Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (marketed as Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3) is a 2023 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), and the 32nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Written and directed by James Gunn, it features an ensemble cast including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Will Poulter, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Linda Cardellini, Nathan Fillion, and Sylvester Stallone. In the film, the other Guardians race to save the life of Rocket (Cooper) from his creator, the High Evolutionary (Iwuji), who is an alien scientist trying to perfect the universe.
By November 2014, James Gunn had initial ideas for a third and final Guardians of the Galaxy film, and he announced in April 2017 that he would return to write and direct it ahead of Vol. 2 release. Vol. 3 explores the origin story of Rocket, with whom Gunn personally identifies. Disney fired Gunn from Vol. 3 in July 2018 after controversial jokes he made on Twitter resurfaced. Gunn received support from several cast members, and the studio reversed course by that October. His return was publicly revealed in March 2019, and he restarted work on the film after completing his film The Suicide Squad (2021) and the first season of its spin-off series Peacemaker (2022) for DC Films. New cast members, including Iwuji and Poulter, joined by the start of filming, which took place at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, from November 2021 to May 2022.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 premiered at Disneyland Paris on April 22, 2023, and was released in the United States on May 5, as part of Phase Five of the MCU. Like its predecessors, it was a critical and commercial success, with many critics deeming it to be a satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy. It grossed over $845.6 million worldwide, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2023. At the 96th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Visual Effects.
Plot
At their new headquarters on Knowhere, the Guardians of the Galaxy are attacked by Adam Warlock, a Sovereign warrior created by High Priestess Ayesha who seeks to destroy them for stealing from her. After critically wounding Rocket, Adam is stabbed by Nebula and flees. The Guardians' med-packs are ineffective at healing Rocket's wounds due to a kill switch embedded in him by the organization Orgocorp. The Guardians travel to Orgocorp's headquarters to find the switch's override code and save Rocket's life.
As Rocket lies dying, he recalls his past. He was found and experimented on as a baby raccoon by the High Evolutionary, leader of Orgocorp, who aimed to enhance and anthropomorphize animal lifeforms into "Humanimals" for an ideal society, Counter-Earth. Rocket's fellow Batch 89 test subjects included the otter Lylla, walrus Teefs, and rabbit Floor. Rocket's insights were used to improve later batches of Humanimals, although the High Evolutionary was angry that one of his creations could solve a problem that he could not. The High Evolutionary planned to harvest Rocket's brain and incinerate all of Batch 89. Rocket tried to rescue his friends, but the High Evolutionary killed Lylla and mocked Rocket's grief. Enraged, Rocket attacked the High Evolutionary while henchmen killed Teefs and Floor during the chaos. Rocket killed the henchmen and then escaped in a spaceship.
In the present, an alternate version of Gamora, who has joined the Ravagers, helps the Guardians infiltrate Orgocorp. They retrieve Rocket's file but discover that Theel, one of the High Evolutionary's advisors, has removed the override code. The Guardians and Gamora travel to Counter-Earth to find him. They are followed by Ayesha and Adam after the High Evolutionary, their race's creator, threatened to wipe out the Sovereign if they failed to retrieve Rocket. At Counter-Earth, Drax and Mantis remain with Gamora and Rocket while Peter Quill, Groot, and Nebula go to the High Evolutionary's Arête Laboratories complex. Guards force Nebula to wait outside due to her cybernetic enhancements; Quill and Groot enter Arête. Drax tricks Mantis into pursuing Quill's group and Gamora saves Rocket from Adam and War Pig, one of the High Evolutionary's Hellspawn guards.
The High Evolutionary agrees with Quill that Counter-Earth is imperfect and begins bombarding the entire planet, killing the Humanimals and Ayesha. Arête, which is actually a spaceship, departs as Nebula, Drax, and Mantis board it to rescue Quill and Groot. However, the latter pair jump off the spaceship with Theel, whom they kill before retrieving the override code from his corpse. They are rescued by Gamora on their ship. As they use the code, Rocket flatlines and has a near-death experience in which he reunites with Lylla, Teefs, and Floor. Lylla tells him his time has not yet come, and Quill succeeds in disabling the kill switch and restarting Rocket's heart.
