Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 review: How does it impact Infinity War?

LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 28: A general view of the atmposphere at Marvel Studios fan event at The El Capitan Theatre on October 28, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney), Guardians of the Galaxy

Marvel’s lovable band of cosmic misfits, the Guardians of the Galaxy came back for a second helping and proved the music-filled madness and magic of the first film was no one-hit wonder. How did the movie leave the universe in its wake, and how will it affect Infinity War?

Before the premiere of the original Guardians of the Galaxy, you couldn’t throw a mutated space raccoon without hitting a naysayer. Sure, Marvel had shown the Midas Touch so far, resurrecting the career of Robert Downey Jr overnight and making a household name out of Thor in the ambitiously hokey Thor–a movie starring a superhero that was ripped right from the pages of Norse mythology.

But a CGI Rocket Raccoon? A talking (if vocabulary challenged) talking tree? Drax the Destroyer? Star-Lord?

Many thought the MCU had officially overextended itself. Iron Men and Hulks were one thing. This…this was something else. Surely audiences wouldn’t swallow something this strange, this purposely absurd?

As we all know, not only did they swallow it, they absolutely ate it up. Guardians proved to be one of the most popular and well-received offerings in the entire continuum.

Even still, there were those who wondered if the second film could build off the surprising success of the first.

Well…