With the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Marvel Studios has cemented its ability
to take pretty much any random character in its vast publishing history and turn it into
a blockbuster event.
While it's not surprising that the second movie starring the Guardians was a hit, the
movie's end did raise some interesting questions — both within the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
as well as our own, much more boring, terrifying reality.
What kinds of questions?
These questions, dummy!
"What are you doing?"
"Dance off bro, me and you!"
Oh, and, before we get into the real nitty-gritty, just remember: there are obviously spoilers
ahead.
Ego on Earth
When Star-Lord's dad, Ego the Living Planet, enacted his scheme to take over the universe
with big, blobby versions of himself, we got a glimpse of total chaos erupting in Missouri
on Earth.
What we didn't see, however, was the response of any of Earth's many, many superpowered
people.
Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, the Vision — none of the Avengers were anywhere to be found.
Even Ant-Man couldn't apparently be bothered to put in an appearance.
Unless he was there, but was just, like, too small for us to see…
Anyway, let's get back on topic.
The lack of a superheroic response on Earth was conspicuous by its absence.
So when, if ever, will we follow up on the giant blob-splosion that occurred in Missouri
as a result of Quills' crappy dad?
Probably not in Thor: Ragnarok, which seems to take place almost exclusively away from
Earth.
Will Peter Parker flip past news of the disaster while he's watching TV in Spider-Man: Homecoming?
We know that the Guardians of the Galaxy will have some sort of presence in the upcoming
Avengers: Infinity War, so dealing with the Ego-blob's aftermath may give the spacefaring
heroes the excuse to get involved with events on Earth.
And while we're on that subject…
Nebula on the hunt
By the end of the film, Gamora's sister Nebula is essentially a member of the Guardians,
even if no one really likes her very much.
But she still leaves to punish Thanos for putting her through hell her entire life.
Actress Karen Gillan has already confirmed that she'll appear in Infinity War, so she
must be colliding with Thanos one way or another once that movie debuts in 2018.
And that's yet another potential way for the Guardians to get mixed up with the rest of
Earth's mightiest heroes.
Star-Lord's status
We'd had hints that Star-Lord had some pretty heavy-duty DNA back in the first Guardians
of the Galaxy.
There have been plenty of little ones, but the biggie was when he held onto the Infinity
Stone to defeat Ronan the Accuser and somehow didn't explode into a million star-bits.
Ego made it sound like the only thing keeping hi m immortal was the living planet's glowing,
brainy core.
But is that, y'know … true?
Ego said that none of his other children had managed to retain their Celestial powers except
for Peter.
So that means Ego would have no idea how the powers of one of his children would actually
work after his own death, right?
Moreover, why would Peter lose his powers just because his deadbeat dad melted into
space sand?
If you get your dad's blue eyes, they don't fall out of your head after he kicks the bucket.
It's entirely possible that Quill is still every bit the Star-Lord he was before Ego
died.
On the other hand, if Ego is right, that opens up a whole different can of space-worms.
Peter Quill has spent his whole life being, well, him.
But if he's relied on his Celestial powers to get by in life up to this point, how will
the sudden loss of those powers affect him going forward?
Romance?
By the end of the movie, we saw Gamora finally hint that she may have the same feelings for
Star-Lord that he has for her.
But beyond that, where the relationship between these two characters goes is anybody's guess.
Conflict drives stories, and, as Peter pointed out when he referenced Sam and Diane on Cheers,
having the couple get together is usually where the story — and the audience's interest
in said relationship — ends.
Don't be surprised to see that there's actually trouble in paradise between the two when they
next appear.
And maybe someone else could come into the picture and throw a monkey wrench into the
relationship.
Like, say, Starfox, the legendary space Lothario and younger brother to a certain purple-faced
jerk named Thanos.
And while we're on the subject of romance…
No heroes necessary
In many ways, the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel confirms what we already knew: Marvel
Studios doesn't need to rely on the traditional superhero formula to make great movies.
In fact, this film was probably one of the least superheroic outings the studio has released
since the MCU started.
Sure, the gang saves the galaxy by being heroes, but this movie had much more in common with
Ghostbusters than Avengers.
And that's the thing.
Marvel Studios has access to nearly every character in the Marvel Comics library.
And they've published a whole lot of comic books over the years, including cowboy comics,
romance comics, and even cowboy romance comics back in the day.
Marvel Studios simply needs to keep making good movies to be successful.
It doesn't matter if the characters they choose are recognizable or not.
Before Guardians of the Galaxy, who'd ever heard of Drax the Destroyer or Gamora or Ronan
the Accuser, except for the geeks way in the back of the comic shop?
If Marvel wants to tap new genres featuring even more obscure characters, there's ample
proof that it can do so without too much risk.
And doing new, interesting things with big-budget movies means audiences will have more choice.
That's a win.
Filmmakers making films
Both Guardians of the Galaxy movies were very much the product of writer-director James
Gunn.
We'll probably never know for sure how much or how little input Marvel Studios had on
the script and final cut, but these are two very unique, very weird, very fun movies.
Just as Marvel Studios can branch out into different territory when it comes to the kinds
of movies it releases, it seems as though the studio is starting to truly trust its
filmmakers to deliver the goods in whatever form they think is best.
Fans definitely had reason for concern when director Edgar Wright left the Ant-Man production
in 2014 due to creative differences.
But as time goes on, that incident seems more like a fluke than anything to truly worry
about.
When it comes to Marvel movies, they'll probably be pretty good, no matter who's sitting in
the director's chair.
Thanks for watching!
Click the Looper icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love too.