Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a 2023 film, the third in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Guardians of the Galaxy series. It is written and directed by James Gunn, and features an ensemble cast including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper.

Spoilers for previous MCU entries ahead!

Now headquartered in Knowhere, the Guardians are between jobs, with a depressed Peter Quill spending most of his time drunk to avoid coping with the loss of Gamora. He is forced to sober up quickly when Rocket is almost killed by a gold-skinned flying man.

Normal medical treatment is prevented by a previously unknown security device designed to stop Rocket's heart if his body is tampered with by anyone other than his original creators. This sends the rest of the Guardians on a Race Against the Clock to find the shadowy company that made him, and obtain the control code to allow him to be saved. The mission is especially hard because not only is their main tech guy incapacitated, but the attack turns out to have been ordered by the same company in an attempt to wipe Rocket out.

On the way the Guardians meet several old friends and learn a great deal about Rocket's mysterious back-story.

As before, the soundtrack is based on Quill's music collection, but it turns out his new Zune contains a lot of 90s tracks. The previous films are described here and here.

Tropes used in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 include:

• A God Am I: This episode's egomaniac-of-the-week is the High Evolutionary. People who don't think themselves gods don't say things like this:

"There is no god! That's why I stepped in."

• Arc Words: "It's not a trap, it's a face-off."
• A Worldwide Punomenon: The Guardians have a final face-off with the Big Bad. They take it quite literally.
• Body Horror:
  • We get to see Nebula's somewhat Squicky self-repair in action again.
  • The High Evolutionary's experiments include a walrus with wheels grafted onto its body, an otter with clamps for hands, a rabbit with spiderlike metal legs and a metal plate either covering or replacing its lower face, and "Hellspawn" that are crude cyborgs that wouldn't be out of place in Doom.
  • The true state of the High Evolutionary's face.
• Break The Cutie: Young Rocket.
• Cerebus Syndrome: While still a whacky comedy, this installment is decidedly darker than the first two.
• Chekhov's Gun: Yondu's arrow
• Expy: The High Evolutionary is basically Doctor Moreau In Space.
• Fate Worse Than Death: Rocket's creators don't just want to kill him, they want to remove his brain for study.
• Hey, It's That Guy! / Actor Allusion: Adam is played by Will Poulter, and some of his dialogue is hilariously reminiscent of Eustace Scrubb.
• Petting Zoo People: What do you expect from a company that made a talking raccoon?
• Ragtag Band of Misfits: The Guardians. The Ravagers also qualify.
• Reason You Suck Speech: Rocket gives a short but effective one to the High Evolutionary.
• Running Gag: "Did that look cool?"
• Shout-Out: Adam saving Peter is briefly composed like The Creation of Adam.
• Suddenly Always Knew That: Drax turns out to know the children's language, right when it's needed. Partly Played For Laughs (it is Drax after all), but he makes it into a Take That at his friends for always assuming he knows nothing.
• Tear Jerker: There's a reason Rocket doesn't discuss his past. Even Nebula is horrified.
• The Stinger: Mid-credits, the Guardians, apparently including Drax, discuss Earth music and defend a town from invading creatures.
  • Post-credits, Quill eats breakfast with his grandfather.