It's nearly difficult these days to toss a virtual stick without striking a Marvel fan theory that someone has placed on the internet. The world's most successful media brand (with perhaps the most devoted fan following) is certain to generate endless fan conjecture about characters like Spider-Man and the Avengers. One branch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, has a larger scope - and hence more opportunities for speculation - than the others, which has resulted in a slew of Guardians of the Galaxy fan theories circulating on social media.
Theories about Guardians of the Galaxy span from making sense of the principal cast's murky backstories to the larger secrets hidden in that not-so-faraway galaxy. In these flicks, director James Gunn has done such an incredible job of world-building that fans may enjoy the tantalizing sensation that their supposition could truly find some hidden and intended secret.
"Mantis decides to warn the Guardians after a scene in which she touches Drax while he is reminiscing about his daughter and feels his extreme sorrow. Redditor/u/Pentronella23 theorizes it was in this moment Mantis learned normal people don’t callously slaughter their children and are actually meant to care about them - which led to her sudden realization that what Ego was doing was seriously messed up."
"All of the rest of Ego’s children were delivered to him at a young age and then killed when they proved useless to him. Quill, on the other hand, was rescued from this fate by Yondu, which allowed him to grow to adulthood. DrArgumental theorizes the Celestial gene becomes active sometime during puberty, and Quill was simply the only child of Ego allowed to live long enough to gain Celestial abilities."
"Drax does describe some basic tribal music from his home planet, but it could be that Earth is the only civilization to advance beyond primitive rhythm to the greatness of acts like Cheap Trick and Electric Light Orchestra."
"As an added bonus, this would allow for the return of Yondu, and that means Michael Rooker. To date, director James Gunn has yet to direct a movie without Rooker in it, so why would he want to start now?"
"As LtCommanderCarter says, “Groot does this because he wants Drax to love and respect him. Drax talks about his deceased wife in GotG 2 and notes that she never danced and that was a good thing. Not giving in to the frivolity of dancing is a positive attribute in Drax's eyes; thus Groot does not let Drax see him dance.”
"Essentially, the theory goes that Yondu Udonta IS the “Mr. Blue Sky” referred to in the song. Specifically, these lyrics can be interpreted as a reference to Yondu's noble sacrifice.
“Mister Blue, you did it right,But soon comes Mister Night creepin' over,Now his hand is on your shoulder.Never mind I'll remember you this,I'll remember you this way,"
"The space station known as Knowhere is actually the decapitated head of a Celestial, and its bodily fluids are still being mined by the populace - so there’s definitely some Celestial juice kicking around that enormous cranium. If hockeytalkie’s prediction holds true, Star-Lord will channel Knowhere’s leftover energy for a serious power upgrade sometime in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."
"Rocket’s obvious similarities to Earth raccoons points to his origins as a NASA experiment gone horribly wrong. The theory goes that Rocket was shot into space as an ordinary raccoon in the early days of the space race, which would certainly explain why Cosmo, the Russian astro-dog in The Collector’s collection, growls when he sees Rocket. They’re Cold War rivals!
Atorreg believes Rocket ended up on Sakaar - the cosmic dumping station seen in Thor: Ragnarok - through one of its many local wormholes. From there, Rocket could have been experimented on by any number of individuals, but the most likely candidate is Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster and his crew."
From Redditor/u/BooRadley_
"The scene shows a teenage version of Groot giving sass to Star-Lord, who has suddenly gained the ability to understand his language. As the poster points out, teenagers usually give off more “pheromones” than children or adults do, so his language may be at its most decipherable during that stage."
"There’s a convenient in-universe reason for the sometimes childish dialogue. Their theory involves the universal translators that each of the characters is implanted with, which allow Earthling Peter Quill to communicate with multiple alien races.
The fact that all of the language we’re hearing is filtered through Star-Lord’s universal translator explains everything. As freelanceastronaut explains, “Starlord was taken from Earth when he was eight. He probably stopped actually learning English shortly after, since it's unlikely that he had anyone else to actually speak it with.
As such, his language (and all language he hears) is going to seem juvenile. Additionally, any profanity he knows probably came from movies and TV shows he saw before he was kidnapped. That still doesn’t explain where he learned about the Trash Panda meme or vulgar Jackson Pollack references, however."
