Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Super Bowl Trailer Touches Down

Movies

James Gunn’s last dance with Marvel before jumping over to the Esteemed Competition is looking to end his tenure with them on a high note. Marvel released a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 during tonight’s Super Bowl, and it’s a showstopper. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 finds Peter Quill and the Guardians searching for Gomora – that is, a version of Gamora from an alternate timeline, having lost their own to her psychotic father. Along the way, they’ll learn more about Rocket Raccoon’s past, meet cosmic entity Adam Warlock, and tangle with the High Evolutionary and his plan to “create the perfect society.” Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, and Sean Gunn return as the Guardians, with Will Poulter as Adam Warlock and Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary. Directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 will land in theaters on May 5, 2023, and you can see the trailer below:

Marvel’s been in a slump for a while, but the trailers for the first two MCU releases of 2023 look spectacular to me, at least visually. The special effects in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer are excellent, once more transporting us to another world that feels real and surreal at once. The alien landscapes and the High Evolutionary’s lair look wonderful. Rocket and his fellow animals are some of the most impressive visuals; it’s hard to make CGI animals look real, and I think Rocket’s effects have gotten better with every movie that’s featured him. I’m interested in learning more about his backstory, and it looks like the High Evolutionary will tie into it.

It’s only a trailer, so I’m just guessing at this point, but I suspect one of the themes will be the individual over the collective, with the High Evolutionary talking about perfecting people and society. If that’s the case, the perfect crew to put him up against is the Guardians, some of the most individualistic characters in the MCU, a bunch of loners who’ve forged their own family after losing the ones they’d been given. You can see this in the dialogue about how the Gamora before them is not the same person as the Gamora they lost; I suspect this will be a tough lesson for Peter to learn. What’s funny is, I don’t think this movie deals with the multiverse, at least not to the extent some of the other Marvel films have recently, but that theme is one that can make the multiverse work. What does the individual mean when there are infinite copies of him across infinite worlds? That’s how Rick and Morty makes the concept so human and personal despite the vastness of the universe it creates. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the one Marvel movie that understands that is the one removed from the multiverse story arc directed by the guy they kicked out and allowed the competition to swipe?

The humor is back, too, and the bits they show in the trailer are funny. Peter’s flirtation with Nebula made me laugh, especially when he continues it despite the dark territory into which it treads. It also looks like the Guardians are in prison again; this could be great, but I hope it isn’t too much of a retread of the first one. Maybe this will be a different prison, one lorded over by the High Evolutionary rather than the Nova Corps. Of course, it could be a totally different scenario that just looks like they’re in prison; the trailer doesn’t give much away, and I love that, especially considering how much some of these Marvel ones have revealed of late. There’s some good-looking stuff on the horizon, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 looks like one of the best.