Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3has been a great kick-off to the summer movie season. The movie has earned positive reviews from critics and audiences and hadone of the best second weekends for any MCU movie, suggesting good word of mouth. It has been one great farewell for what has been marketed as the finalGuardians of the Galaxymovie with the current team and James Gunn’s final MCU movie.
As with every entry in the MCU,Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3is filled with references and Easter eggs to the comics, wider MCU, and even James Gunn’s own film history. TheGuardians of the Galaxyas a franchise has been notable in that, very similar to the comics, it pulls from various corners of the Marvel cosmic stories and unites them into a new whole. These are characters, locations, and storylines from various eras of Marvel Comics that, when put together, have added up into a unique franchise that audiences have fallen in love with. With that in mind, here are the biggest Easter eggs inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Classic Costumes
The Guardians of the Galaxy have worn plenty of outfits over the MCU, butGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3offers the most unified look the team has ever sported. They are officially a team with matching outfits, and the blue suit with a red outline is very familiar to comic book fans. The outfits the team wears inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3are very similar to the outfits the team wore in 2008 in the titular run by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning that introduced the modern incarnation of the team that served as the basis for the MCU team.
Rocket’s Friends Comic Origins
Rocket’s friends at the beginning of the movie steal the show inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and their eventual fate will likelyscar an entire generation of young viewerswho watch the movie. These characters and the specific animals are references to Rocket’s earliest comic book stories. Lyla (voiced by Linda Cardellini) was Rocket’s girlfriend in the comics.
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Teefs the Walrus (Asim Chaudhry) is based on the character Wal-Rus, while Floor (Mikaela Hoover) is based on the character Blackjack O’Hara, who is more villainous than the cute film version. Making these characters who were Rocket’s associates in the comics part of his backstories further deeps the MCU by pulling from the comics and giving these rather obscure characters a chance in the spotlight.
Cosmic Needle Drops
TheGuardians of the Galaxymovies are known for their use of popular music, with the release of soundtracks as anticipated as the movies themselves. James Gunn writes the songs into the scripts, making them integral to the movie’s themes. Two-needle drops carry a certain amount of weight to them.
The first is the use of the Beastie BoysNo Sleep Till Brooklyn, which has a double connection. The first is that, in an odd coincidence, the song was used inThe Super Mario Bros. Movieone month prior, which also starred Chris Pratt. Many audiences that sawGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3also likely saw a trailer forThe Marvelsbefore it, which features another Beastie Boy track,Intergalactic.
Florence + the Machine’sDog Days Are Overhas been listed by James Gunn as one of his favorite pop songs ever and is featured on many of the director’s playlists, including his Best Songs of the 2010s. This feels like a song for a long time coming to theGuardians of the Galaxyand feels like the most personal goodbye from James Gunn to this franchise.
One of the kids that the High Evolutionary is experimenting on is revealed to be named Phyla. By the end of the movie, she has officially become a member of the new Guardians of the Galaxy and is seen as having some energy-based powers. The girl is the MCU version of the hero Phyla-Vel, and she isone of Marvel’s most powerful heroes.
In the comics, Phyla-Vel is the daughter of the Kree hero Mar-Vell (the original Captain Marvel) and an Eternal, and she herself was one of the many heroes who have used the name, Captain Marvel. While her inclusion in the film is likely not a setup forThe Marvels, she is a major Marvel hero who now is on the board for future writers and filmmakers to bring back. Phyla’s inclusion, alongside Adam Warlock, means that every original member of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the first 2008 comic has been in the MCU, bringing the franchise full circle.
The Holiday Special Callbacks
Audiences who skippedThe Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Speciallast year not only missed a great Christmas special but also some key plot developments. That special established Mantis as Star-Lord’s half-sister and revealed the Guardians purchased Knowhere from the Collector. The special established Cosmo as part of the team after being teased in bothGuardians of the GalaxyandGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
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Kevin Bacon was also a major part of the special, a callback to Peter Quill referencing the great hero ofFootlooseinGuardians of the Galaxy. The film’s end credit sequence also features a newspaper referencing Kevin Bacon being abducted by Drax and Mantis in the special. A photo of Kevin Bacon fromThe Holiday Specialcan be seen in the end credits.
Familiar Gunn Favorites
Like any director, Gunn likes to work withmany of the same faces.Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3features many of Gunn’s frequent collaborators. His brother Sean Gunn not only plays Kraglin but also is the set reference for Rocket Raccoon while filming. Chukwudi Iwuji, who plays the High Evolutionary, previously worked with Gunn onPeacemaker.
Nathan Fillion, who was the star of Gunn’s first filmSuper, appears as one of the guards at Orgocorp. Fillion previously voiced an alien inGuardians of the Galaxyand was originally going to appear as Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man, in a series of movie posters inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2that was eventually cut, leading Yahya Abdul-Mateen II to appear as the character in his own MCU Disney+ series.
Gunn’s wife and actress, Jennifer Holland, appears as Administrator Kwol during the Orgocorp sequence, as does Danielle Melchior, who previously played Ratcatcher II in Gunn’sThe Suicide Squad. Mikaela Hoover, who previously appeared as Nova Prime’s assistant in the firstGuardians of the Galaxy, voices Floor. In addition, Linda Cartellini, who also plays Laura Barton in the MCU, voices Lyla, and she previously played Velma in the two live-actionScooby-Doomovies which Gunn wrote. Lloyd Kaufman, the founder of Troma Studios and a mentor to Gunn, plays a resident on Knowhere playing cards with Kraglin and Cosmo.
Original Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2featured the appearance of the original 1969 Guardians of the Galaxy, here reimagined as various Ravenger captains, which included Yondu. They were teased at the end ofGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2having reunited, and audiences get to see most of them in action. While Michelle Yeoh’s Aleta Ogord and Ving Rhames Charlie-27 do now appear, the rest do.
Sylvester Stallone reprises his role as Stakar Ogord, wearing his comic book Starhawk outfit as a space suit. Michael Rossembaum reprises his role as Martinex. Mainframe, a floating robotic head, was previously voiced by Miley Cyrus but now is voiced by Tara Strong, who also voiced Miss Minutes on Loki. Finally, the red alien Krugarr is a voiceless role, but audiences will note that he is using magic similar to Doctor Strange. While the tease at the end ofVol. 2could have just been a nice reference, it is nice for them to actually be brought back and not only play a role in the movie but be thenew adoptive home of Gamora. Gamora, an original MCU Guardian, has found a home with the original comic bookGuardians of the Galaxy.