"They’re so good that they’re practically existential. According to their theory, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 actually contains a hidden message about enlightenment and the human condition via a metaphor that involves Ego the Living Planet as a representation of the human ego. Through Peter Quill’s difficult choice to fight against his father’s plan, audiences see love and emotion overcoming the ego, and thus achieving true enlightenment.:
"The audiences have already met Peter Quill’s secret sister, and it’s none other than the adorably-antennaed Mantis. She does admit to being raised by Ego from her larval stage, but it’s entirely possible Ego took her in the first place because she’s actually his child. Usually, Ego killed his own children if they lacked the Celestial gene, but perhaps he kept Mantis around due to her useful abilities. It’s unclear exactly how this secret would be revealed, however, with Ego dead and gone."
"There’s a very simple reason Ego needs help falling asleep at night: He’s consumed by the horror of what he has done.
Ego has killed his own children and lovers in his quest for purpose, but perhaps he is conflicted about this choice, and all his grandiosity is an attempt to convince himself of his rightness. That’s certainly enough internal conflict to keep anyone awake until the wee hours of the morning."
"Trailers have already shown fans Thor is going to end up drifting through space only to encounter the Guardians of the Galaxy, and a similar fate may be possible for his war-bound compatriots from Ragnarok. Specifically, this theory posits that Nebula, last seen flying solo on a mission to murder her father, will encounter Valkyrie adrift in space, and the two will unite to bring all new meaning to the term “strong female characters.”
"Groot is about to receive a mystically-enhanced growth spurt, courtesy of Doctor Strange. In his own film, Strange ends up in possession of the Time Stone, which has already displayed an ability to speed up the aging of organics. ProxyArcane speculates that Strange will use the Time Stone on Groot in Infinity War, giving the heroes of Earth another heavy-hitter in the battle against Thanos."
Theories about Guardians of the Galaxy span from making sense of the principal cast's murky backstories to the larger secrets hidden in that not-so-faraway galaxy. In these flicks, director James Gunn has done such an incredible job of world-building that fans may enjoy the tantalizing sensation that their supposition could truly find some hidden and intended secret.
1. Mantis Didn’t Understand Her Complicity In Ego’s Crimes… Until She Touched Drax
Source: Marvel Studio
"Mantis decides to warn the Guardians after a scene in which she touches Drax while he is reminiscing about his daughter and feels his extreme sorrow. Redditor/u/Pentronella23 theorizes it was in this moment Mantis learned normal people don’t callously slaughter their children and are actually meant to care about them - which led to her sudden realization that what Ego was doing was seriously messed up."
2. Yondu Saving Peter Is The Reason Why Peter Has Celestial Powers
Source: Marvel Studio
"All of the rest of Ego’s children were delivered to him at a young age and then killed when they proved useless to him. Quill, on the other hand, was rescued from this fate by Yondu, which allowed him to grow to adulthood. DrArgumental theorizes the Celestial gene becomes active sometime during puberty, and Quill was simply the only child of Ego allowed to live long enough to gain Celestial abilities."
3. Earth Is The Only Planet In The MCU With Advanced Musical Taste
Source: Marvel Studio
"Drax does describe some basic tribal music from his home planet, but it could be that Earth is the only civilization to advance beyond primitive rhythm to the greatness of acts like Cheap Trick and Electric Light Orchestra."
4. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3' Will Feature Flashbacks To The Original Guardians
Source: Marvel Studio
"As an added bonus, this would allow for the return of Yondu, and that means Michael Rooker. To date, director James Gunn has yet to direct a movie without Rooker in it, so why would he want to start now?"
5. There's A Reason Why Groot Won't Dance In Front Of Drax
Source: Marvel Studio
"As LtCommanderCarter says, “Groot does this because he wants Drax to love and respect him. Drax talks about his deceased wife in GotG 2 and notes that she never danced and that was a good thing. Not giving in to the frivolity of dancing is a positive attribute in Drax's eyes; thus Groot does not let Drax see him dance.”
6. Yondu Is Mr. Blue Sky
Source: Marvel Studio
"Essentially, the theory goes that Yondu Udonta IS the “Mr. Blue Sky” referred to in the song. Specifically, these lyrics can be interpreted as a reference to Yondu's noble sacrifice.
