Iron Man came out when I was only seven, so I was a little late catching up on the MCU. Weekly movie nights with my Dad saw me finally watch Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and of course, The Avengers.
Honestly, I wasn’t hooked on Avengers despite it being the cinematic event that plunged us into the still-ongoing superhero-dominated movie landscape we occupy today, but I was interested enough in everything else that I eventually caught my first MCU flick in cinemas - Guardians of the Galaxy. With its space-faring action that felt distinct from Star Wars, a rag-tag team of scoundrels coming together without years of build-up, and a story that made you cry and laugh in equal measure, I was finally hooked.
So it’s only fitting that nearly ten years later, the third and final movie feels like a goodbye for not just Peter Quill and company, but the entire MCU.
Warning, spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
I began losing interest in the MCU with Thor: Love and Thunder and Werewolf by Night because they were A) not very good, and B) proof that keeping up was becoming a second job. To stay in the loop, I had to watch several middling shows a year on top of films I didn’t enjoy, and at that point, I had to ask, ‘Why am I even bothering?’ It used to be that a rare dud in the MCU would be just that, and you’d quickly move on to the next mindless popcorn flick, forgetting the bad like it never happened. Now, it’s an unending stream of mediocrity.
Guardians 3 isn’t caught up in the wider MCU, thankfully. There are no references to Thor’s brief time with the gang, no nods to kidnapping Kevin Bacon in The Holiday Special, and no blatant setup for future franchises. Even the post-credit scene doesn’t tease what’s next, offering a wholesome moment between Peter Quill and his estranged grandfather, who are simply living the ordinary life of two at-home Americans. Estranged fans who haven’t been in the loop since Endgame can jump in and enjoy the finale of a trilogy they’ve been watching since 2014. Meanwhile, for those who have paid attention, Guardians 3 bookends a saga that closed four years ago. It might sound late to the party, but I’m thankful for it as it finally lets us say goodbye rather than sticking around out of obligation.
Guardians 3 is an epilogue to Endgame like no other movie since. Even Far From Home, which grappled with Tony Stark’s death, kickstarted another decade of the MCU, ending with a cliffhanger that begged us to come back for answers. The world knows that Spider-Man is Peter Parker! Of course, we want to see how that’s resolved. It’s ultimately tied up by… a pivotal moment in the ‘Multiverse Saga’. Hurray. Instead, Guardians 3 ends with the group parting ways, each wanting to find themselves and understand who they are as individuals. It’s not a break-up driven by death or internal conflict, but contentment. This is the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy as we know them, tying up all the loose ends left over by Infinity War and Endgame. With director James Gunn also moving onto new pastures, it feels doubly fitting.
Peter Quill (or Star-Lord) is the stand-in for the audience. He’s hung up on the new Gamora, refusing to let go of the past. He wants things to be how they were, chasing a magic spark that’s no longer there, desperate to rekindle an old flame with someone who isn’t interested. That’s the MCU now. It’s building up to another tyrant in purple, another team of unlikely allies to fight him, and another cinematic event that it no doubt expects to rake in billions by having the audience cheer at cameo after cameo. But it’s not the same. Chasing that high is a hollow attempt to bring back the magic in a bottle that was the Infinity Saga. We are never getting another Endgame, so please stop trying.
Quill finally comes to terms with the fact that what he had is gone and that he can’t just will it back into existence. And with his departure, maybe it’s time for fans to join him. When the gang finally says their goodbyes and waves each other away as they go along their own paths, we understand Groot for the first time. This isn’t him learning to speak our language, this is us finally pulling back the curtain on ‘I am Groot’, and involving us in a conclusion that, for once in this universe, actually feels earned.
We can keep on watching movie after movie, show after show, special after special, in an unending saga that Feige painstakingly plans to keep going for a hundred years, or we can wave our goodbyes and move on like the Guardians—I think I’ll choose the latter.