Credit: Marvel StudiosDo yourself a favor. If you haven’t already, after watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), go back and rewatch the first two. You won’t regret it.
Related: Marvel’s ‘Secret Invasion’ Pays Tribute to a Charlie Kaufman Classic for Empire Magazine
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) hit theaters early this month, bringing Jame Gunn’s trilogy to a close. While it’s bittersweet to see these heroes’ stories end, the final installment is the perfect ending for Marvel’s ragtag band of misfits.
Some audiences were lucky enough to catch the new Marvel flick in a three-movie marathon, where all volumes were played back to back. This may be the best way to digest Gunn’s masterpiece, as seeing the whole picture immediately ties every detail together nicely. Many other moviegoers, however, have been revisiting the previous two installments on Disney+, making them the top movies on the streaming platform this month around the world.
For those who haven’t seen the previous two installments of the series in a while, it is definitely worth a rewatch now that you’ve seen the final chapter. It will blow your mind. SPOILERS for Vol. 3 ahead!
Everything Rocket says in the first two films means so much more. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014), Rocket angrily tells Drax, “We’ve all lost people,” and to get over it. We now know that Rocket has been hurting throughout the trilogy, emotionally destroyed after The High Evolutionary killed his friends.
While Vol. 2 was not considered as strong as the first film, the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel still had a lot of payoff for plot points set up in the first film. Gunn knew what he was doing when he laid down the bricks in the 2014 blockbuster. He was playing Chess while everyone thought it was a game of checkers.
The most tragic thing to witness after revisiting the first two films is Peter Quill’s love for Gamora. It’s tragic when you realize that Quill became a better man when he fell in love with Gamora, only to not end up with her. Perhaps it wasn’t the love story we wanted, but instead, she was just the love Quill needed to become a hero, leading him to save the galaxy on multiple occasions.
Related: ‘Guardians’ Trilogy Ignores One Character’s Backstory
There are so many more connections throughout the series that fans are rediscovering. It’s no wonder people are considering this trilogy to be up there with Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy and Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings.
What connections have you found throughout the Guardians trilogy? Let Inside The Magic know in the comments.