Summary
- James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is filled with Easter eggs and references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's past, future, and the comics.
- The core story of Guardians of the Galaxy 3, as the final film for the original Guardians team, has received praise for its emotional sendoff and serves as a conclusion to the trilogy.
- The film includes various Easter eggs, such as the Guardians taking over the Marvel Studios logo intro, the payoff of Rocket's otter friend Lylla from the first film, the return of Stakar Ogord's Ravagers team, and the introduction of Counter-Earth and Rocket's origin story.
James Gunn packs Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 with Easter eggs and references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's past, its future, and the comics. The second film of Phase 5 is the long-awaited conclusion of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. Thanks to the writer/director's deep love of Marvel's comics and the overall connectivity of the MCU, Gunn's movies are known for including plenty of Easter eggs, including the legendary one from the first film that still has not been found. Understandably, that has created a precedence for viewers to keep an eye out for all the Guardians of the Galaxy 3's Easter eggs and MCU references.
There is a core story at the heart of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 that is more important than the litany of references it includes. As the final film for the original Guardians team, the emotional sendoff for the characters (and James Gunn as he heads to DC Studios) is why the trilogy capper has been as well received as it has been. Still, there are plenty of details, cameos, and more that fly by during its two-and-a-half-hour runtime. Here is a breakdown of Guardians of the Galaxy 3's Easter eggs, MCU references, and comic connections.
25 The Guardians of the Galaxy Takeover Marvel Studios' Intro
The importance of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 becomes clear from the very beginning, as the characters completely take over the Marvel Studios logo intro. The logo intro format is kept the same, but instead of showing scenes from across the MCU's history, this version is strictly focused on the Guardians of the Galaxy. While the intro logo sequence typically changes in some fashion to include the latest projects, this marks the first time that Marvel Studios has solely included footage of the characters present in the movie. This helps illustrate the beginning of the end for the Guardians of the Galaxy.
24 Rocket's Friend Lylla Pays Off Guardians of the Galaxy 1 Easter Egg
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 pays off an Easter egg from the original movie by introducing Rocket's otter friend Lylla. She was referenced in the first Guardians of the Galaxy as a known associate of Rocket's during his interrogation by the Nova Corps. Lylla's appearance through Rocket's origin and her subsequent tragic death make the Nova Corps' knowledge of her a bit confusing. However, James Gunn previously mentioned Guardians of the Galaxy 3 might need to retcon a piece of information from this sequence. It now appears that Lylla's story is what needed to change to make Rocket's arc work.
23 Rocket's Friends Are Voiced By Two MCU Veterans
The introduction of Rocket's friends Lylla, Teefs, and Floor bring two MCU veterans back with new roles. This comes as Linda Cardellini voices Lylla after previously playing Hawkeye's wife Laura Barton as recently as 2021's Hawkeye. Meanwhile, Floor is voiced by Mikaela Hoover, a longtime James Gunn collaborator who had a small role in the original Guardians of the Galaxy as a member of the Nova Corps. Asim Chaudhry voices Teefs in his MCU debut.
22 Stakar Ogord's Ravagers Team Returns (Without 2 )
Sylvester Stallone returns as Stakar Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and brings his Ravagers/Guardians team with him. Viewers see Stakar interact with Martinex (Michael Rosenbaum), Krugarr, and Mainframe (Tara Strong) once again, but two other - Aleta Ogord (Michelle Yeoh) and Charlie-27 (Ving Rhames) - were left out of the film. There is no reason given for why Aleta and Charlie-27 are missing from Stakar's Ultimate Ravagers lineup after Guardians of the Galaxy 2 teased the team getting back together.
21 High Evolutionary's Planet Counter-Earth
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 does a decent job of bringing High Evolutionary's comic book origins and powers to the MCU, and that includes the introduction of Counter-Earth. The planet is pulled straight from the comics as the place where High Evolutionary wants his utopian society to exist. He reveals in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 that he has had to destroy and rebuild Counter-Earth multiple times as a result of his experiments needing to be refined. Counter-Earth has been part of Marvel's comics since 1972 and has similarly been reborn a few times.
20 The Origin of Rocket's Name
The origin of Rocket's name is revealed in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 through flashbacks to his origin. During one of his sessions with High Evolutionary, he sees a rocket fly into the sky as it leaves Counter-Earth. "Rocket" is one of the few words the small raccoon says at this point and it gives him a dream of one day flying through the skies with his friends. It is for that reason that when they decide to give themselves names beyond High Evolutionary's designations - 89P13 for Rocket - that he reveals he wants to become known as Rocket.
19 Guardians of the Galaxy 3's Colored Suits Honor 2001: A Space Odyssey
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 references an iconic piece of sci-fi cinema with its colored suits. The brightly colored space suits worn by Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis, Nebula, and Gamora as they break into Orgoscope were initially thought to reference the popular video game Among Us. However, James Gunn confirmed on Twitter that they are instead references to the Stanley Kubrick classic, which included similarly colorful space suits.
18 James Gunn Includes Several DC Actor Cameos In Guardians of the Galaxy 3
James Gunn's time making The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker led to a few DC actors cameoing in Guardians of the Galaxy 3. His wife and Peacemaker star Jennifer Holland plays Kwol, and The Suicide Squad's Daniela Melchoir plays Ura, both Orgoscope employees. There is also a brief cameo from Pete Davidson. These are just the beginning of the actors in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 to be in Gunn's DC and Marvel movies, as Nathan Fillion, Mikaela Hoover, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Pom Klementieff, and Sylvester Stallone also count.
17 Nathan Fillion's Third MCU Role
Speaking of Nathan Fillion, his Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo gives him his third different MCU role. He plays Master Karja, an Orgoscope security guard, in the movie. This follows his time playing an alien prisoner in Guardians of the Galaxy. He also had a background cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as Simon Williams, an actor who becomes the superhero known as Wonder Man - who will now be played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in a Wonder Man Disney+ show.
16 Star-Lord Takes Responsibility For Thanos' Snap
One of the biggest MCU references in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 comes as Peter Quill acknowledges that he is partially responsible for Thanos' snap. While he recaps the events of Avengers: Infinity War, he mentions that his reaction to learning about Gamora's death led to an emotional response that allowed the Mad Titan to get the upper hand again. Peter's action resulted in him receiving plenty of criticism online following Avengers: Infinity War's release. Now, the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 MCU reference shows that he takes some responsibility for Thanos snapping himself and half of all life in the universe out of existence for five years.
