Everything You Need To Remember To Understand Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

Everyone's favorite bunch of losers is coming back to the big screen for, by all accounts, one last ride. Rumors that "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" would mark the end of this specific iteration of the team have flown far and wide for months now, lending a sense of finality to the upcoming trilogy-capper as writer/director James Gunn sets his sights on bigger and brighter things ahead: namely, his "Superman" movie for rival DC. But before we get to that, it's worth taking stock of how a group of D-list comic book characters went from near-total obscurity to one of the most beloved additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

That journey has taken the Guardians from the confines of Gunn's relatively self-contained franchise and through other movies and shows altogether. A lot has happened to them, to say the absolute least, and "Vol. 3" (you can read /Film's review by Chris Evangelista here) promises to put them through the wringer all over again. So with the new film about to release in theaters worldwide, there's no better time to look back and jog our memories of all the adventures they've been through. It's certainly possible to have only seen the prior two "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies and still make sense of the upcoming threequel, but that would still leave quite a bit of important context dangling in the wind.

So whether you're simply curious about all the details you missed or need a brief refresher on what's come before, we have the explainer for you. Here's everything you need to remember to watch "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."

Chris Pratt's Peter Quill, Zoe Saldaña's Gamora, Dave Bautista's Drax, Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and the lovable Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) have added a number of characters to (and subtracted from!) their ranks over the years, but the core Guardians have remained the same since first bursting onto the scene in 2014. And what an entrance it was, as their arrival signaled a new tone and sense of style invading the MCU. The original "Guardians of the Galaxy" had a lot to live up to: launching Pratt to superstardom, assembling a bunch of new characters without the benefit of solo origin stories beforehand, teeing up the Infinity Stones plotline, and our first real look at the Mad Titan Thanos in action, and all while truly exploring Marvel's cosmic side like never before.

The results, if one looks at the box office success, speak for themselves. After detailing young Peter Quill's abduction from Earth in the late 1980s by the Ravager Yondu (Michael Rooker), the movie promptly brings the misfits together as bounty hunters and criminals out for their own self-interest. After breaking out of prison together and getting on Ronan the Accuser's (Lee Pace) bad side, the unlikely heroes have to put their personal grudges aside and come together for the greater good. Gamora leaves her villainous ways behind along with her estranged sister Nebula (Karen Gillan), Groot sacrifices his life and makes way for Baby Groot, Rocket learns to become part of a team (though the groundwork is laid for further exploration into his traumatic origin), and Star-Lord truly earns his moniker and comes to terms with his childhood trauma while dispatching Ronan once and for all.

And thus the Guardians were born.

With all the table-setting out of the way, the 2017 sequel allowed Gunn the freedom to make the movie he clearly set out to make from the start. The approach to cracking the story for "Vol. 2" feels as clear as can be. After getting over his lingering guilt over the death of his sickly mother, Peter now has to come to terms with his daddy issues — he just happens to have a Celestial father with an Ego (Kurt Russell) as big as a planet and a father figure in Yondu who, despite years of neglect, truly loves him. The sinister Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), leader of a race known as the Sovereign, serves as a secondary antagonist along with the Ravagers before Ego takes centerstage. Nebula finds herself a prisoner of the Guardians and struggles to articulate her deep pain directed towards her sister Gamora. Rocket struggles with self-loathing and his place within the team. And throughout it all, Peter and Gamora's "unspoken thing" inches closer and closer to outright romance.

While some Marvel fans struggled to get on board with the comparatively spectacle-free hangout movie, in which most of the movie's conflict boils down to a series of interpersonal squabbles between members of the Guardians, those on Gunn's wavelength were rewarded with one of the most character-focused dramas in the entire franchise. By the end, Nebula and the empath Mantis (Pom Klementieff) officially join the team, Yondu gives up his life to save Peter's, Ego is defeated, a post-credits scene teases the arrival of a certain Adam Warlock, and the Guardians feel more like a genuine family than ever before.

The timing couldn't have been better, given the cosmic threat knocking at their door in the crossover movies ahead.

As the group with the closest ties to Thanos — Gamora and Nebula's upbringing as the Mad Titan's adopted children — it always made sense that the Guardians would reappear in "Avengers: Infinity War." What fans likely couldn't have expected, however, was to what extent they'd end up influencing the two-part event films. After rescuing a wayward Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Guardians find themselves caught up in a race against time to track down the remaining Infinity Stones before Thanos can get his hands on them. While Groot and Rocket join Thor on a quest to forge a mystical hammer, Gamora is kidnapped once again by her tyrant father and killed in exchange for another Stone. When Peter finds out that the love of his life is gone, his emotions get the better of him and end up costing the Avengers at their most critical moment. Thanos escapes, gains even more precious Infinity Stones, attacks Wakanda, and promptly snaps half of the universe out of existence — including the vast majority of the Guardians.

When "Endgame" begins, Nebula is adrift with Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) in deep space and requires the sudden intervention of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) to bring them back to Earth safely, where Nebula links up with Rocket as the two remaining Guardians. Both join the rest of the Avengers in their desperate time-traveling ploy to reacquire the Infinity Stones and prevent Thanos from enacting his plan in the first place, though those plans are derailed when Gamora from an alternate, earlier timeline is thrown into their own. Though they ultimately succeed in bringing back their lost friends, this Gamora is not the same one Quill fell in love with, setting the stage for more conflict to come.

After a brief appearance in "Thor: Love and Thunder" (which, in all honesty, doesn't really amount to much at all), the Guardians next show up in the delightful "Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special." The hilarious romp lives up to its billing as a light and fluffy distraction from the rest of the franchise's doom-and-gloom happenings, primarily following Drax and Mantis as they return to Earth to find the perfect holiday gift for the '80s-obsessed Peter: actor Kevin Bacon of "Footloose" fame, naturally. Having purchased the underground criminal city of Knowhere, the Guardians now operate out of this base and have settled into a laidback groove following Thanos' defeat.

In terms of developments that actually factor into "Vol. 3," the "Holiday Special" makes it explicitly clear that Mantis is a half-sister to Quill, given Ego's shared parentage of both individually. In addition, the special adds Cosmo the Spacedog (voiced by Maria Bakalova) to the cast. And as for Peter, he's still struggling with the death of Gamora and the fact that the new Gamora doesn't even remember him, which is a plot point that "Vol. 3" directly deals with. Meanwhile, former Ravager Kraglin (Sean Gunn) attempts to live up to the mantle passed down by Yondu and figure out how to control that telepathic arrow weapon. In all, the special isn't strictly necessary viewing in order to follow the vast majority of "Vol. 3" ... but for those itching to spend just a little more time with the lovable Guardians, the special hits the spot.

Luckily, fans have just enough time to catch up on all the Guardians' appearances in the MCU, all of which are streaming on Disney+. "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" arrives in theaters May 5, 2023.