“Mister Blue, you did it right,But soon comes Mister Night creepin' over,Now his hand is on your shoulder.Never mind I'll remember you this,I'll remember you this way,"
7. Star-Lord Will Draw Power From Knowhere In 'Vol. 3'
Source: Marvel Studio
"The space station known as Knowhere is actually the decapitated head of a Celestial, and its bodily fluids are still being mined by the populace - so there’s definitely some Celestial juice kicking around that enormous cranium. If hockeytalkie’s prediction holds true, Star-Lord will channel Knowhere’s leftover energy for a serious power upgrade sometime in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."
8. Rocket Was The Result Of A NASA Mission Gone Wrong
Source: Marvel Studio
"Rocket’s obvious similarities to Earth raccoons points to his origins as a NASA experiment gone horribly wrong. The theory goes that Rocket was shot into space as an ordinary raccoon in the early days of the space race, which would certainly explain why Cosmo, the Russian astro-dog in The Collector’s collection, growls when he sees Rocket. They’re Cold War rivals!
Atorreg believes Rocket ended up on Sakaar - the cosmic dumping station seen in Thor: Ragnarok - through one of its many local wormholes. From there, Rocket could have been experimented on by any number of individuals, but the most likely candidate is Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster and his crew."
9. Groot’s Language Includes The Use Of Pheromones To Communicate
Source: Marvel Studio
From Redditor/u/BooRadley_
"The scene shows a teenage version of Groot giving sass to Star-Lord, who has suddenly gained the ability to understand his language. As the poster points out, teenagers usually give off more “pheromones” than children or adults do, so his language may be at its most decipherable during that stage."
10. The Guardians Speak In PG-13 Language For An In-Universe Reason
Source: Marvel Studio
"There’s a convenient in-universe reason for the sometimes childish dialogue. Their theory involves the universal translators that each of the characters is implanted with, which allow Earthling Peter Quill to communicate with multiple alien races.
The fact that all of the language we’re hearing is filtered through Star-Lord’s universal translator explains everything. As freelanceastronaut explains, “Starlord was taken from Earth when he was eight. He probably stopped actually learning English shortly after, since it's unlikely that he had anyone else to actually speak it with.
As such, his language (and all language he hears) is going to seem juvenile. Additionally, any profanity he knows probably came from movies and TV shows he saw before he was kidnapped. That still doesn’t explain where he learned about the Trash Panda meme or vulgar Jackson Pollack references, however."
11. Vol. 2' Contains The Secret To Enlightenment
Source: Marvel Studio
"They’re so good that they’re practically existential. According to their theory, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 actually contains a hidden message about enlightenment and the human condition via a metaphor that involves Ego the Living Planet as a representation of the human ego. Through Peter Quill’s difficult choice to fight against his father’s plan, audiences see love and emotion overcoming the ego, and thus achieving true enlightenment.:
12. Mantis Is Star-Lord’s Sister
Source: Marvel Studio
"The audiences have already met Peter Quill’s secret sister, and it’s none other than the adorably-antennaed Mantis. She does admit to being raised by Ego from her larval stage, but it’s entirely possible Ego took her in the first place because she’s actually his child. Usually, Ego killed his own children if they lacked the Celestial gene, but perhaps he kept Mantis around due to her useful abilities. It’s unclear exactly how this secret would be revealed, however, with Ego dead and gone."
13. Ego Can't Sleep At Night Due To Guilt
Source: Marvel Studio
"There’s a very simple reason Ego needs help falling asleep at night: He’s consumed by the horror of what he has done.
Ego has killed his own children and lovers in his quest for purpose, but perhaps he is conflicted about this choice, and all his grandiosity is an attempt to convince himself of his rightness. That’s certainly enough internal conflict to keep anyone awake until the wee hours of the morning."
14. A Nebula And Valkyrie Team-Up Is Coming
Source: Marvel Studio
"Trailers have already shown fans Thor is going to end up drifting through space only to encounter the Guardians of the Galaxy, and a similar fate may be possible for his war-bound compatriots from Ragnarok. Specifically, this theory posits that Nebula, last seen flying solo on a mission to murder her father, will encounter Valkyrie adrift in space, and the two will unite to bring all new meaning to the term “strong female characters.”
15. Doctor Strange Will Help Groot Grow Up Quick
Source: Marvel Studio
"Groot is about to receive a mystically-enhanced growth spurt, courtesy of Doctor Strange. In his own film, Strange ends up in possession of the Time Stone, which has already displayed an ability to speed up the aging of organics. ProxyArcane speculates that Strange will use the Time Stone on Groot in Infinity War, giving the heroes of Earth another heavy-hitter in the battle against Thanos."