guess I could just be in denial and be convinced death would’ve been easier to digest than the group just breaking up. Hey, I’m an ex-One Direction stan, I have PTSD from groups breaking up.

I will say, either way, neither Taylor nor I were shocked at the first end-credit scene. We predicted not only having something dealing with Adam and his future but also that he would join a new Guardians team, both of which came true. It made plenty of sense to use the first-end credit scene to set up the next Guardians team, especially when it’s pretty unclear the next time we see them. They could appear in Kang Dynasty, which would make sense as it’s the next Infinity War/Endgame level threat, but as far as a movie or show with this new team, well, that’s so far away we can’t even say for sure we’ll get it. I would imagine with James Gunn finishing his Guardians trilogy, it will take some time to find the next direction for the new story. It will be exciting to see them come together and what they battle next, even if it’s sad to see many of the OGs go. It’s the next phase of Avengers all over again.

Moving to the second end credit scene, this is the one that made me really angry deep inside somewhere. I promise you, though, that there are levels to this anger. The first level is just if we were going to see Peter Quill eating cereal as an end credit, I wish there would have been something funnier about it. I think of the Avengers end credit with our heroes eating shwarma. There was a hilarious irony in our heroes sitting around in full battle gear after defeating a whole army and they’re silently eating shwarma. This one just was sort of there. I did appreciate the call back to the Kevin Bacon abduction in the holiday special, but otherwise, it was meh for me. But what really upset me was that they claimed after the end credit that Star-Lord would return. Now, if you’ve been around long enough you know I’ve had some pretty mixed feelings towards Peter since Infinity War. I am going to assure you all now that it isn’t those feelings talking, just my general opinion. I really did think Peter would die in this film but I could accept that he didn’t. I could accept that he returned to Earth. What I’m struggling with is the fact he isn’t done, which means there’s a good chance he is going to be teaming up with heroes on Earth or having his own story in the future. At that point, especially if he teams up with heroes on Earth, then what was half the point of him leaving the Guardians? Couldn’t he just retire and learn to live on Earth again, maybe enroll in school since he has the education of an 8-year-old? As I said, there are levels to why I didn’t like this end-credit scene. This one definitely left me a little more shocked than I would like to admit, but in Marvel, we trust, right?

What’s Next for the Guardians

While we already talked about Quill, let’s wrap up by discussing the other Guardians and where/if we will be seeing them again.

Nebula – I don’t believe Nebula’s story is done, although I think she will be a cameo person. And I don’t mean like randomly in films then isn’t, I mean I wouldn’t be shocked to see a hero find themself on Knowhere and end up interacting with Nebula. Otherwise, I think she finally found her true life purpose and she’s done fighting.

Gamora – Besides the fact that Gamora is still from 2014 and my head hurts whenever I try and figure out how it’s okay she’s in 2024 or whatever year it is in the MCU now, I think we’re done seeing her. Unless we get another run-in with the Ravagers, which I’m not writing off, just marking as more unlikely, then I don’t think we will be seeing her anytime soon.

Drax – Drax’s future is probably similar to Nebula’s. We know he’s staying on Knowhere and will be looking after the children they saved, so I see him more as a possible cameo than anything else.

Mantis – Oh, Mantis is so far from being done it isn’t even funny. It’s important to remember that there is a comic line in which Mantis is Kang’s wife, along with being the Celestial Madonna. Since she is now going on her own, I think this opens up that line of storytelling a little bit more, as she isn’t limited by her Guardians grouping. We also saw how she was becoming more and more powerful, along with being more aware of what she can do, so I don’t doubt that we will be seeing more of her.

And that’s pretty much it. I don’t think there’s a need to talk about Rocket and Groot, since we are all pretty well-versed in where their future lies. Either way, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be going down in the record books, as it is definitely making and leaving its mark on everyone who has seen it so far. The Guardians trilogy has now added itself to the slowly growing list of trilogies and has managed to take a pretty high spot in the court of public opinion as far as trilogies go. I guess this is my way of saying that yea, the MCU fans have spoken and they’re living for it. We’re going to ride this wave right into our next episode, where we are going to hit on the new Guardians team, specifically, one member who didn’t get a whole lot of screen time but is likely to be pretty relevant moving forward. We will also cover where we think we will be seeing them all next, so don’t miss out, since Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”, Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy