The Most Brutal Moments In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Ranked

Contains spoilers for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"

Funny. Soulful. Cinematic. Brutal. Wait, what? The first two "Guardians of the Galaxy" films can be described in many ways, but few people would use the word "brutal." And yet, as "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" continues to cast its crowd-pleasing spell upon audiences, critics, and box office receipts alike, "brutal" is a perfectly appropriate word to describe the series' third outing.

Throughout this trilogy-capper, filmmakers magnify the stakes by using brutality in multiple senses of the word. Visually, digital artists elevate the action sequences with more gruesome gore than ever before. Emotionally, writer-slash-director James Gunn deepens the story beats with more pronounced pathos than any prior "Guardians of the Galaxy" script.

The characters who now make up the ever-expanding "Guardians of the Galaxy" roster first danced their way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as virtually unknown heroes in 2014. Nearly a decade later –– with three films of their own and an assortment of other appearances across the MCU — audiences have formed strong attachments to these characters' humanity (even the ones who aren't human at all). This real connection to these fictional personas makes the cruelty of the third chapter all the more wild and wonderful. Here are the most brutal moments in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," ranked.

While "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" certainly exhibits its fair share of grittiness, the characters retain their trademark humor throughout. As such, some of the film's most violent moments play for laughs, despite the character on the receiving end being very much in pain and not laughing at all.

A crowd-pleasing gag that Marvel first revealed in the "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" trailer comes when the team arrives on Counter-Earth. After landing their ship, they hesitantly approach the planet's citizens, who speak a different language and aren't sure of the Guardians' intentions. Drax (Dave Bautista) breaks the silence by throwing a bouncy ball directly in the face of a little girl, instantly pummeling her to the ground. The townspeople understandably become angry. Drax orders Groot (Vin Diesel) to transform into "Kaiju Groot," a larger and more threatening version of himself. It's pure chaos and 100% Guardians. What might not have been a great first impression for the people of Counter-Earth was a comical first impression of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" for prospective moviegoers watching that initial trailer.

The audience has come to expect "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies to radiate warmth and maybe even elicit a few tears. These expectations are only heightened as we enter "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," fully aware that this is a proper ending for this era of the Guardians and James Gunn's last Marvel project before officially being full-time at DC. Furthermore, the movie's trailers, comments from cast members, and early word-of-mouth all indicated it would be a sucker punch in the feels.

All this to say, when it appears that a main character is dead in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," the audience is inclined to believe it's true. As Orgocorp employees confront Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Drax at Orgocorp HQ, the trespassing heroes face a decision: "Fight or run?" It's the first of several times Gunn brings up the idea of "fight or flight" throughout his script. This time, Drax opts for "fight," and an Orgocorp employee aptly shoots him. Drax careens across the room and appears unconscious as Mantis runs to his aid, visibly distraught and seemingly thinking the blow was fatal. For a moment, Gunn misleads us to believe Drax might be dead. The near-tragic incident sends a visceral message loud and clear (as Rocket remains on life support onboard the ship, no less) –– no one is safe, and you might want to have some tissues at the ready.

To save Rocket (Bradley Cooper), the Guardians need to bypass the programming that the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) embedded into Rocket when he performed experimentation on the creature long ago. The key to doing this is a code within a special piece of equipment ... that just so happens to be inside the skull of Recorder Theel (Nico Santos), an accomplice of the High Evolutionary. Retrieving the code should be easy enough, right?

Knowing they need the code at all costs, Peter (Chris Pratt) and Groot do whatever it takes. In this case, that "whatever" is grabbing onto Theel, violently pushing him out of a spaceship, and falling hundreds of feet from the sky before using Theel as a landing pad for a gnarly touchdown into a dirt field. Not one to be shaken up by a crash landing, Peter immediately uses a knife to slice open Theel's skull and retrieve the code. It's pretty gross, but the camera cuts away before things get too gruesome.

Ayesha the High Priestess (Elizabeth Debicki) seeks information about the Guardians' whereabouts. With a Ravager prisoner as her captive, she might be one step closer to locating them. When the prisoner doesn't comply with Ayehsa's interrogation, she orders Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) to "show him we mean business." Adam horribly misunderstands Ayesha's command and straight-up melts the prisoner's flesh away with a single blast from his weapon, leaving only a skeleton and withering skin.

Visually, such a sight definitely feels more reminiscent of James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad" than his previous "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies. All things considered, it's but a tease for more brutal imagery still coming later in the story. Naturally, Ayesha is furious, with poor Adam bumbling in defense. "What business could we have shown him?!" he genuinely asks. Since the moment is played as a funny bit rather than a dramatic turn of events, the blow is lessened slightly.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" opens with Adam Warlock attacking Knowhere –– the Collector's former hangout and the newly instated headquarters of the Guardians. (Can we take a second to admire the incredible physical set of the Knowhere town square? If this had been established a few movies earlier, Knowhere would've made an excellent candidate for Imagineers to build outside the "Guardians of the Galaxy" ride in Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure.) Adam quite literally blasts into Knowhere and gives a beating to nearly every Guardian.

