Please don’t be my sister. If you have broken the sacred Marvel code and have committed the blasphemy of not having watched at least the shows and films that directly connect to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, don’t expect to grill the ones who have and are unlucky enough to binge-watch the James Gunn Marvel swan song with you. It can be dangerous for your limbs.
So, better to err on the side of precaution and watch every show, special, and film that connects to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The advantage? You will be able to connect the dots yourself — why is the team on Knowhere, who are the new faces, why is Nebula buddies with Star-Lord (wait, why are they chatting about kidnapping Kevin Bacon?!) — not miss out on crucial scenes in the process, and will not have to wonder if someone staring daggers at you has the potential to kill.
While I would like you a lot more if you watch everything Marvel, for now, these are the six things to add to your must-watch-ASAP list. First, let’s start with the obvious ones as we only focus on the crucial Vol. 3 mysteries.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Obviously, this is to understand where it all began for Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Groot, and Nebula, getting introduced to their lives, and why the mismatched team came together in the first place — for the mysterious Orb, containing the Power Stone. It started with the different teams trying to steal it and then banding together to ensure Ronan the Accuser doesn’t get his hands on it to destroy Xandar. Watch it to decode why the eccentric heroes have such a strong bond.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Here, we learned why Peter didn’t turn to mush after grabbing the Power Stone — because he has celestial juice in his DNA! But that’s not the major takeaway of the film. It reveals how the quirky Mantis came to join the team, why Yondu, Peter’s adoptive father, is missing in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3., how Kraglin ended up with Yondu’s telekinetic arrow and control-fin, why the team trusts him so much, gives a backstory to Ayesha’s (leader of the Sovereign race) hatred for the Guardians, and who is the Ravager leader Stakar and his teammates.
Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame
Infinity War and Endgame are important to understand the major shake-up that happens in the team, i.e. who is the “new” Gamora, what happened to the original one, and why is the new one so very aggressive. It also adds Thor to the mix temporarily even after most of the team returns from their five years of vacationing as dust.
Thor: Love and Thunder
So, why isn’t Thor alongside the Guardians in Vol.3? Love and Thunder holds the answer as apart from making Taika Waititi lose our trust, it also establishes that the God of Thunder with his nonsensical missions, screaming goats, and half-assed plans has no space in the team. While Thor goes on to lead the parody of what was once an enticing storyline, the Guardians become fully devoted to saving others and jumping on distress calls post-Snap.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2.5 — or as the kids call it, Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
You might think about what important info a Holiday Special could possibly include. Well, a lot. It explains how the Guardians ended up on Knowhere, when did Mantis become Quill’s sister, info about the MIA alternate Gamora, why is Kevin Bacon mentioned in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, who are the new members, and the overall status quo of all the characters.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the first truly exceptional Marvel film — with all its loopholes covered, mind you — in a long while. As the final Marvel film to see the Guardians together (good riddance!), the franchise deserves to be watched in the right order, so you better get cracking!