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[]
Production on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 began almost immediately after shooting wrapped on Guardians Vol. 2 in 2016, with James Gunn returning to both write and direct. This production was temporarily halted in 2018 following negative publicity concerning past tweets Gunn had made, with Disney announcing that the film had been placed on hold indefinitely. This decision was met with even more criticism, as Dave Bautista threatened to withdraw from Vol. 3 and reshoots for the upcoming Infinity Gauntlet if Gunn wasn't reinstated. Eventually, production quietly began on Vol. 3 once more, with Gunn rehired later that fall.
The script was based partly on ideas that were originally planned for Vol. 2, including the identity of Peter Quill's father as well as an exploration of the relationship between Quill and Yondu Udonta. Kurt Russell was later confirmed to have been cast as Peter Quill's father (following an April Fool's joke that said that he would be played by David Hasselhoff), while Sylvester Stallone was also cast in an undisclosed role, later revealed to be Ravager founder Stakar Ogrod. It was later revealed that the Shi'ar would also play a role in the film, marking their first official appearance in the MCU despite having been referenced in previous films such as the first Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel.
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. We see some interaction between Bill and Drax (as well as Rocket and Groot) as they find the Shi'ar Imperial Gems, and Bill off-handedly comments that they would be worth a fortune back on the Grandmaster's planet, causing Rocket to smile.
We cut to the Shi'ar throneworld of Chandilar where we receive exposition from Quill and Gamora to the other Guardians, talking about the Shi'ar being Xenophobic and unwelcome to outsiders (unless they wish to conquer you) and that they are currently led by a mysterious emperor after the previous one, D'Ken, was deposed some years earlier. As the enter the throne room with Yondu in toe, the Ravager makes one last attempt to appeal to Quill, but is rejected. Gladiator, the leader of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, who brusquely thanks the Guardians for apprehending the thief and returning the sacred gems to the Shi'ar treasury. He states that they will be paid the agreed upon price of credits, but then proceeds to quote them a price much lower than what they were promised. Quill and Rocket both take offense to this, and Gamora tries to diplomatically ease the tension, but Gladiator dismisses them haughtily. As the Guardians sulk off with Yondu being taken away by the Imperial Guard (while yelling back at Quill that he'd be able to track them no matter where they went as soon as he got out of this), Rocket reveals to Groot that he pocketed some of the Gems anyway, causing the tree to laugh. We cut to the Milano flying out of Shi'ar space and making for the nearest jump point back to what used to be the Nova Empire (which is still attempting to rebuild following Thanos' assault). We get a brief scene between Gamora and Quill as each states their concerns, Gamora wanting to have a life away from killing with Thanos finally dead and Quill not knowing anything else but this life. Their conversation turns slightly flirtatious, but is quickly interrupted by an alert of an oncoming Shi'ar fleet.
Quill asks why the Shi'ar fleet is chasing them when Groot spills the beans on Rocket stealing the Imperial Gems. Gamora and Quill chastize Rocket as Bill suggests they simply jettison the furry rodent (a comment which causes Rocket to threaten to attack Bill, much to the chagrin of Quill who tries to keep them alive.) On the Shi'ar homeworld we see Gladiator instructing all pilots to attack with fury, but to make sure the gems aren't destroyed (if they are, he repeats, then the emperor will be most displeased). Quill tries to navigate through a volatile nebula near the Shi'ar throneworld, causing many of the ships to be destroyed by plasma discharges. However the Milano is also severely damaged in the process. As he approaches the end of the nebula and the jump point beyond, however, a second wave of Shi'ar ships cuts them off and seemingly has them surrounded. However, they all witness the ships seemingly vanish in a magical wave, disappearing without a trace (much to the chagrin of Gladiator back on the Throneworld.) The Guardians can only watch as their ship seemingly goes on Autopilot despite the damage it had taken from the battle and enters a jump to unknown coordinates. Gladiator orders them to try and track the Guardians, but he is told that they have disappeared off tracking, despite the bug they put on the ship. There's no way of knowing where they have gone.
The Guardians find themselves crash landing on an unknown planetoid in an uncharted region of space (according to the navigational computer). The group argues amongst themselves, mostly over Rocket having stolen the Imperial Gems and putting their lives on the line (though oddly enough Bill thinks that this was an appropriate sanction for the Shi'ar shortchanging them on the bounty) as well as where they might be. At one point Rocket accuses Quill of taking Gamora's side of the argument just because he wants her to sleep with him. Quill, trying to save face, tries to say that's not the reason, but suddenly Gamora seems overcome with lust and jumps on Quill, knocking him over. The Guardians are stunned to silence by this, and Groot chimes in with the equivalent of "Get a room." Suddenly, Gamora and Quill find themselves on a beautiful beachfront hotel overlooking a purple sea on an alien world, Gamora clad in lingerie and Quill clad in his boxers. Gamora covers up, seemingly out of her sudden trance, and neither can figure out what is going on. Drax, seemingly quicker than most, immediately demands to be given a "Sagittarian Wildebeest Sandwich", and one suddenly appears in front of him. Just as quickly though, the sandwich vanishes (much to Drax's chagrin), and Quill and Gamora reappear fully clothed together and embarrased. The Guardians are approached by a black hair woman who descends from a door of light that appears from nowhere. She identifies herself as Mantis, and she asks that they attempt to control their thoughts until she can put protections on their minds from this place. She explains that thought, matter and energy all exist simultaneously in this place, which she describes as an anteroom to the Realm of the Beyonders. At Quill's asking at who the hell the Beyonders are, a male voice answers, a gray bearded gentleman emerging from the same door of light. He announces himself as The Beyonder, and states that he is Peter's father.
Back on Chandilar, Gladiator is upset from having to report to the emperor of the Imperial Guard's failure, and he lashes out at an underling who tells him that the Milano still hasn't reappeared near any known jump points. After a few moments of contemplation, Gladiator says to contact "them" before stalking off. We cut to the dungeons beneath the palace, where Yondu Udonta has been locked away for only a few hours. Yondu says he is honored to be executed by the head of the Imperial Guard, but Gladiator tells him that there's been a change in plans, as he wants to know if Yondu was serious about whether or not he can trace the Guardians anywhere in the universe, explaining that they had stolen the same Imperial Gems that Yondu himself had taken. Yondu affirms this (after smirking at Quill's Guile, assuming it was him), cluing in that they've gone somewhere far away if the Shi'ar can't track them. He does ask what's in it for him. Gladiator offers him amnesty from the Shi'ar, as well as a ship and small crew, provided he promise to stay out of the Shi'ar Empire forever. Yondu asks for payment once he brings in the Guardians as well, and Gladiator half-heartedly agrees. Yondu accepts and is led out of his cell...and straight into the custody of another Ravager captain by the name of Stakar Ogrod, who is flanked by several members of Yondu's old crew (including Kraglin). Yondu protests, but Gladiator points out that his freedom only applies to the Shi'ar...not to the rest of the galaxy (including the Ravagers) who have a price on his head. Stakar takes hold of Yondu with a control collar, and tells Gladiator he will take it from here, as Kraglin looks on sadly at his former Captain.
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[]
Coming Soon...