Adam slams into Nebula (Karen Gillan) so violently that her mechanical body parts distort and reconfigure. He snaps Mantis' arm at a horrifically perfect 90-degree angle. He punches Drax in the face repeatedly, with an intensity so fierce that it would surely kill a weaker being. He beheads Groot (but luckily, our tree-like friend can regenerate the rest of his body). And of course, Adam knocks the hell out of Rocket, setting into motion the crux of the story as the Guardians embark on their quest for the medical equipment needed to save their friend's life.

James Gunn begins the film strong with a sequence that has no chill, dropping us right into the thick of the action and smartly putting the pieces in place for the rest of the story to unfold organically. Adam gets away, but not before Nebula stabs him. "That hurts," Adam mutters. "What a pity," Nebula dryly replies.

The High Evolutionary has performed countless experiments on innocent creatures in his mission to engineer his idea of a perfect being. He's tried things out on all sorts of animals, and naturally, he failed many times before achieving his desired "success." What becomes of his failures? Some of them he kills on the spot. Others he keeps around to do his bidding. One such creature is Warpig (Judy Greer) (yes, really), a former swine who's now part pig, part killing machine.

When Warpig finds herself in Adam Warlock's presence, Adam has no patience for her wasting his time, even if, as Warpig points out, they're "working for the same boss." He warns her, "Be a good creepy thing and back off," but Warpig's gonna Warpig. When she continues to be hostile, Adams chops her head off in full view of the audience. Not only that, but he carries the severed head with him a few paces, again gloriously (or disturbingly, depending on your preference) visible to the viewer. Not gonna lie, for a minute I got visceral flashbacks to Hellspawn Piglet's comeuppance in the brutal "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey."

If you ever marked your relationship status on Facebook as "it's complicated" back in the day, you might empathize with Peter and Gamora (Zoe Saldaña). The Gamora who was in love with Peter died in 2018 at the hand of Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War," but a still-alive Gamora from 2014 time-traveled to 2023 in "Avengers: Endgame." This new Gamora doesn't remember anything that transpired in the interim years. She missed ... a lot.

Despite this, Peter still has hope that Gamora will fall in love with him, but she swiftly and repeatedly shuts down that possibility. As the Guardians prepare to break into Orgocorp, Gamora lays firm boundaries, telling Peter, "We were nothing." Later on, as Peter doesn't give up, Gamora's patience wanes. "What are you so afraid of that I have to be something for you?" she yells. It's a harsh slap in the face of the reality Peter refuses to accept — accompanied by a literal punch in the gut that knocks Peter into some of the ship's equipment. Ouch. As Drax and Mantis observe during the Orgocorp kerfuffle, "We can hear everything ... and it is painful."

If there's one thing Peter Quill is not gonna leave behind, it's his jams. Fleeing the exploding High Evolutionary base at the end of the movie, Peter drops his Zune. "Don't do it," the audience thinks, anticipating Peter sacrificing his clean escape to grab the Zune. "You're home free! You just won! Don't mess it up, man." To Peter, though, that's not just a portable electronic music device. It's the soundtrack to his adventures, and more importantly, the lifeblood of his relationships past and present. Music is everything to him, and he's not leaving without it.

As Peter reaches for the Zune, the audience's fears come true. The hero retrieves it, but he isn't fast enough to jump off the base in time to land safely with his friends. He floats into the unsurvivable atmosphere of outer space, his face distorting grotesquely. As with the fake-out with Drax earlier in the film, no one would blame you if you thought this is the end of the line for Star-Lord. When it seems all hope is lost, Adam saves Peter, having turned a new leaf (appropriately courtesy of the very leafy Groot).

As the curtain nears its close toward the end of the movie, James Gunn's intentions are clear: this is farewell. The Guardians are going their separate ways, and Rocket will be the leader of the team's new iteration. In a twist that perhaps takes many by surprise, the split includes Star-Lord and Gamora. They don't live happily ever after in the sense that Hollywood has trained us to expect from star-crossed lovers. Many famous movie couples' destinies seem to be entwined, their romance foretold and secure no matter the circumstances. Not this time.

"I'm not the person you want me to be," Gamora calmly tells Peter as she prepares to rejoin the Ravagers. In Gunn's interwoven thematic element of "fight or flight," Gamora has chosen "flight," and Peter has to be okay with not defaulting to "fight." Rather than pushing against her claim, Peter replies, "Who you are ain't too bad, either." Peter finally accepts what Gamora came to terms with a while ago: She's not going to change who she is just to please another person.

