Yahoo News How the Guardians of the Galaxy fit into Infinity War
What's in a Marvel movie title? Just as Captain America: Civil War was clearly an Avengers film, Avengers: Infinity War is misleading in that the Guardians of the Galaxy will also be drawn into the big fight with Thanos.
But how do Star-Lord and his cosmic pals fit into Joe and Anthony Russo's film? And what have they been up to since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2?
"They have a great role in this film," Anthony Russo told Slash Film. "Everyone is interwoven in this plot in a way where they have an emotional connection to the story, and are emotionally affected by the stakes of the movie.
"You can't tell a movie with this many characters and not have each of those characters show up and honour them from the different franchises if they are not motivated to be there, if they are not in life or death circumstances, if they are not fighting to save their belief system or their way of life."
Well, that's all very moving and reassuring. But let's get down to specifics.
Ever since footage was screened exclusively for Comic-Con attendees in 2017, we've known that the Guardians encounter Thor floating in space (presumably having just escaped from Thanos, who captured him at the end of Ragnarok).
The Guardians already have their own connections to the tyrant. Gamora (and her sister Nebula) are both the adopted (and very much estranged) children of Thanos, and Drax – as reiterated in some leaked footage from the movie – saw his family killed on orders from the villain.
Thor has been on an interrupted search for the remaining Infinity Stones, and the information he has about them and Thanos's plans will presumably set the Guardians on the path to Earth, where at least two of the stones are located (Vision's Mind Stone and Doctor Strange's Time Stone).
The latest look at Infinity War shows that Gamora also has some insight into what Thanos plans for the Infinity Stones – i.e. to eradicate half of life in the universe. She will be a major focus of the film thanks to her connection to dear old dad. The film will also include a flashback scene that promises to reveal how Gamora was adopted by the titan in the first place.
Meanwhile, Thor will be heading off with his new pals Groot and Rocket Raccoon in search of a replacement hammer, and it looks very much as though he'll be returning with a marvellous mallet called Stormbreaker.
Nebula has been on the trail of Thanos for the last two years (the time elapsed since the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2), so we're expecting her to reunite with Gamora and her other Guardians frenemies at some point in the movie, too.
One place we haven't seen any sign of the Guardians is in Black Panther's Wakanda, which is the location of a fierce battle between Thanos's army and the Avengers and their allies. And from what happens in the trailer, the ultimate meeting between the two teams might not happen on Earth at all, but on Thanos's home planet Titan – that of the orangey skies and copious space rubble.
We suspect that the Guardians will play second fiddle to the Avengers in this movie, but once the teams have integrated, it is likely that they'll form one amorphous blob in the as-yet-untitled sequel-sequel.
As for how different a team we will find after Guardians 2, it sounds as though the changes – beyond baby Groot edging into adolescence – have been largely superficial.
"I think changes are about chemistry and about camaraderie and the fact that they're closer, and they're tighter, and they've been doing it for a while," Anthony Russo told Screen Rant. "That's, if there's any change, it's in that when they may or may not intersect with the Avengers in this movie, they have cemented their chemistry as a team."
"The relationships have deepened," added Joe, with Anthony concluding, "And they would stand in contrast with the other teams. Potentially."
Does this mean that Rocket has finally stopped being a dick? Tune in next month to find out.
Avengers: Infinity War will be released in the UK on April 26 and in the US on April 27.
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