The poignant and epic Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 brings a perfect conclusion to the trilogy of the lovable loser squad, and also marks a glorious farewell to director James Gunn's Marvel journey. Below, we've compiled an analysis of the Easter eggs in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
1. Opening Title Card As the final chapter of James Gunn's Marvel-directed trilogy, the Marvel title card at the beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 features all the essential moments of the Guardians in the MCU.
2. Creep The film opens with Rocket's tragic childhood, seamlessly transitioning to the present. Rocket is listening to Radiohead's song "Creep" on Star-Lord's Zune player. The lyrics of this song tell the story of a loser facing a crush, looking at their worthless and confused life, with lyrics singing, "I don't care if it hurts, I want to have control, I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul." This resonates with Rocket's tragic life.
3. Adam Warlock An uninvited guest crashes into Knowhere, disrupting the order the Guardians had painstakingly rebuilt. This is Adam Warlock, the son created by Ayesha of the Sovereign in the post-credits scene of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, sent to hunt down Rocket Raccoon for revenge.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Rocket's itchy fingers led him to steal the Sovereign's batteries, causing the entire Guardians of the Galaxy team to be hunted by the Sovereign.
At the end of that film, Ayesha created Adam, vowing revenge on the Guardians.
4. Nebula's Evolution In the film, Nebula's body has evolved again, not only equipped with a flight jetpack but also capable of energy attacks. If you listen closely, you can hear a familiar thruster sound. Could this have been built by Tony Stark during their time drifting in space together in Avengers: Endgame?
5. Star-Lord's Sister Some might be confused by the revelation that Mantis is Star-Lord's sister. This plot point actually continues from The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
6. 89P13 This film reveals Rocket as the High Evolutionary's experiment "89P13," a detail actually stated in his file after his arrest by the Nova Corps in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. The file also listed his associates, including Groot and another experiment, Lylla the otter.
However, the data at the time also indicated he was from a place called "Half-world," but this film reveals the civilization created by the High Evolutionary is called "Counter-Earth." In the comic source material, "Half-world" and "Counter-Earth" are different places, suggesting Gunn likely abandoned the "Half-world" setting.
In the comics, "Counter-Earth" is a place created by the High Evolutionary, filled with genetic hybrids of half-humans and half-animals, a similar concept is used in this film.
Whereas "Half-world" is an alien mental illness research facility where people created robots to care for and study these patients, and captured animals to accompany them. In the comic source material, Rocket Raccoon was born there.
7. Ravagers When the Guardians arrive at Orgocorp, they encounter the Ravagers led by Sylvester Stallone's Stakar. It's then revealed that Nebula had already contacted the Ravagers for assistance, and the one she contacted was Gamora, who traveled to the present from Avengers: Endgame.
8. Cast Changes The Ravagers led by Stallone first appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and almost all of the original cast members return this time, with the exception of Michelle Yeoh's Aleta Ogord. After all, Michelle Yeoh already has a more significant role in the MCU as Shang-Chi's aunt, Ying Nan.
Also, does the voice of Mainframe sound familiar this time? That's because she is voiced by Tara Strong, the voice actress for Miss Minutes in the Loki series.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, this character was voiced by renowned singer Miley Cyrus.
9. Carrot Man Among the Orgocorp employees, there's a character who looks like a carrot. This is a tribute to Groot from Earth-25271 in the 2017 Captain Marvel comics. This is a world completely opposite to reality, where Thanos is a renowned cosmic peacemaker, while many heroes we know, such as Star-Lord and Captain Marvel, become bandit criminals. In this universe, Groot is a carrot man, and his line becomes "I am Root."
10. Cosmo's Card Buddies Cosmo the Space Dog complains at the card table that Kraglin keeps calling him a bad dog. Other players at the table include Bzermikitokolok, played by Rhett Miller, lead singer of the Old 97's band in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special; the merchant who originally bought the Orb from Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1; and Howard the Duck, who had cameos in the first two films and Avengers: Endgame.
11. Hawkeye's Wife The voice actress for Lylla the otter is already a part of the MCU: Linda Cardellini, who plays Laura Barton, Hawkeye's wife.
12. Ant-Man's Ex-Wife The voice actress for War Pig, a guard at the High Evolutionary's Counter-Earth base, is actually Judy Greer, who plays Scott Lang's ex-wife in the Ant-Man series!
13. The Gunn Family Reunion Gunn is famously known for repeatedly collaborating with actors, and this film is no exception.
(1) The High Evolutionary Chukwudi Iwuji, who plays the High Evolutionary, previously portrayed the leader of Project Butterfly in the DC series Peacemaker.
(2) Mrs. Gunn Jennifer Holland, who frequently appears in the DC Extended Universe and is Mrs. Gunn, plays Administrator Kwol at Orgocorp this time.
(3) Ratcatcher Daniela Melchior, who played Ratcatcher in DC's The Suicide Squad, portrays an Orgocorp security guard who is seduced and held hostage by Star-Lord.
