We are just a few weeks away from the theatrical debut of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and most of us are not emotionally ready. The upcoming finale of the Guardians trilogy promises to pack quite a punch but I’m hoping it packs even more than that.
While the trailers for the upcoming film have revealed a whole lot of very quick glimpses of Marvel goodness, let’s take a look at 10 Marvel things I’d like to see in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
1 – Lady Lylla
As always, we’ll start with the most likely. Trailer for the film have shown us Rocket embracing an otter who appears to be an old friend. That otter is (or at least seems to be) a character from the comics by the name of Lady Lylla. In the comics, Rocket saves Lylla from a mole creature named Judson Jakes as he tries to take over her toy empire (yeah, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds). It seems very likely the character’s backstory will be drastically changed for the film as it appears she was an experiment of the High Evolutionary at the same time as Rocket.
2 – Counter-Earth
The aforementioned High Evolutionary is set to be the villain of the film and he, of course, has a long comic book history. In the trailer for the film, we hear him say “my sacred mission is to create the perfect society.” That’s similar to the comics as the character created Counter-Earth, a new world he intended to be perfect. As it turns out, his world needed a super hero and that’s where Adam Warlock came in. His world did also have some interesting inhabitants.
3 – New Men
The New Men are the human-animal hybris that inhabited the High Evolutionary’s Counter-Earth. We likely see them in a hilarious moment in the trailer in which Drax throws a ball at the face of a child. Prior to living on Counter-Earth, the New Men actually called another location home; one that would be familiar to fans of the MCU: Wundagore.
4 – Chthon
With the High Evolutionary and his New Men having connections to Wundagore, they of course also have connections to the demon known as Chthon. A select group of New Men take on the title of Knight of Wundagore and actually managed to fight off the evil entity. Some of the New Men then go on to play a role in the birth and childhood of the Maximoff twins, so perhaps their history and connection to Chthon and Wundagore will have an even bigger impact on the MCU in the future.
5 – Phyla-Vell
And speaking of the future of the MCU: it may be time to start looking for some new Guardians. Created as a better version of Genis-Vell, who then held the title of Captain Marvel, Phyla-Vell has been a member of the team in the comics. She eventually holds the title of Captain Marvel herself, but as a member of the Guardians she hold the title of Quasar (more on that later). She also simply operates under her own name at times and works frequently her her partner and lover…
6 – Moondragon
A powerful telepath, Moondragon is also a member of the team for a stretch in the comics. After the apparent death of the aforementioned Phyla-Vell, she joins the team on her own. Of course, no one ever stays dead for too long in the Marvel Universe and the two are eventually reunited as key members of the team.
7 – Quasar
Phyla-Vell wasn’t the first Quasar. Many people have taken up that mantle over time but Wendell Vaughn is perhaps the most well known. The intergalactic hero draws his powers from cosmic weapons known as the Quantum Bands. These weapons give Quasar the ability to create any weapon he can imagine and even change the form of his own body. He’s a powerful hero but his control of those Quantum Bands can be a bit iffy at times.
8 – Nova
I know, we’ve been waiting for this one for a long time. Last year, it was reported that Marvel would finally be developing a Nova project for the MCU, but we’ve heard nothing about it since. Richard Rider has been one of the heroes fans have been hoping to see for a long time and with the Nova Corps playing such a big role in the first Guardians film, it seemed like an inevitability. Perhaps the third film in the series will lead to his MCU introduction.
9 – Skrulls
And while we’re talking about the future of the MCU and hanging around in space, it seems possible we get a Skrull sighting in this film. And yes, this one is a bit of a cheat code because even if we don’t see any Skrulls in this film, there’s still a chance we did see a Skrull in this film and just didn’t know about it. The shape-shifting aliens are set to be the focus of Secret Invasion on Disney+ in June, and that series will likely show some of the Skrulls who have been hiding amongst us all this time. And while Volume 3 doesn’t appear to be set on Earth at all, who’s to say they haven’t extended their reach throughout the galaxy?
10 – Kang
It seems unlikely we see the master of time in this film, but perhaps we’ll get another glimpse of the bigger MCU picture. Remember, Thanos and hints at the Mad Titan showed up multiple times throughout the MCU before he arrived in Avengers :Infinity War. Teases of what’s to come for Kang just make sense as the MCU works towards Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. Perhaps this very distraught team will suffer some losses in this film and be looking for more… time.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will hit theaters on May 5th.