A year ago I wrote
this editorial regarding why I was excited for James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy. As if I'm some sort of prophet, I said the following in that editorial:
"It's all these amazing elements that blend together, and like the members of the team -- we don't expect it to work but in a miracle, it somehow manages to succeed."
Arguably Guardians is a runaway success for Marvel on more then a few levels. It's been a commercial and critical success, and showed that Marvel can get away with a lot in terms of what they can and can't make. With the sequel, I'm sure Gunn and the writing staff want to incorporate more and keep with the first films unique tone and style. While I have no inside knowledge as to where the sequel will go, I do have a few ideas and I'm willing to make educated guesses as to where things may go. So while this is a speculative piece, it's also much moreso a general overview of why I'm excited.
Once again, remember that...
I. VILLAINS
Some people have made vocal their displeasure with Ronan as he villain of the first movie, while he doesn't get as much of a back story as I'd like, I do think he provides a very solid resistance to the team and gives them something to rally behind.
With the sequel, I'm inerested as to what villains they may use, one such villain is one that I think a few people haven't thought of and that's
ULTRON. Why Ultron? Well, during the time of Civil War (an event that we now know Marvel is adapting) Ultron's radio waves were picked up by the Phalanx who perceove Ultron as their Father and Leader; Ultron also views the Phalanx as a group needing his leadership. This leads to the Phalanx invading the Kree. This story also makes use of Quasar, Moondragon, Adam Warlock, and a few others. It's amazing that the Marvel movies are somewhat setting up a similar (albeit altered) timeline.
Ultron could easily be the villain in
Guardians 2 especially with Ultron appearing in next summers
Age of Ultron. While it's hard to say for sure, I think there's a lot here to go off of. What other villains could appear? Well
Magus is also a distinct possibility although one that I see as a bit tough to pull off without introducing Warlock first.
Annihlus and
Michael Korvac are also possibilities, although the former may be owned by Fox as a
Fantastic Four villain and the latter has proven himself to be a much larger threat, one that would require an Avengers/Guardians team-up.
Nebula will undoubtebly be back, in what capacity it's hard to say.
To summarize, while all of these villains could be a great foil for the
Guardians I do think Ultron is the most likely. Considering Marvel's tendency to introduce many villains that are introduced in one movie but go on to affect other characters in the Marvel universe (ie Loki and Thanos).
II. DADDY ISSUES
Throughout the first film, we hear hints of who Star-Lord's dad is. This is probably the biggest question coming out of the first film and is one that will likely be addressed in the sequel. James Gunn has sad that J'Son is out. My theory is that it's
Adam Warlock who is not Quill's father in the comics, but there are a few clues to have me convinced it could be him. Warlock's DNA certainly could provide Quill with the power to hold the Infinity Stone for as long as he did. They would have to tweak Warlock's origins from the comics, but I don't think that's an entirely new precedent.
Another option that I think is way out there, is that
Thanos is Quill's father. While I think there are some interesting plot points there, I don't know if I'd buy Thanos being an angelic being of light as described by Meredith Quill.
III. INFINITY STONES
The first film did an excellent job of introducing the Infinity Stones in a much more direct fashion then any of the other previous MCU films. With
Thanos being on the path to acquiring all the stones for the Infinity Gauntlet, one would think that this will be a major arc all throughout Phase III. As a fan, I'm so far invested in what Marvel is moving towards with The Infinity Gauntlet finally being adapted in
Infinity War. Considering that right now, The Guardians are the only ones that are truly on to what Thanos is seeking, it'll be interesting to see how other Stones will factor into the sequel.
IV. MORE GUARDIANS
The biggest question I have, and the one thing I know with absolute certainty, is that more Guardians will be introduced in the sequel. With his appearence being teased in the first film, I'd assume
Adam Warlock is a safe bet.
Cosmo was teased and while not critical to the story, I could see him being a fun addition to the team as a supporting character.
In keeping with drax's quest for vengeance, I'd like to see
Moondragon join the team, and
Phyla-Vell (Quasar) would also be a great fit. While these two are still possibly not relevant to the story, I would like to see more diversity on the team and these two would add a great dynamic.
Warlock, Moondragon, and
Quasar would be the best of the core team to bring in. While
Mantis, Major Victory, and
Bug are all members in the comics, I think that it would be best to bring in the core team first and then expand.
CONCLUSION
While Phase III has more films for me to be excited about then even Phase I and II. Even with
Infinity War and
Civil War, I'm still most excited for
Guardians 2. The first film did a great job of teasing the cosmic side of Marvel only teased at the end of
The Avengers and while it showed us a lot, it also held back some. I always think a great movie sets up sequels while leaving great questions to be answered and Marvel films do that quite well.
Let's sit back, relax, and see what Gunn and Feige have planned for this band of misfits.
As always I'd appreciate if you guys liked this article if you dug it. Comment below on what you're looking forward to in Phase III and more specifically, Guardians 2. Who do you think will be the villain? Will we see Adam Warlock? Make sure you stick with CBM for future news on the film going forward.