It’s hard to overstate how much James Gunn has meant to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His Guardians of the Galaxy movies are among the few MCU films that feel truly authored, with a unique aesthetic and sensibility of their own. Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther films are their only real counterpart: Both mini-franchises were allowed to claim distinct corners of the MCU, and both filmmakers were compelled to make those corners as visually distinctive as possible.
Across three movies (and a holiday special), Gunn has cashed in on his increasing clout and goodwill to take his Guardians to stranger, brighter, more colorful places. He has moved from generic cosmic threats to Oedipal monsters, and brought his beloved superheroes into thornier emotional territory, where they’re just as likely to argue about hurt feelings as they are to punch supervillains.
And now he’s saying goodbye.
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Gunn’s trilogy-capping Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 begins on a maudlin note, with Rocket (Bradley Cooper) muttering the lyrics to the acoustic version of Radiohead’s “Creep” as it plays on the Zune he borrowed from expat Earthling Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). Meanwhile, cinematographer Harry Braham takes the audience on a swooping camera tour of the new status quo. The Guardians have set up shop on Knowhere, the city
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