How the Guardians Of The Galaxy is the Gateway to the “Cosmic Marvel Cinematic Universe”

Before the announcement was made that the Guardians of the Galaxy will be part of those taking on Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, the franchise had made it clear from the two movies so far that it wouldn’t be tying into any of the existing movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and they have by all indications done a marvelous job at it.

Not only is the Guardians of the Galaxy the only movie (so far) to be on its own, it is now also the only major gateway for the MCU to explore the cosmic part of the cinematic universe, and by all indications of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, that seems like the plan.

In Guardians of the Galaxy, when The Collector was explaining the origin of the infinity stones, a celestial (Eson the Searcher) was seen using the power stone to wipe out a planet in an instant. Also, the severed head floating around in space in the same movie was undoubtedly the severed head of a celestial. And now with Ego also surfacing as a celestial and having cosmic powers, there is a clear indication that other celestials will begin making their appearance into the MCU from here on out.

There is even talk of a celestial being present behind The Grandmaster as Hulk battles Thor in the gladiator arena… But we wouldn’t know until after Thor: Ragnarok officially comes out.

Tasked with watching and documenting all the happenings in the universe without being able to do anything about it, the Watchers are more like the all-seeing and knowing eye of Marvel. And their appearance – though in the form of a cameo – in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,  is clear that they will make more appearances down the line as the MCU keeps expanding to other cosmic stories.

We know just how much Thanos covets Mistress Death. I mean, it’s clear when one chooses to wipe out the universe in order to fill Death’s insatiable hunger… All for love.
So it’s no surprise when one of the few times Thanos was mentioned in GOTG Vol. 2, Nebula said, “And I will fill the ship with every instrument of death”, when she was talking about killing Thanos. Death first made her appearance in Captain Marvel comics, so maybe she may also make an appearance in the upcoming movie.

Death may have just been a reference, but her brother, Eternity made more than a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

When Ego touched Peter’s forehead and his eyes changed to black with stars, planets and comets showing, it didn’t take long for avid comic book readers to liken it to Eternity’s dress/form. And this was confirmed by Star-Lord himself saying, “I see it. Eternity”.

Star-Lord being able to see Eternity means that he is somewhere in the MCU and will hopefully, make an appearance at some point down the line, as well as, his sister, Death.

Many people may not know this, but Starlord and His band of misfits were not the original GOTG. First introduced in 1969 by writer Arnold Drake and artist Gene Colan, the first GOTG consisted of thousand-year-old astronaut Vance Astro, super strong Jupiter colonist Charlie-27, the Arrow-using Yondu, and diamond-skinned Martinex.

We will get to see Adam Warlock (the Original wielder of the Soul Stone in the comics, but in the MCU, he wouldn’t have it) in part 3 of the Guardians of the Galaxy and thinking about the many possibilities on a cosmic level his appearance will create only makes us salivate the more.

It’s clear that the GOTG IS the gateway should Marvel decide to start making movies about cosmic entities like The Byonders, Death, Eternity, The Living Tribunal, and so on.

James Gunn has undoubtedly done really well with the GOTG and Marvel so far, and we can only hope that we get to see more of what he brings to the table for many, many more movies.

You can see what else is going on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe here