By the time the original Avengers released back in 2012, the question of each film that followed was to see how far the MCU could go. Which one, if any, would break the studio’s solid streak? Out of that early run, Guardians of the Galaxy was one of its biggest question marks. Superhero movies up to that point largely starred A-list characters (or ones who reasonably seemed like A-list material), and the Guardians didn’t really match that descriptor. When your movie’s based on a semi-obscure comics team, it’s understandable everyone focuses on the talking raccoon or the tree man played by Vin Diesel.
It wouldn’t be entirely right to call the first Guardians movie an underdog when it released August 1, 2014. But it was definitely an outlier with its bigger than usual in-your-face energy (relative to other MCU films at the time) and eclectic cast. Audiences had only just gotten used to flag-colored supersoldiers and armored billionaires, and the film was asking “a lot” of its audience. But confidence and good vibes go a long way, and the Guardians endeared themselves pretty quickly. James Gunn and credited co-writer Nicole Perlman’s take on the material is so secure in itself, and its cast having a fun time, it was easy to get on board with whatever adventures the characters got into next.
Of the sub-series running around under the MCU umbrella, the Guardians movies have maintained the strongest consistency, particularly behind the camera. While Perlman jumped over to Captain Marvel, Gunn’s stuck with the Guardians throughout their trilogy as both writer and director. That’s notable in and of itself—other series don’t really keep the same creative team between installments—and stands out more considering Gunn’s sudden firing in 2018. At the time, things were pretty fraught, with the cast and online fans petitioning for him to get reinstated as Guardians 3’s director, despite his assurances that he’d be fine. He was eventually rehired, and it’s easy to imagine that’s part of why Guardians 3 was such a hit in 2023: a show of solidarity to the MCU’s one veteran franchise that hadn’t burned viewers in some ways. (And in the instances where it did, it tried to do better next time around.)
In the MCU’s early days, it meant something when Marvel Studios took a chance on an emerging filmmaker. Gunn may have been around for years beforehand, but the original Guardians gave his profile a significant boost, and he’s often touted as one of the company’s strongest creative bets. Next to fellow directors like Ryan Coogler and the Russos (who all came up with him around the same time), Gunn’s had more freedom, and the Guardians trilogy feels more a product of him than Marvel. Before his firing, the studio had enough faith in him to let him and Perlman basically build out the MCU’s sci-fi cosmology on their own. His humor and sensibilities aren’t for everyone, but they are unequivocally him in a way audiences seem to resonate with and recognize. And you can tell Marvel knew how much his films were hitting, because the two Captain Marvel films and later Thor sequels draw on his movies.
That impact could also be felt outside the Marvel movies. Gunn might be like Michael Bay or Christopher Nolan where it’s easy to snark about his movies and what he puts in them, but the style isn’t easy to imitate. DC’s first Suicide Squad film in 2016 was retooled into something trying to evoke Guardians, which came full circle when WB nabbed Gunn to make 2021’s psuedo-sequel The Suicide Squad during his unexpected free time. Recent genre films like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Birds of Prey, and next week’s Borderlands movie have been marketed or made in a similar mold. The Guardians movies didn’t invent the action-comedy, but it has given it a template that continues to be used, a decade later. (It’s also not exclusive to film: look at PlayStation’s hero shooter Concord or arguably BioWare’s Dragon Age: Veilguard.)
As a series, the Guardians of the Galaxy movies represent an ideal of what the MCU films can be at their creative best. It’s clear that Gunn has a lot of affection for these characters and the worlds they were born from, and was given the space for them to be messy and exist as real people. In an ideal world, these movies wouldn’t feel as revolutionary as they are, particularly in the decade since the release of the original. But the balance between a filmmaker’s personal touch and Marvel’s desire to expand its roster sheet and deliver absorbing cinematic experiences is one these movies have successfully reached. The movies aren’t completely perfect, but like the various needle drops employed throughout each film, they’ve got enough juice to eventually get you singing along with a smile on your face.
And if this version of the characters don’t do it for you, there’s always that pretty good video game that takes just enough from the movies before taking its own impressive path.
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