Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 Gives a Heartfelt and Moving Farewell to the Team

Making great superhero movie series is a tough job. Almost always, there is a drop in quality somewhere or an ending that leaves viewers unhappy. But Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 tries to do one thing most Marvel series have not: give all its characters a good ending. For Spider-Man, Peter was left alone without money and technically not existing. With Captain America, the hero and his friends ended up in prison. To finish the Iron Man series, Tony Stark gave up a part of what made him Iron Man. In Infinity War half our favorite characters died. Marvel series do not usually end with the hero or heroes having a happy ending with everything going their way. That was one of the things James Gunn aimed to fix with his last Marvel movie.

The film picks up after Avengers: Endgame. The leading team is on Knowhere, putting their lives back together in a world after Thanos. This looks different for every member of the team. Some find more connection with friends. Others turn to alcohol. Like the first two Guardians films, we start with a song. This time, it is not an uplifting beat or classic hit. It is an acoustic version of Radiohead’s "Creep." This plays over Rocket Raccoon walking alone through Knowhere as the rest of the Guardians are with others. This sets the mood for the film which aims to take a more serious path and shine a light on one character's story. At first everything seems okay for the Guardians. That is until Adam Warlock shows up. He is told to capture Rocket by the man who tortured and made Rocket what he is today the High Evolutionary.

James Gunn's Smart Choice to Keep Only One Human Character on the Guardians Team

Why Limiting the Human Element Made the Guardians of the Galaxy Trilogy So Much Better

Despite being a member of the team in some versions and a big part of Marvel's space stories, Richard Rider, also known as Nova, did not make it into James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy. The original Guardians team in the Marvel movie world included Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot. Later films added Nebula, Mantis, Cosmo, and Kraglin. Yondu Udonta, a founding Guardian in the comics appeared in the first two Movies but his film version was more of an antihero.

Even though Nova himself was not in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies or the wider Marvel movie world, the Nova Corps and their home world Xandar played a big part in the first film. Since then audiences have been wondering when and where the character might show up. There were reports that Marvel Studios was developing a Disney+ series about Nova. The head of Marvel Studios Television Brad Winderbaum said "You gotta conjure these things to make them happen, but I would love to see a Nova show one day."

Sadly the Nova series was put on hold. Disney and Marvel were rethinking their plans for content. The difficulties Nova has faced getting into the Marvel movie world make us wonder why he did not fit the original Guardians of the Galaxy film team. Luckily Gunn has an answer. Back in November 2024, the director explained why he chose to leave Nova out of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Someone asked Gunn on Threads "James, why didn't you include Nova in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies?" He gave a direct answer: "I only wanted one human being." It is worth noting Star-Lord, who he is talking about, is only half-human. But neither the audience nor the character knows this during the first movie.

It is interesting that Gunn's rule about having only one human character on the team also meant changes for other characters. Both Drax and Mantis have been human in some comic stories. This choice was likely made to make Peter feel more isolated and sad about his mother. I am convinced that Guardians of the Galaxy would have been a weaker series for more than one reason if Nova had been on the original team. A big part of the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films was Star-Lord's complicated feelings about his childhood. Aliens kidnapped him the same day his mother died of cancer. Peter spent his later childhood and teenage years with Yondu and his Ravager team. Yondu cared for him like a son but he was selfish greedy and did not show much affection. This tough upbringing and not knowing his real father made Star-Lord feel bad about himself. Since he is our main character in those first movies this is very important. Gunn choosing to limit the number of humans in these films showed Peter's loneliness. It made him feel different. It also made it clearer why he was open to his father Ego's tricks.

The Emotional Core of Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3: Rocket's Moving Backstory

How Rocket Raccoon's Past Shapes the Final Chapter of the Guardians' Journey

Fortunately for Rocket he is surrounded by the galaxy’s top team of wild characters. They immediately jump into battle to fight off Warlock. Unfortunately the fight leaves Rocket in a bad condition. This starts a timer on his life. You might be thinking "Well can’t they just send him to a doctor or heal him?" No because that would be too easy. Instead we find out that the High Evolutionary put a kill switch on Rocket’s heart. If the technology inside him was messed with he would die instantly. This sends the Guardians on a quest to get the override key that will save their friend. But doing this means facing the man who tortured Rocket and many others. This certainly makes the movie more urgent emotionally. But it sometimes fails to show the required urgency to truly hit emotional notes. It sometimes feels like it is just walking into them.

Even the emotional parts, many of which happen at times that cut into the story and pacing, do not work because they are not sure what feeling they want. The movie is two hours and 30 minutes long, the longest in the series. It moves through its story so fast that one wonders how much was left out. Also whether multiple parts needed to be included at all. When it comes to the mood of the movie, it does not know what it wants to be. One minute it wants us to be excited by the adventure and colorful action. The next it wants us to cry. While this can work, there is no careful shift in mood. Instead it goes back and forth constantly. This leads to a general feeling of not connecting with any strong emotions waiting to be found. The truth is that unless you feel very connected to most of the characters in this movie the emotional moments just will not stick with you. That would not be awful if it was not for the fact that the movie uses them so poorly. This means the emotion does not come through except for a few moments.

The Guardians All Get Their Moment and the Bittersweet Ending for the Team

Reflecting on the Character Send-Offs and the Future of the Galaxy

The film lets almost every character have "their moment." This gives them a final chance to shine. While this sounds good it does not work in the movie itself. These moments become repetitive and less impactful the more they happen. This is very clear near the end of the film. Instead of a personal fight between our true main character and the man who tormented him for years, we get another big computer-generated fight. This also goes against the personal parts of the film. For some characters like Rocket who gets the most time to shine, Gunn’s writing lets them become full, well-developed characters with clear reasons and problems. Rocket truly stands out and easily becomes one of the best characters in the whole Marvel movie world. This is not true for every character though. The movie’s villain is almost as simple as you can get, no matter how unhinged Chukwudi Iwuji makes him seem. Adam Warlock is another character who gets a raw deal. He is treated and written like a child, even though he is a tall adult with powers.

If one thing is constant in Guardians of the Galaxy movies it is the use of music to move the story and show character feelings. That is true again here. The difference though is that in this movie the music which used to help the story is used much more often. It is as if James Gunn just spun a wheel of old songs he liked. To be fair not every song choice feels meaningless. A specific Florence + the Machine song playing near the end made me cry. But in the end the movie mostly achieves its goal of giving every character at least a somewhat satisfying conclusion. He does this in different ways leaving some characters’ exact fates open. This lets future filmmakers continue their stories. It also makes clear what happened in the film and how it affects others. What is very clear about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is how much of a family this film’s cast is. How much they care about the project shows through. No matter if every part hits or if the plot is as strong as it could be the people who made this movie truly care. That is about as much as we can ask of them.

Even though Nova was not in the original Guardians of the Galaxy series that does not mean he should not appear in the Marvel movie world. He could even be part of a later version of the team. Whether it is the classic Richard Rider or the Sam Alexander version the character would be a great addition to the series. The end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 sets up a new team with Rocket, Groot, Adam Warlock, Phyla-Vell, and Cosmo. This team noticeably does not have a human character. Putting the Nova television series on hold is a shame. The character has many fans who have been asking for him to join the Marvel movie world. However the choice to focus on quality over quantity might mean Nova could be used in a movie. This could be a solo project or a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel. I would definitely be excited to see that happen.