In each other, this cybernetic assassin, talking tree, raccoon with genius intellect, insectoid empath, and extremely literal destroyer have found a family. It’s a full-circle moment for the Guardians, who began this trilogy as individuals, homeless and alone.

With Thanos defeated and trillions of beings snapped back and forth between existence, Nebula (Karen Gillan), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Drax (Dave Bautista) have created a home for anyone that needs one. The Guardians, who briefly appeared in the surprisingly dismal Thor: Love and Thunder, have started to build a headquarters on Knowhere - introduced in the first movie, Knowhere is the massive, cosmic skull of the celestial being that was mined for organic matter and then became a seedy intergalactic outpost. Clint Barton found an apprentice Wanda Maximoff got way too deep into demonic paraphernalia Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson became bros, and Wilson became Captain America. Marvel’s various movies and Disney+ shows have tackled “the snap” and “the snapback” in their own ways, showing us glimpses of how people in the MCU dealt with the blip. That’s the only option when half the universe’s living beings were zapped away in 2018’s Infinity War only to come back, five years having passed, in 2019’s Endgame. The third Guardians movie, the first since 2017’s Vol 2., begins with rebuilding. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 is about picking up the pieces and the evil of eugenics It achieves all this by, thankfully, ignoring Marvel’s grand design. 3 is the best Marvel film since Endgame, however, I mean it as a genuine compliment: The movie is great and not just the best house on a bad block.ĭirector James Gunn’s final Guardians chapter rips and roars with the confidence and emotions that nine years and multiple movies featuring this band of space underdogs bring. It’s all led to the feeling that Marvel is in a relative rut. The studio has also released some extreme stinkers into the wild, like Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is fantastic but it’s considered a Sony and Marvel collaboration. Since Endgame, Marvel’s slate has included some uncharacteristically middling movies like Thor: Love and Thunder and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Maybe one that should come with multiple asterisks. 3 is the best Marvel movie since Avengers: Endgame feels like a loaded statement.

Life is strange vol 4