Drax, Nebula, and Mantis encounter the High Evolutionary's next batch of test subjects—genetically modified humanoid children—before they are captured. The other Guardians orchestrate a rescue, which leads to a battle against the High Evolutionary's forces. Kraglin opens fire on Arête with Knowhere and then helps to save Knowhere citizens from a counter-attack by the High Evolutionary's Hellspawn. Intent on retreat, the High Evolutionary's crew mutinies, but their leader kills them. Drax, Nebula, and Mantis befriend three monstrous Abilisks to escape and reunite with the rest of the Guardians. The Guardians delay leaving Arête, choosing to rescue the children, who escape to Knowhere via a tunnel constructed by Cosmo's telekinesis. Rocket discovers imprisoned animals on the ship and is confronted by the High Evolutionary, whom the other Guardians defeat. Rocket spares the High Evolutionary, and the Guardians help the animals escape to Knowhere. Quill nearly dies trying to reach Knowhere but is saved by Adam, whom Groot had earlier rescued from Arête's destruction.
Quill decides to leave the Guardians, names Rocket as the new captain, and reunites with his grandfather Jason on Earth. Mantis embarks on a journey of self-discovery with the Abilisks, Gamora rejoins the Ravagers, and Nebula and Drax remain on Knowhere to raise the rescued children. The new Guardians—Rocket, Groot, Kraglin, Cosmo, Adam, Phyla (one of the rescued children), and Adam's pet Blurp—later take on a mission.
Cast
Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord:The half-human, half-Celestial leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy who was abducted from Earth as a child and raised by a group of alien thieves and smugglers, the Ravagers. In the film, Quill is in a "state of depression" following the appearance of a variant of his dead lover Gamora, who does not share the same affection for Quill as her older version had for him, which in turn affects his leadership of the Guardians. Zoe Saldaña as Gamora:An orphan who seeks redemption for her past crimes, and was adopted and trained by Thanos to be his personal assassin. The original version of Gamora, a member of the Guardians, was killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and an alternate version of the character traveled to the present in Avengers: Endgame (2019); Saldaña reprises the latter role in this film, now serving as a member of the Ravagers. Saldaña stated that Vol. 3 would be the final time she would portray Gamora, noting that she originally signed to play her in one film and ended up playing the role for much longer, a role she was grateful to play due to the impact it especially had on female fans. Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer:A member of the Guardians and a highly skilled warrior whose family was slaughtered by Ronan the Accuser, under the instructions of Thanos. Bautista stated that Vol. 3 would be the final time he would portray Drax, having been grateful for the role, while still calling it a "relief" to have concluded his time with the character, given the long hours needed to get into makeup and hoping to pursue more dramatic acting roles. Because of Bautista's decision, writer and director James Gunn opted not to include Drax in the post-credits scene. Karen Gillan as Nebula:A member of the Guardians, a former Avenger, and Gamora's adoptive sister who, similarly to her, was trained by their adoptive father Thanos to be his personal assassin. Gillan believed Nebula was developing into a "slightly different person" with more levity as she starts to heal psychologically following the death of Thanos, who was the source of her abuse and torment. Vol. 3 fulfills a character arc for the character Gunn envisioned when starting work on Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), going from a minor villain to a member of the Guardians. The film teases a possible romance between Star-Lord and Nebula, but Gunn denied having ever considered the two becoming a couple. Despite this, Gillan felt that Nebula harbors a small crush on Quill. Pom Klementieff as Mantis: A member of the Guardians with empathic powers, and Quill's half-sister. Vin Diesel as Groot:A member of the Guardians who is a tree-like humanoid and the accomplice of Rocket. Austin Freeman, who played Randy in the Loki season one episode "The Variant" (2021), provided on set motion-capture for Groot. Bradley Cooper as Rocket:A member of the Guardians and a former Avenger who is a genetically engineered raccoon-based bounty hunter and a master of weapons and military tactics. Gunn said that the film tells Rocket's story, including his background and "where he's going", along with how that ties into the other Guardians and the end of this iteration of the team. The film completes a character arc that was established in Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), and continued in Infinity War and Endgame. Sean Gunn once again provided on set motion capture for the character, while also voicing young Rocket. Cooper also voiced adolescent Rocket while Noah Raskin voiced baby Rocket. Will Poulter as Adam Warlock:A powerful artificial being created by the Sovereign to destroy the Guardians. Given Warlock is newly born from the Sovereign's cocoon, he is "basically a baby" that "does not understand life very well". Poulter believed there was "a lot of comedy" in someone just entering the world for the first time and "trying to develop his moral compass", while also having "some genuine pathos". Gunn thought Warlock's interactions with the Guardians provided "an interesting juxtaposition" to what their journey has been, and described him as a more traditional superhero compared to the Guardians, although not necessarily a hero. Sean Gunn as Kraglin: A member of the Guardians and Yondu Udonta's former second-in-command in the Ravagers.