Marvel Studios
Growing up, I absolutely loved superheroes. I don’t know what kind of person I’d be without the ’90s X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons. I had a swath of superhero action figures that I’d stage epic battles with, filled with unnecessarily complicated backstories and motivations. (I was really cool, okay?) And I devoured comic books, eagerly anticipating a new issue featuring my favorite heroes duking it out each week. When my beloved spandex-clad legends made their way into the cinema, I was in heaven. My wildest dreams were coming true: The heroes I adored were lighting it up on the big screen in spectacular, live-action fashion.
But everything changed with the release of Iron Man in 2008, the kickoff for what would become the Hollywood version of my own superhero action figure-crossover adventures: the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At first it was exciting, but 15 years later, the MCU’s become enormous and untenable. There are 32 entries now, and that doesn’t even account for countless TV series—plus there’s now the entire DC universe to keep up with on top of it. In the four years since Avengers: Endgame alone, the MCU has expanded by 10 films. What felt so incredibly thrilling at first has become completely, utterly exhausting. Worse, I think that even the most die-hard defenders of the MCU would agree that almost none of these releases has recaptured the universe’s undeniable, exciting spirit. Instead, we’re now treated to inert, overcomplicated plots, weak effects, and an over-reliance on green-screen footage and the color gray.
After hitting its nadir with the cosmically embarrassing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania earlier this year, it became evident that the MCU had lost its ways. But the franchise’s 32nd entry, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, challenges that new conception: It’s absolutely fantastic. As the last film in the MCU canon to be directed by auteur James Gunn, who’s now running things over at rival DC’s film division, Guardians 3 is bold, emotional, funny, and action-packed. Most importantly, the devil’s in the details: Everything Marvel needs to get back on track and to evolve into something greater is within the blueprint of this film—if the studio is willing to listen. The secrets to the biggest franchise in cinema’s success largely lie within Galaxy 3’s bold character choices, especially its unique supervillain.