'Guardians of the Galaxy 3' Brings Even More Talking Animals to Disney

I’m a Guardians of the Galaxy apologist. No question about it. Like Spider-Man: Homecoming and the first Ant-Man, they were the perfect distillation of mainstream comic books on the silver screen. They weren’t perfect movies, but their minimal tie-in with the rest of the MCU provided structure and the freedom of a self-contained story. Then we got No Way Home and this week’s release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to spoil the whole “self-contained” bit. GotG3, though, looks like it will remain mostly its own thing. The Guardians tangle with the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), originally an Englishman fascinated by genetics who learned to tinker with DNA and create intelligent animal hybrids. It appears he’s also teamed up with the Enclave’s Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) and has designs on Rocket Raccoon, one of his former experiments.

There’s a lot here that I like. Groot’s new look. The better team dynamics with Nebula (Karen Gillan). Peter Quill looks like a return to form, without Chris Pratt’s godawful Tough Guy impression. The return of Cosmo the psychic dog (Maria Bakalova). The armed, talking river otter ( the cutest species of the mammal kingdom) that better not die. Iwuji was excellent as Peacemaker’s Clemson Murn, and I’m excited he’s working with James Gunn again. Dane DiLiegro (Prey’s Predator), Sean Gunn (GotG and Gilmore Girls), and Elizabeth Debicki (GoTG2, Tenet) also star. And the effects look better than many of Marvel’s recent productions, as far as I can tell from this brief glimpse. What don’t I like?

What the shit, Gunn?! Was breaking my heart for Quill and Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy, Yondu (Michael Rooker) in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and Christopher (John Cena) in Peacemaker not enough? Now you bring me the kind of emotional devastation usually only seen with a forlorn female singer-songwriter playing in the background. Not cool, dude. The animals had better survive, is all I’m saying. Guardians of the Galaxy 3 lands in theaters on May 4.