There's a lot to unpack in that revelation. For one, it contributes to the script's ongoing, subtle thread about identity. Peter finally trusts that Gamora is who she says she is and stops trying to change her into his preference — and Gamora finally celebrates that who she is, is more than enough. Gunn's choice respects both characters' journeys and keeps them growing.

Going into "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," I did not have "surprisingly profound message about the horrors of animal cruelty" on my Bingo card. The High Evolutionary conducts experiments on critters in an attempt to perfect a new breed of species. Initially with vague close-ups and later with clearer wide shots, we see the creature we now know as Rocket begin his life as an innocent baby raccoon and transform into a lethal experiment. As Nebula watches playback of the moment, she says, "It's worse than what Thanos did to me."

Sadly, this is just the beginning of the High Evolutionary's continued experimentation on animals like turtles, bunnies, and monkeys, all of which are graphically presented to the camera. In a particularly thought-provoking scene, editors Fred Raskin and Greg D'Auria pair a moment of mutation with an operatic overture. The slow, classical music provides a sense of stoic weight to the sorrowful visuals.

Cinematically similar, later when Rocket discovers a huge assembly of animals still imprisoned, the action of the climactic battle distills. He knows what he has to do. Rocket urges his fellow Guardians to help him save the creatures, which they do. Among many other thematic subjects James Gunn gives us to consider, the audience leaves the theater pondering the very real practice of animal abuse in our own world, questioning if we purchase our products from cruelty-free suppliers, and remembering the importance of sharing our galaxy with the furry, feathered, and flippered friends who also call it home.

If blood and guts give you the heebie-jeebies, the Guardians' killing spree of the High Evolutionary's regimen is a great time to take a bathroom break. All others can stay seated for an absolute bloodbath of a scene and one of the most impressively cinematic moments of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."

James Gunn and cinematographer Henry Braham carefully maintain an incredible one-shot that seamlessly moves the audience's perspective through the brawl without ever switching to a different camera. The fight choreography and camera-op movement beautifully ebb and flow together, all the while as "guts" spew onto the lens with each new kill.

When the Guardians finally make it to the High Evolutionary, the gore isn't over. They all have a hand in his demise, and Gamora realizes his face isn't real. She peels back his skin Sideshow Bob-style, revealing still-functioning tissue and bone structure within. Jinkies!

Lylla the otter (Linda Cardellini), Teefs the walrus (Asim Chaudhry), and Floor the rabbit (Mikaela Hoover) are Rocket's fellow imprisoned experiments. We witness these four prisoners form a bond, console one another in dark moments, and maintain hope that they'll get to see the sky together one day. We even get to see them dismiss their assigned experiment numbers and proudly give themselves proper names, which not only contributes to the ongoing theme of identity but is also just plain adorable. (By the way, James Gunn masterfully presents that scene as an aerial shot of the critters' adjacent cages, thus eliminating the audience's view of the bars that separate the companions.)

These endearing moments make the ultimate departures of Lylla, Teefs, and Floor all the more unbearable. As Rocket leads an escape, the High Evolutionary fatally shoots Lylla. The others still have a chance to get away. Floor repeatedly shouts in distress, "Rocket Teefs Floor go now! Rocket Teefs Floor go now!"

This time, "flight" seems to be the wisest choice in Gunn's continued conversation of "fight or flight" throughout the script. But Rocket can't do it; he chooses "fight." Enraged, he opens fire on the High Evolutionary's cronies, but his anger only leads to more loss. The aides kill Floor and Teefs, who, moments ago, still had time to escape. Rocket flees, forever haunted by the ruthless deaths of his first three friends.

Surely, the Guardians will succeed in their quest to save Rocket ... but what if they don't? After everything the Guardians have been through — and all the truly brutal moments they and the audience have physically and emotionally endured — what if they can't save Rocket? That hypothetical very nearly becomes reality. Despite the Guardians' efforts, the code they hoped would bypass Rocket's system doesn't work fast enough. The bitter truth hits: Rocket is gone. Peter mourns the alleged loss of his friend, sobbing over Rocket's body.

In an ethereal, purgatory-like space, Rocket meets Dumbledore at King's Cross Station. Okay, okay, so that's not true. But the glowing white setting in this scene does resemble Harry's "basically just died, but about to come back to life" moment in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." In this heaven-adjacent aura, Rocket encounters Lylla, who encourages him, "My beloved raccoon, the story has been yours all along, you just didn't know it."

The audience hears James Gunn speaking through Lylla's dialogue loud and clear. The otter's words don't just refer to Rocket's life; they equally mean the "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy. The story has been Rocket's all along –– and it's not done. Rocket's consciousness returns to his body and his friends joyously embrace him. Their brother is going to be okay. Whether the audience is going to be okay ... well, the jury's still out on that. I'll need to mop up my tears first.