Villains who were supposed to appear in previous MCU installments. Pop culture references.
Heartbreak. Here are some of the surprises in the "Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3" trailer.
Peter Quill opens the trailer with a moving, motivational statement:
"We were gone for quite a while but no matter what happens next,
the galaxy still needs its Guardians."
The crew arrives on a new, Earth-like planet, but the inhabitants are far from human. Sadly,
Gamora is not with them, as she died in "Avengers: Infinity War."
A different version of Gamora from an alternate universe came to the central MCU universe via
the events of "Avengers: Endgame," but now, the Guardians, hoping to reunite with ANY version
of their lost friend, are searching for her. For Drax, this means pelting a New Men child
in the face with a ball on Counter-Earth and inciting a rock fight with the land's inhabitants.
"Come on, Drax. Seriously, dude?"
"Hey!"
Speaking of Gamora, we don't see a whole lot of her in the trailer. It's clear
that at some point the Guardians achieve their internal mission of finding her,
as she's seen helping Mantis carry Drax out of a situation where he looks to have been
hit in the chest by something, but there are also shots of her holding a polaroid,
drawing a weapon, and an epic shot of the team walking away in unison from a fire. It'll be
interesting to see how the crew interacts with this "new" Gamora in a more in-depth role.
The trailer also gives us our best look yet at Will Poulter's Adam Warlock, a major character
in the Marvel comic books who originally played a huge role in the "Infinity Gauntlet" and "Infinity
War" miniseries. Comic fans were a bit confused when Warlock wasn't included in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe films of "Avengers: Infinity War" or "Avengers: Endgame," especially after
learning he was supposed to be a major player in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." Warlock is shown
with a jewel in the middle of his forehead, which in the comics was an Infinity Stone.
Considering this is supposed to take place after the events of "Avengers: Endgame," we'll have to
wait and see what the purpose of the gem will be in this film. Maybe the gem is an Infinity Stone,
and "Guardians Vol. 3" will be the latest MCU film to play around with timelines in the multiverse.
As Warlock has played both the hero and occasional villain in the comics, it's unclear how he will
function in this film. The end credits scene from "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" showed Ayesha
presenting a gold growth chamber with a being she crafted specifically to destroy the Guardians,
so it's likely that Adam Warlock will be the secondary antagonist of the film. However,
given the much greater threat at hand, it won't be surprising if Adam Warlock
has a change of heart and eventually joins the Guardians to take down the High Evolutionary.
It's been known for a few months that Chukwudi Iwuji was joining "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.
3" as antagonist the High Evolutionary. However, the trailer is the first look at his terrifying
presence outside of his appearance at San Diego Comic-Con when he showed up in person ... and in
costume. The High Evolutionary is the villainous name for Doctor Herbert Wyndham, a geneticist who
focuses on creating human/animal hybrids typically called "New Men." As was previously noted, the
Guardians open the trailer by arriving on a planet inhabited by aliens, all of which resemble humans
with the heads and limbs of different animals. It's safe to assume that the Guardians' arrival
on Counter-Earth will interrupt whatever plans the High Evolutionary is in the middle of pursuing.
This is purely speculative, but given his penchant for modifying genetics,
the Guardians may see the High Evolutionary modify what's left of Ego and the severed Celestial
head of Knowhere to recreate a Celestial, or worse, bring Super-Ego into the fold.
Now, the High Evolutionary will need a heck of a lot of power to pull off a stunt that big and
would need something like, say, the potential remaining energy inside the Anulax Batteries
Rocket used to make a bomb inside Ego's core during "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2."
Something big is happening with Rocket, and no one in the galaxy is emotionally ready for it.
Nebula recently gave Rocket the Christmas gift to end all Christmas gifts in "The
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special," which will almost certainly come into play
during "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," for better or worse. Rocket is responsible
for many of the emotional lines in this trailer, including telling Peter Quill:
"Pete, I'm done running."
It's been implied that Rocket was created as the result of animal testing,
which has always been a sore spot for the team's smallest hothead.
In the comics, Rocket comes from a planet in the Keystone Quadrant that serves as an abandoned
colony for the mentally ill and their genetically manipulated animal companions. It's hard to know
how much of this story Gunn will keep and how much will be changed for the MCU, but Gunn has made
it clear that this film's arc is the plan he's had for Rocket Raccoon from the very beginning.
The trailer also shows a brief shot of Rocket hugging Lady Lylla, a wise otter who is Rocket's
soulmate in the comics. The voice of Lady Lylla has yet to be announced, but this could be the
character Gunn was teasing when the film wrapped principal photography a few months back. We know
from the shot of Baby Rocket that the film will feature flashbacks, so it's unclear whether or not
Lylla will appear in a flashback or be introduced to Rocket in the current timeline. Regardless,
it's sure to be emotionally devastating, and given the inclusion of the animal hybrid New
Men of the High Evolutionary, perhaps he will provide the painful answers to Rocket's history.
The "Guardians of the Galaxy" films have been riddled with pop culture references
from the very beginning, with even the "Volume" names referencing the mixtapes Peter Quill has
made of his favorite music. While the San Diego Comic-Con teaser boasted the song "Do
You Realize?" by The Flaming Lips, the new trailer has "In the Meantime" by the band
Spacehog. The song feels right at home with the "Guardians" soundtrack, and in a weirdly meta
coincidence — or knowing Gunn, an intentional decision — the song was the lead single off the
band's album, "Resident Alien." The song was tailor-made to be in the "Guardians" movie.
Another interesting bit of pop culture fun occurs when the Guardians jump out of the ship in
colorful space suits that look a lot like the ones from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Most importantly, there are a few shots of Quill, Mantis,
and Rocket all crying out in agony. It seems as if someone might be saying their last farewell,
but it's not exactly clear who. With James Gunn leaving Marvel to co-lead the film,
TV, and animation division over at DC, it's also quite possible that all of the
Guardians will be saying their goodbyes because, as Rocket says in the trailer:
"We'll all fly away together, one last time, into the forever ... that beautiful sky."