While Guardians of the Galaxy was not just an amazing film,
it also represented an important step towards the future of Marvel’s Cinematic
Universe. After The Avengers became an amazing success for Marvel, the
announcement that they were making a Guardians of the Galaxy movie confused
many fans, myself included. I mean, unless you’re a hardcore comic book fan you
probably had no idea such a property as Guardians of the Galaxy existed prior
to the movie. So it seems shocking that this would be the movie that would lead
into the sequel to The Avengers. But having seen the film and followed the
various Marvel developments, I completely understand the thinking behind the
higher ups at Marvel.
While there is a plethora of super heroes in the Marvel
stable, there is also a vast universe of Marvel characters that go beyond just
the Earth. Alien races and Cosmic Beings also populate the Marvelverse. And
just in this one film, along with the Guardians, there is mention of many
different parts of the Marvel galaxy. We see members of the Kree, an alien race
that is important to the origins of several characters. The Celestials, who are
a race of godlike giant beings who silently interact with the universe. The
Nova Corps, who has had several members living among the earth. Also the
Collector, a cosmic being who is fond of collecting (duh) rare and unique
items. And finally, though we did get a glimpse of him at the end of Avengers,
we got to see Josh Brolin as the Mad Titan Thanos.
That last character is most important to the future of
Marvel franchises. Thanos is one of the big villains of the Marvel universe. In
his most famous storyline, The Infinity Saga, Thanos got his hands on the
Infinity gems (one of which was heavily featured in Guardians) and fashions
them to his gauntlet (the Infinity Gauntlet), which he used to kill basically
half of all the sentient beings in the galaxy. So with the teases of various
Infinity gems (the cube in Captain America, the Ether in Thor: The Dark World,
The Staff in Avengers, and the gem in Gaurdians; with two gems still to be
revealed) it implies that the possible Avengers 3 will involve the heroes of
the Marvel Universe finally facing off against Thanos.
And the Infinity Gems themselves are a hint to what future
stories may have in store for the Marvel Universe. As I said before, two gems
have not been shown yet. The Soul Gem and the Time Gem have not yet been
featured in any film. Recent announcement from Marvel that they were doing a
Dr. Strange film suggests that the Soul Gem would be featured in that film. It
certainly would fit in with the mysticism of the series and help tie him in
with the rest of the Marvel characters. As for the Time Gem, there are
certainly a number of different ways such a device could factor into the lives
of each of the many heroes in the cinematic universe. Certainly Captain America
has a strange relationship with time, being a man from the forties living in
modern times.
Also since the alien Kree were heavily featured in Guardians
(the villain Ronan is a Kree) rumors have already surfaced that fan favorite
Captain Marvel will be showing up in Avengers 2. And not just Captain Marvel,
but the fan favorite Carol Danvers version of Captain Marvel, which fans have
been clamoring for to appear on the big screen since the entire Marvel
cinematic universe first launched. Announcements from Marvel Studios Head Kevin
Feige that he is eager to get a female super hero film on the screen would help
fuel this assumption as well. While there are certainly many candidates for a
female Marvel hero to join the Avengers cinematic universe, Captain Marvel is
definitely the front runner.
Since Samuel L. Jackson made his first appearance as Nick
Fury at the end of Iron Man, certain Marvel films have marked milestones in the
Marvel Universe. Iron Man 2 featured additional Avengers (Black Widow) alongside
Tony Stark. Captain America lead right into the events of The Avengers. And of
course there is The Avengers uniting all the heroes together for the first time.
Now Guardians opens up the Cosmic universe for the future of the entire Marvel
Cinematic Universe.
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