MCU: All 11 Marvel Phase 3 movies ranked from worst to best
7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
When you think about amazing projects in the MCU, it’s pretty hard not to think of The Guardians of the Galaxy. When Marvel first announced it expectations were low, and not many people got excited in the slightest. After all, the Guardians of the Galaxy were pretty unknown even to hardcore comic book readers. But to everybody’s surprise, James Gunn delivered an amazing movie filled with action, laughs, imaginative environments, and a pretty awesome soundtrack. The best part, however, was its set of main characters. Peter Quill, Rocket, Gamora, Drax, and Groot became universally loved, and audiences couldn’t help but to root for them
So how do you come up with a sequel for a movie that was such a big surprise? The obvious answer would be to make it bigger. Create even crazier action sequences, play more iconic songs, and add new characters to the mix. And while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 did some of that, perhaps its biggest strength was how it reduced the world-ending stakes and instead focused on character development. Almost everybody in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had an emotional arc that involved family problems, and it was really engaging to see how those arcs evolved through its runtime.
Sure, you could say the movie felt like it was going nowhere at times, due to how much time it spent dealing with the personal problems of each member of the group. But that’s exactly what the sequel needed to do in order to shine. After all, those characters were the reason the original movie was such a big success in the very first place. Not to mention it all paid off in the third act where Peter realized he didn’t need a biological father, as he already had a parental figure in his life. Yondu’s death is still one of the most devastating moments in the MCU so far, and it wouldn’t have been possible if the movie didn’t give its main characters enough time to grow.
Gamoras’ relationship with Nebula was a highlight of the movie as well, along with Rocket’s fight against Peter Quill for leadership. When you combine all of these storylines, it’s easy to see why Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was a fantastic sequel. It delivered a simple story with complex characters, and wouldn’t you know it, that’s the exact recipe needed to make an amazing movie. The only reason it isn’t ranked higher is not due to any of the movie’s faults, but to how great other projects in Phase 3 of the MCU are.