Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Footage Reaction: It's The End Of The Road For The Guardians [Comic-Con]

Since 2017, the Guardians of the Galaxy have been milling about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, waiting for the chance to conclude their trilogy — and now the first footage from "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is here.

The Guardians haven't exactly been inactive the last five years, as they've had a roller coaster, Cosmic Rewind, open in Disney World, and the team has shown up onscreen in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame," the latter of which teased further space-faring adventures with them and Thor. However, "Thor: Love and Thunder" quickly ushered them offstage this year, leaving some members of the team with barely any lines, so that their appearance almost felt like more of an extended cameo.

Writer-director James Gunn has been off in the DC Extended Universe, filming "The Suicide Squad" and "Peacemaker," but he's coming back to wrap up his Guardians trilogy for Marvel Studios after he delivers "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special" this December. Joining the characters you know and love in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, a major comics character who looks to be an important addition to the MCU.

Marvel's return to Comic-Con, where /Film was in attendance, brought with it some early footage from "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," and we've got a description below.

James Gunn says he knew where these characters were going from his very first pitch to Kevin Feige and the team at Marvel. "This is the end of that story," he said on the Hall H stage. "Some stories have an end. That doesn't mean everyone dies." After all, Gunn said, the Guardians may save the universe, but they also "save each other."

The footage opens with Nebula on a ship, but something has gone wrong — the Ravagers have taken over. Peter Quill tries to tell them to stand down because they have an appointment with Gamora, who runs the Ravagers now. She's wearing all black, and looking super tough.

There's a shot of Peter Quill along on his ship, looking sad. Unfortunately for him, Gamora doesn't remember anything about the first two movies.

Then we see the Guardians in colorful spacesuits, leaping into space. Our merry band of a-holes seems to be opening a store of some kind, with Nebula helping to set up some kind of sign in a business area. It's an alien font, but it appears to be a storefront for the Guardians' services. 

There's a flashback to a baby version of Rocket Raccoon (who is obviously very cute). One of the big questions this movie seems to be asking is, "Where does Rocket come from?", and James Gunn explained on stage that Rocket is "the saddest creature in the universe."

Back in modern day, they're all wearing the classic blue uniforms with red trimming from the comics. The casual gear is gone — they look like a big uniformed team now.

After multiple years of build-up, we finally get a good look at Will Poulter's Adam Warlock, who has gold skin, and meanwhile, Groot is full grown again after spending the past few movies in various stages of adolescence. Now he's bulky, muscular, and very tall — even more broad than he did in his original adult form. Here, he's more akin to a creature that would be voiced by Vin Diesel.

There's a shot of the Guardians in those colorful suits, bounding across an alien planet. Peter tries to open up to Gamora, but he's talking to her on an open channel and the other Guardians mock him. (A-holes, indeed.) The gang ruthlessly making fun of Quill is one of the few moments that focuses on Gunn's signature sense of humor.

Overall, this is really lovely to look at. The moment where they're all wearing different-colored space suits, leaping from an airlock and into a desolate asteroid/planetoid looks genuinely beautiful. There was a big focus on emotion in this footage, with a tinge of melancholy. It's clear this is the end of the line for this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy: There's a sense of finality here that hasn't been present in any other Guardians material thus far.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is in theaters on May 5, 2023.