We rarely get to say goodbye at the movies anymore—especially in superhero films. In a world full of multiverses, quantum realms, and Infinity Stones that can make literally anything happen, anything is possible, everything is reversible, and goodbye is only temporary. If Deadpool wants to crack some jokes with Wolverine, despite a perfectly satisfying ending in Logan, there’s a way to make him come back from the dead, no problem. Almost immediately after Tony Stark snapped himself to death, the audience was wondering how Robert Downey Jr. could return to the MCU.

But the Guardians of the Galaxy have always stood out from the crowd and played by their own rules. While the MCU was still stuck on Earth, the Guardians, a little-known ragtag group of misfits that came together to create an odd but lovely family, were out patrolling the skies. James Gunn took a fringe Marvel team-up, and made them the most interesting segment of the Marvel universe, more often than not telling their own self-contained narrative, away from the larger MCU puzzle pieces, and was far better for it. Guardians of the Galaxy has always been Gunn’s baby, and so with Gunn heading out to run DC, it’s time for him to say goodbye to this crew, and he does so in a satisfying way with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is full of heart, humor, and action that feels like a creation only Gunn could come up with. Will we likely see some of these characters again down the line? Almost definitely. But with Gunn gone as captain, Vol. 3 feels like the last time we’ll see these characters in this way again, and Gunn gives them a wonderful sendoff.
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We pick back up with the Guardians on Knowhere, which they have made into their home base, and quite a comfy community. When the team is attacked by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), the Guardians set out on a new mission that runs them into The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a man with a god complex who experiments with living creatures to make a perfect society. The High Evolutionary is also the man behind Rocket Raccoon’s (voiced by Bradley Cooper) evolution into what he is today—a past that Rocket has avoided throughout this entire series, and which Vol. 3 finally delves into.

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Rocket is in many ways the star of the show in this third film, and his backstory is a heartbreaking tale that Gunn manages to make effective despite it being between a raccoon and his animal friends (voiced by Linda Cardellini, Asim Chaudhry, and Mikaela Hoover). This is a story that Guardians has been hinting at for the past decade, and Gunn manages to make it one of the most emotional stories ever told in the MCU.

In addition to Rocket’s history, we also have the one-sided love story between Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), who still doesn’t remember her romantic past with the Star-Lord. Gunn’s handling of this dynamic is wonderfully tender, and a type of relationship we don’t see too often on screen, where a person loves another, but that person that they loved isn’t the same person anymore. While, yes, relationships often end this way over time, and not because one person’s power-hungry father knocked them off a magical mountain, but Gunn makes these emotions really resonate, and to his credit, Pratt plays these moments with honesty and deep pain that takes you by surprise.

As the culmination of this group’s story, and with the Guardians now larger than ever, James Gunn has to balance quite a bit, but for the most part handles this challenge well. While Vol. 3 focuses primarily on Rocket and Quill, the larger journey allows for each character to have their own big moments, even if there’s no time to give them their own individual arcs. But this structure works well, especially with such a large cast. Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Nebula (Karen Gillan) are often put together in hilarious combinations that also speak to their greater gifts within the group, and we also get just the right amount of the newer additions in Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and the adorable good dog Cosmo (voiced by Maria Bakalova). Gunn has to juggle a lot with this finale, but once again, he shows he’s a master at knowing exactly how to work with a large ensemble.

Image via Marvel Studios

Gunn finds the perfect way to end each of these character’s stories in a way that feels right in line with the direction they’ve been going this entire time. While the editing of Vol. 3 can often be a bit of a mess, with the film flying back-and-forth between Rocket’s history and the Guardians’ latest mission without any real rhyme or reason, it’s only a bit distracting and still manages to make for an overall successful combination of stories.

And yet, there still might be a bit too much on Gunn’s plate with this one. Even with a two-and-a-half hour runtime—which flies by—Poulter’s Adam Warlock gets a bit lost in the mix. Gunn has teased Warlock throughout this trilogy, and his inclusion here feels like a now-or-never scenario. Warlock largely sets the story in motion, and while he’s part of the journey throughout, he never quite meshes with the rest of the narrative in a practical way. Poulter is fun in a role that places him as powerful, but kind of a dummy (a dynamic which the film itself notes this universe already has plenty of), but considering how many spinning plates Gunn has going, it’s more impressive that this golden one is the only one that falters.

However, the same can’t be said about Iwuji’s High Evolutionary, a menacing villain that does away with Marvel’s recent trend of understandable antagonists, as Iwuji goes full-on monster here. The High Evolutionary’s goal is perfection, and the means to which he goes after that desire is often disturbing and strange, and fits right into the darker instincts of Gunn’s filmography—as The High Evolutionary has a face that seems stretched onto his scalp, and a penchant for making strange animal hybrid machines that look like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle rejects made by Toy Story’s maniac child Sid Phillips.

Image via Marvel Studios

But while it’s hard to say goodbye, it’s also refreshing to do so. Despite this crew having seemingly nothing in common, over the last decade, Gunn has written this group in a way that makes them truly feel like a family that loves and cares for each other. This isn’t cynical in the way the previous films could be at times, but rather, Vol. 3 really leans into the deep adoration each member of this team has for each other. No matter what combination of characters we get, that friendship flows through it, and we know that each of these teammates would risk their lives for any of the others. It’s that passion and devotion that makes the Guardians the best superhero team up in the MCU—and therefore, maybe ever?—and wonderful that this team gets to conclude their time together on their own terms with an ending as fitting and satisfying as this one is.

Yet even more of a loss than this team is Gunn, who Marvel took a chance with, allowing the writer-director who had only made weirdo films like Super and Slither, and allowed him to take a rarely-known team of characters and turn them into one of the most beloved segments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In many ways, Gunn brought humor to the MCU, a love between characters, and he actually cared about the music being used in these films—all elements that have permeated throughout the rest of the MCU. It’s nothing short of astonishing what he’s done with the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, taking characters no one knew and turning them into the best part of this world.

Image via Marvel Studios

After a fairly disappointing Phase Four, and an underwhelming beginning to Phase Five with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Gunn leaves the MCU by showing Marvel what lessons they should learn from his work in this trilogy. These films should be led by the heart, not by the inevitable third-act fight sequence, or the attempts to set up the next decade of content. Vol. 3 shows how much better the MCU is when Marvel lets a creator see out their vision, instead of placing their vision on the creator. If anything, the most painful loss of Vol. 3 is of Gunn. Even after three films in this universe, he managed to make all of these films feel fresh and unique, never watering down our love for this group, and got out before he was left spinning his wheels. The MCU has had plenty of great directors in this universe, but no one has taken full advantage of the freedoms and potential of this universe quite like Gunn, and that ambition, vision, and sense of heart and humor will be missed in this world.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 isn’t just the ideal sendoff for this group, it’s the best MCU film in years, and a reminder of how much fun and moving the Marvel Cinematic Universe can actually be after film-after-film of recent disappointments. The Guardians of the Galaxy were the best corner of the MCU, and Gunn has created the perfect goodbye to this gang of misfits.

Rating: B+

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 comes to theaters on May 5.