Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Earth-11584)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is an upcoming film in the Earth-11584 continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is the third film featuring the Guardians of the Galaxy, following their appearance in films in 2014 and 2017 respectively. It is also the 6th film in Phase 4 and the 34th film overall in the MCU. The film stars the titular Guardians as they travel to escape the pursuit of the xenophobic Shi'ar Imperial Guard and solve the mystery of Peter Quill's (aka Star-Lord) father, the strange Extra-Dimensional being known only as The Beyonder.

Production

Coming Soon...

Plot Summary

We open in Missouri on a beautiful night under the stars. A red Corvette sits parked on a hill with the hood down, overlooking a drive-in movie theater that is showing The Empire Strikes Back. Inside the car, two young people are making love, ignoring the film behind them. They pause briefly, the man saying that they shouldn't be doing this and the woman encouraging him, saying they won't get caught. The man explains he doesn't mean it that way, that if he stays here too long they might find him. The woman, whom we recognize as a young Meredith Quill, tells the man not to worry. That whatever "space-stuff" he's talking about can wait another day. The man smiles and calls Meredith his beautiful Angel of the Night, before resuming their lovemaking. His foot hits the button on the 8-Track player, which begins playing "Starman" by David Bowie as the camera pans up, showing the famous scene of Han and Leia confessing their love to one another.

We cut ahead several decades to Yondu Udonta on board his ship with a close-up of his face. Yondu explains that though times have been tough, they've recently completed the heist of the century: some of the Imperial gems from the Shi'ar Homeworld itself. And though they have yet to fully escape, he knows that this crew will serve him well. He reminds them they are Ravagers through and through, and that nothing and no one can stop them. As the score swells with heroic flourish, it suddenly stops as the ship shakes violently, knocking Yondu off his feet. The camera pans out to show that the only person he was talking too was Cosmo the Spacedog, who promptly runs away as the ship shakes again. Yondu yells out "COWARD!" before resuming attempting to fly his ship. We see Yondu's ship, badly damaged and being chased by the Milano as it attempts to get to the nearest jump point to escape Shi'ar space. Yondu hails Quill and tries to tell him to cut him a break, but Quill tells him that he can't do that, not with the bounty the Shi'ar put on his head. Yondu again reminds Quill of his crew threatening to eat him, but Quill disregards him, given that his entire crew has abandoned him. Yondu disagrees, only to be stopped when an escape pod containing Cosmo leaves. After briefly wondering how that happened, Yondu resumes his escape attempt.

On board the Milano, Rocket and Quill pilot the craft and fire weapons at the ship, each one attempting to out do the other while Gamora tries to keep the peace. Groot, now aged to roughly a teenager, is seemingly disinterested and simply plays a handheld game in his seat, while Drax is eating (and is clearly inebriated) and Beta Ray Bill shouts out how "glorious" a battle this is most assuredly not. Suddenly, Drax shouts that Thanos is dead! Gamora off-handedly shrugs him off, saying that was yesterday's news, though with a tinge of sadness in her voice. Drax proclaims that now that he has had vengeance for his wife and daughter, it is time to partake in Quill's favorite hobby of dancing! Quill yells at him that now is not a good time, but Drax begins to dance...sort of. In the process he trips over a loose branch from Groot and falls to the lower hull of the Milano, causing the ship to slightly veer off course. At the same time, Yondu decides to fight fire with fire and pulls off a desperate move, circling back to pursue the Milano and launching several attack droids from his ship. The attack droids start blasting the Guardians ship, and Bill proclaims that this is finally a real battle. He grabs Stormbreaker and a gun for Drax, attaching space suits and tethers to them as they travel outside to fight the smaller enemies. Before heading out, Drax flips on the speakers of the Milano, causing "Working for the Weekend" by Loverboy to play over the credits of the film, as we are intercut of scenes of a drunken Drax firing his gun and dancing, Bill seriously destroying drones with Stormbreaker, and Quill and company trying to fly the ship and keep it from being destroyed.

Eventually the drones are destroyed and Bill uses Drax's gun to disable Yondu's ship, allowing the Milano to come over and board it. Quill and Gamora board the ship alone, trying to get the drop on Yondu. Yondu uses his Yaka Arrow to try and kill Quill at one point, but Gamora saves him by shooting the controlling fin on Yondu's head, causing the arrow to fall to the ground harmlessly. Quill thanks Gamora for saving him, saying it shows she really does care, but Gamora plays coy briefly, saying "In your dreams flyboy," before walking off. Yondu again tries to bargain for his life with Quill, telling Peter he knows who his father is, but Quill tells him he doesn't care (though it's clear to the audience that he is more than curious). Before Quill can ask more, Yondu is knocked out by Rocket, who tells "Mama's Boy" to hurry up and find the gems so they can finish this job. Quill starts to argue, but thinks better of it and simply goes about finding the loot before they return Yondu to the Shi'ar.

More to Come...

Summary of Changes

This film, as of its conception, is mostly original within the Earth-11584 universe. It does borrow some plot elements (though with noticeable changes, such as Kurt Russell playing The Beyonder instead of Ego and the Sovereign replaced by The Shi'ar) from the mainline Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Cast List

Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord- The self-described leader of the Guardians, kidnapped from Earth at a young age and raised by the mercenary group the Ravagers. He seeks to continue his burgeoning relationship with Gamora and solve the mystery of his hitherto unknown father.
Zoe Saldana as Gamora- A former assassin and "daughter" of Thanos who is also the love interest of Peter Quill, and largely the brains of the Guardians as mercenaries.
Bradley Cooper as Rocket- A cybernetically enhanced raccoon who serves as the Guardians weapons expert and also has a penchant for getting into trouble. Cooper provides the voice of Rocket, while actor Sean Gunn provided most of the motion capture.
Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer- A Sagittarian convict who seeks new challenges now that his revenge against Thanos for the death of his wife and daughter is complete. Also argues consistently with Beta Ray Bill.
Vin Diesel as Groot- A Flora Colossus and good friend to Rocket. Groot has grown since his earlier appearances, appearing now more as a teenager than anything else. Diesel provides the voice of Groot, while Sean Gunn performs much of the motion capture work.
Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta- A leader of a band of mercenaries known as the Ravagers who starts the film on the run having been abandoned by his crew and having stolen gems from the Shi'ar homeworld.
Alan Tudyk as Beta Ray Bill- A Korbinite warrior traveling with the Guardians following the events of Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet, as he seeks to find what is left of his people.
Kurt Russell as The Beyonder- An extra-dimensional being who claims to be the father of Peter Quill and possesses near omnipotent cosmic powers.
Michael Dorn as Gladiator- The leader of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard who initially hires the Guardians to hunt down Yondu Udonta to recover the Shi'ar Imperial Gems.
Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogrod- The leader of a clan of Ravagers and the man who initially recruited, and later exiled, Yondu Udonta from the group.
Pom Klementieff as Mantis- An alien of unknown origin who assists the Beyonder, who also possesses incredible empathic abilities.

In addition, Sean Gunn reprises his role as Kraglin, the former first-mate of Yondu who now serves a similar role on Stakar's crew. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau reprises his role as Adam Warlock near the end of the film as well. Laura Haddock appears as Meredith Quill briefly in a flashback scene.

Reception