Ready for the farewell tour?
The marketing campaign for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” savvily cooked up by the Marvel Studios and Disney teams, has positioned it as the last hurrah for the team that formed in 2014 with the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” and who have endured for two sequels, appearances in both “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame,” as well as “Thor: Love and Thunder” and their very own seasonal celebration, 2022’s “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.” (They also have theme park attractions at Disney’s California Adventure in California and EPCOT at Walt Disney World in Florida.)
Now that the final installment is here, we thought we’d break down what happens at the end of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and its implications for the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe (or is it Multiverse?)
Major spoilers for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” follow (obviously).
How does “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” end?
With a dance party, of course.
Wait really?
Yes.
What song?
Florence and the Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over,” the 2009 single that later appeared on her debut studio album in 2009. It’s a good one.
How did we get there?
Well, after defeating the evil High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) and rescuing the animals and aliens on board his flying fortress/laboratory, the Guardians regrouped on Knowhere. (Knowhere is the floating Celestial head where the Collector once lived; it was introduced in the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” and later showed up in “Avengers: Infinity War.” The Guardians now run it.) Nebula (Karen Gillan) decides that she is going to be the sheriff/mayor of Knowhere; Drax (Dave Bautista) is going to be a dad to the lost young aliens that they rescued from the High Evolutionary; Mantis (Pom Klementieff) is going to go off and find herself; and Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) will travel back to earth to reconnect with his grandfather. And Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) has already decided to stay with the Ravagers. The Guardians of the Galaxy, as we know it, have disbanded. Very Beatles.
So the Guardians of the Galaxy are done?
Well, not exactly.
Explain.
The Guardians know that they already have a new leader amongst them: Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper). He agrees to lead a new team, comprised of telepathic space dog Cosmo (Maria Bakalova); villain-turned-ally Adam Warlock (Will Poulter); one of the High Evolutionary’s child experiments Phyla (Kai Zen); former Ravager (and Yondu’s protégé) Kraglin (Sean Gunn); Warlock’s furry, freaky alien pet Blurp; and Groot (Vin Diesel), now a giant mountain of a tree-man.
Okay but what about the dancing?
Before Quill heads back to Earth, he gives Rocket his Zune. Earlier in the movie, we saw Rocket sing along to Radiohead’s “Creep,” which is a profoundly touching moment that says a lot about his character and his emotional journey. (Remember in the first movie he was utterly baffled by Quill’s love of pop music?) At the end of the movie we see Rocket with the Zune; he toggles down to 2000s music and selects Florence and the Machine’s sing-along barnstormer. It’s a moment where all of the Guardians, together for one last time, can let out all of their nervous, joyous, pent-up energy. It’s really, really wonderful.
But the Guardians will be back?
It’s unclear!
Really?
Yes!
How so?
At the very end of the movie, after a mid-credits scene that introduces Rocket and the new Guardians line-up and a funny moment with Quill and his grandfather (Gregg Henry), there’s a title card that simply says: “The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return.” It doesn’t say anything about the rest of the Guardians or whether they’ll make it back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Our guess is we’ll probably see them (there are two more “Avengers” movies on the way after all) but Star-Lord is the guarantee.
When will we know more?
Probably Comic-Con in July. But this is the end of the road for James Gunn and the initial line-up of the team. Maybe the marketing was right after all?
