Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 conquered the world at the box office. Director James Gunn packed the sequel with a galaxy of cameos, Easter eggs and cosmic forces from across the Marvel Universe.
Peter Quill/Star-Lord finally found his father. More minor comics characters made big impressions on screen. Marvel Studios set a new record for mid and post-credit endings filled with humor, intrigue and hints of what’s to come in the next volume.
Who were those characters? What could those endings mean? How the film is like and different from comics?
Before we continue here’s a SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 yet stop reading now and get to the cinema!
Seriously.
OK.
Here it comes:
Stan Lee’s audience?
Stan Lee made what might his most hilarious Marvel movie cameo but with a cosmic meta touch. The legendary creator seemed to be playing himself, talking about his previous Marvel film appearances to a group of big, bald guys with glowing eyes. The Watchers were listeners taking in Lee’s tales in a mid-film cameo and in one of the endings, they leave Stan still talking…and stranded in space.
The Watchers are ancient aliens stationed across space to monitor other races. Uatu (a creation of Lee and Jack Kirby) is the Watcher assigned to oversee planet Earth and our solar system. The Watchers’ oath is to observe, record and never interfere but he’s shown a fondness for humanity and helped warn Marvel heroes.
Adam?
Ayesha and The Sovereign are villains who stalk the Guardians in the sequel. The arrogant beings are obsessed with self-perfection. In one of the film’s endings Ayesha reveals she’s creating their most perfect member of their race in a plot to get revenge. She will call him Adam. A gold skinned warrior named Adam?
Is this Adam Warlock? In the comics Adam and Ayesha are artificial beings created by a think tank of scientists known as the Enclave. Adam is the Enclave’s ultimate weapon designed to kill Thanos. Original called “Him” then simply Adam, he rebelled against his creators and explored space. Adam was given the Soul Gem, one of the Infinity Stones Thanos is seeking in the films. Adam was a leading hero in The Infinity Gauntlet, a major comics story said to be part of the inspiration for the Avengers: Infinity War.
Adam Warlock’s introduction could lead to a host of other characters and concepts into movies including The High Evolutionary (the scientist who first dubbed him Warlock) and Counter-Earth (his artificial planet); the Universal Church of Truth (a space cult) and the Magus (a twisted version of Warlock); Pip the Troll – yes a Troll. In comics Gamora, Drax and Pip followed Adam as part of his Infinity Watch.
The First Guardians
In the comics Star-Lord and his crew were the second team to be hailed as the Guardians of the Galaxy. The first group to have the name in comics were alien warriors from the 30th century who came back in time to fight with the Avengers. Yondu (Michael Rooker) was very different from his comic book counterpart. Yondu was a blue-skinned warrior (archer to be specific) with an actual red fin. In the new sequel were learn Yondu’s Ravagers were part of a greater tribe of Ravagers made of various alien races. Sylvester Stallone played overall Ravager leader Stakar Ogard, along with actors Ving Rhames, Michael Yeoh and Michael Rosenbaum as an alien made of crystal. Is this Starhawk, Aleta, Charlie 27, Martinex? Could there be a big back story epic waiting to happen? Could the third film reveal an original Guardians of the Galaxy and how they evolved into leaders of the Ravagers? Will Kraglin (Sean Gunn) who inherited Yondu’s space arrow stay with the Guardians or rejoin the Ravagers?
Baby Groot Growing Up
Baby Groot is a sensation. Is Teen Groot from the post-credit scene making his only appearance or will full grown Groot be back for Avengers: Infinity War and GotGV3?
In the All-New Guardians of the Galaxy comic book you can still see the adventures of Baby Groot and he’s a big part of the story which may explain why he remained a baby for so long. Hint: what if someone else got one of Groot’s branches when he was destroyed?
Celestial Origins
In the film Ego, the Living Planet (Kurt) is a Celestial making Quill half Celestial and the reason he could hold the Infinity Gem in the first film. In the comics Ego is just a sentient planet. You may recall The Collector’s base was inside the brain of a dead Celestial’s head. In flashback we saw a giant Celestial (looking as they appear in comics) was armed with an Infinity stone wiping out a planet’s civilization.
In comics Celestials created life, death and the Marvel multiverse and the Eternals and Deviants who refer to them as “Space Gods.” In comics Thanos (played by Josh Brolin) is a Deviant. Celestials have not been as prominent as the Infinity Stones but they do appear to be part of the long game in the Marvel Comics Universe of films. Could Marvel’s heroes and villains go up against the beings who made be responsible for creating the entire Universe?
You don’t have to wait for Volume 3, the Guardians will appear in Avengers: Infinity War next summer.
By Editor