One turned up in the first film, Guardians of the Galaxy, as well
The Celestial above is probably Knowhere from the first Guardians of the Galaxy
An alien who has been alive for millions of years
He controls matter at the molecular level, and nothing kills him as long as the brain at his core is intact
His true size is beyond anything the human body suggests — planet-sized
On that planet he can create anything he likes, an absolute cheat of a power, and it puts the heroes through hell
He first appears in the film walking up to Quill and the others after their crash landing
Right there the contrast is set up — Quill and his inorganic spaceship against the organic Ego — a quiet hint that the two can never really meet
And true to the name Ego, the man is nothing but ego
“Life is not eternal”
He rejects that idea completely, and his scheme is to fuse everything with himself, the one eternal being, and remake it all into a perfect universe. The main villain of the film.
Still, that opening scene with Quill’s mother is lovely
The film opens in 1980
Going by that scene, Ego really did love Quill’s mother
And at the same time, entirely rational about it
“Somewhere in the back of his mind, maybe: this woman dies eventually anyway, so nothing I do matters”
Something like that, presumably
“If I’d seen her one more time, I would have called the whole plan off”
Which is exactly why he killed her
Not a human way of thinking
Fascinating character
“My lover is the sea”
For Ego, the lover really is the sea itself
But
For Quill, the sea is a metaphor for the lover
You put out to sea, and then you come home and see her again
That’s what the sea means to him
Two readings of the same line, and both land beautifully
His past is told through mannequins made of something like porcelain
Meaning it’s all a lie, all fabricated? lol
The game of catch with Quill was so good though~
The regeneration goes bone first, then muscle tissue, and that visual work is superb
The single strongest villain in the MCU
He’s one of the Celestials, so killing him off in this film feels like a bit of a waste lol
Quill and Yondu
The theme of this film is parents and children
Ego, the blood relative he finally found
At first Quill really does feel a father in him
Then the two of them end up at war
And the question surfaces
“So what is a father, then?”
That’s where it hits him
The stupid running joke about eating him, and asking why Yondu never handed him over to Ego — that’s where Quill feels the love
Yondu calls it making amends, but he dies 100% for Quill
That moment properly moved me
And the scene where he says goodbye to Rocket
The way Rocket walks away knowing full well that Yondu is going to die
Just before that, Yondu tells him their pasts are alike. Two of a kind, in other words
Which is exactly why Rocket understands what throwing his life away means to him
The flashback when Quill awakens is lovely too — the days out adventuring with the crew, and the scene of Yondu teaching him how to handle a gun
That advice on how to use the power is what triggers the awakening
Without it there’s no win here
Mary Poppins comes up as Quill and Yondu float down
Something like the below lol
Quill’s jokes being stuck in the 80s across the board is very funny lol
Quill’s childhood memories were great as well
Telling himself that David Hasselhoff, the star of Knight Rider, was his dad — an excuse for the father who wasn’t there
For Quill a father was always something far away
And the thing he was searching for was right beside him all along
About the Guardians of the Galaxy
Peter Quill (Star-Lord)
A first father, and Quill has no idea how to behave around him
But the second he learns his father killed his mother, he empties a gun into him without a heartbeat of hesitation — unbelievably cool
Up to then I’d been thinking he was being played far too easily, so that changed my mind
Giving Yondu a proper Ravager funeral is a beautiful gesture
The fireworks are one thing, but that scene really shows how much of a family the Guardians of the Galaxy have become
Realising how much Yondu cared about him, and then admitting at the funeral that he cared about Yondu too — wonderful
Yondu is magnificent
And the new music player he picks up this time is a Zune lol
The Zune is famous as one of Microsoft’s great embarrassments lol
Hmm, the irony lol
More human than in the first film, and stronger in a fight too
Gamora
Serious from start to finish this time
Cold-blooded, in a way?
And that’s the root of the fight with Nebula, who wanted to be treated as a sister rather than a fellow warrior
She stays cool towards Quill’s crush right up to the final act, then realises how she feels when he nearly dies, and the two land in an unspoken understanding lol
Nobody says “I love you” and that’s exactly what makes it work lol
Unlike the first film she fights with a sword, and she looks fantastic doing it
Rocket Raccoon
Were you always this bad at taking a joke? lol
Never expected him to become this much of a punching bag lol
His talent with machines really shows through though~
Looks aside, he is the inventor of the group after all
Him hitting it off with Yondu is a great storyline
Drax
A much sunnier personality than in the first film!!
Maybe a touch too many gags
But the conversation with Mantis about his dead wife and daughter shows how deep the grief runs, and that’s heavy stuff~
Give him more combat ability lol
Then again, he climbs out of a fighter mid-flight, so his sheer toughness is number one and that’ll do lol
I assumed he and Mantis would get together, but that seems to be on hold until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 lol
Groot (Baby Groot)
Adorable
He regrew after the first film, and the mind seems to have gone back to childhood along with the body lol
Endlessly curious — properly the child of the Guardians of the Galaxy lol
Beyond superhuman strength and physical ability, he has the power to fly through space unaided energy manipulation magic a genius intellect and just about every other power going
Going by the source material he escapes the Sovereign almost immediately after this and becomes a hero lol
A major character at Marvel
The old man
The old man who was in the first film as well
Remember the spreading blob when Ego tries to swallow the Earth
He was apparently in the car that escaped it by a hair!!!!
Quill saved the old man without ever knowing it
Lovely
Towards Infinity War
A third film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is already confirmed
The credits scene frames Adam Warlock as the next villain, but in the comics Adam Warlock is a hugely important figure in Infinity War
So my read is Adam Warlock appears in Avengers: Infinity War
And the villain of the third Guardians film ends up being someone else
Leaving Adam Warlock out of Infinity War would be that unnatural
Now, about what actually motivates the Guardians of the Galaxy to go after Thanos
After the first film you could just about picture them stepping in once Thanos started tearing things up, but not standing shoulder to shoulder with the Avengers
This film is what turns them into true heroes
So having them already alongside the Avengers when Infinity War opens wouldn’t feel strange at all
These are people who show up whenever the universe is in trouble
That’s the feeling now
On top of that, Nebula is now moving seriously towards bringing Thanos down
And Gamora is Thanos’ daughter too, so there’s no way she sits still, if only for the sister she cares about
Thanos vs the Guardians of the Galaxy
Can’t wait
Overall / impressions
So many gags lol
Deep cuts and obvious ones alike, and I laughed a lot
Wildly entertaining and I came out buzzing
But look closely and there’s real flavour in it, and plenty to think about
It had me wanting to see it again while I was still watching it
Honestly, you don’t need a pile of MCU films behind you to enjoy this one
That said, knowing the MCU does let you enjoy how it all connects, so the MCU is worth catching up on
