WMG / Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Pre-release theories

Malcolm Reynolds with show up in Knowhere as a friend of Star-Lord's

James Gunn has already confirmed that Nathan Fillion will have a short cameo in the movie, so we can all hope that Marvel will give us a Firefly crossover in the Firefly Spiritual Successor.

• Jossed. Fillion plays a random inmate.

Both Nebula and Gamora were raised and trained by Thanos

Thats the first thought that came to mind when Karen Gillian said Nebula has a complex relationship with Gamora.

• Confirmed by the prelude comics.

An Infinity Gem will appear in the movie

This is very likely since, the Collector appears in The Stinger to Thor: The Dark World and is indeed in possesion of an Infinity Stone (not Gem).

• The synopsis for the film talks about the Guardians having an object everybody wants, an Infinity Gem seems like a very likely possibility.
  • If not them practically screaming "confirmed" in our faces
    • It looks like Avengers 3 is shaping up to be The Infinity Gauntlet storyline. Assuming Phase 3 follows the same pattern as Phases 1 and 2 (4-5 solo movies and then Avengers 3), and assuming no new infinity stones are introduced in Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Avengers: Age of Ultron, that means Marvel has three more stones and the gauntlet itself (Freeze-Frame Bonus in Thor notwithstanding) to introduce in 5-6 movies. It seems likely that at least one will make an appearance here.
• The stone is likely the orb that Star Lord is stealing in the trailer.
  • Confirmed. It's inside that orb.

Yondu is the mentor to Peter

More like Trickster Mentor, but yes, confirmed.

Ronan is just an actor pretending to be Ronan

Because, let's face it, this is the new Epileptic Trees/meme for Marvel movies on this site.

• Jossed.

The post credit scene will feature Adam Warlock

If you look carefully at the Thor: The Dark World mid-credit scene, you can see what looks like his cocoon in the Collectors collection. The mid-credit scene will feature him hatching for the first time.

• Alternate theory: The orb is the Soul Gem, and he's contained inside it. The Guardians accidentally free him and he joins them.
• Jossed: The post credit scene features Howard the Duck. ...No, you read that right.
• But very nearly Confirmed: The post-credits scene also shows the cocoon, which we'd seen again earlier in the film, only in the stinger it's split open, and empty.
• Confirmed in [1] in [the sequel].

Groot will pull a Heroic Sacrifice

And the post credits scene will show his regeneration.

• Confirmed. He began to regenerate even before the credits though.
  • The second part of this theory has since been jossed. James Gunn later confirmed that the "original" Groot is actually deceased. The sapling that the Guardians have been raising is Groot's offspring.

There will be a nod to The Avengers.

It'll be quick reference, with the team coming across the wreckage of the Chitauri, maybe salvaging an image of Tony flying the nuke through the portal from whatever equipment survived the blast. That or they pick up one of the boosters that the Mk. 7 jettisoned to send Tony back through the portal.

• Confirmed. Ronan meets Thanos in the same place he was shown in The Avengers. The Other who spoke to both Thanos during the credits and Loki during his visit also makes an appearance.

The backstories of some characters will not be told in the movie.

Putting five different backstories in one movie would be hard to pull off, plus it leaves the room for possible spin-offs.

• At least they won't get into the details. (Gamora in particular) Mostly just flashbacks and throwaway lines.
  • Confirmed. Only Peter's backstory is shown, the rest are revealed through dialogue and Groot is just... there with no real backstory except being friends with Rocket.

Korath is an Anti-Villain and he will pull a brief Heel–Face Turn

I have been thinking the same thing. With Ronan's Adaptational Villainy, they might even turn Korath into an expy of comic Ronan in future movies.

• Jossed. He stays with Ronan all the way through.

Nova Prime Rael will have a Badass Grandma moment

Shortly before being killed off by the villains of course.

• Jossed.

The team's name is Star-Lord's idea.

He's the kind of guy that goes around calling himself Star-Lord. "Guardians of the Galaxy" sounds dramatic enough for his standards.

• Semi-confirmed. He borrows it from Ronan's sarcastic speech about the team.

"Rocky Raccoon" will play over the end credits.

Either the original, or Bradley Cooper will record a Rocket-themed cover. It would be a waste of an opportunity otherwise.

• Or Hooked on a Feeling
  • "Raccooned on a Feeling". I regret nothing.
    • Jossed.

The team's name exists in a Stable Time Loop

In the future, a group of people will find historical records mentioning 'Guardians of the Galaxy', and will decide to use the name for themselves. At some point, a member of the team will travel back in time, meet Peter Quill and tell him stories about the Guardians. Quill will like the name and will decide to use it for his own team, the same one that the future Guardians will find in the historical records.

• Jossed.

Some one at some point is going to write a Redwall crossover with Guardian.

Seriously, one of them is almost exactly like a racoon, it is going to happen.

Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" will play during the film's climax.

Because when you're using music from the 80s in a superhero movie, there are some chances you just can't pass up.

• Jossed, unfortunately...

Drax will kill Ronan near the end of the movie...

...and Ronan's dying words will reveal that Drax's daughter is still alive, living among the Kree. This will set up both Moondragon's and Phylla's appearence for possible sequels.

• Jossed.

Rocket Raccoon and Sly Cooper are related

My logic goes like this. Rocket Raccoon is a raccoon, he is voiced by Bradley Cooper. Sly's last name is Cooper. Sly is raccoon. Therefore Sly is Rocket's ancestor. (Silly as hell but I just had to put it up here)

• No. Just no.
• Jossed.

Peter Quill is from Earth in the 1980s

My guess goes like this: Quill was a kid (possibly a teenager) in the 1980s who through some unfortunate freak accident (possibly related to the Infinity Stone Of Space), is whisked to a distant area of the universe. At first he thought this was awesome, as he'd be able to be a Buck Rogers style hero choosing the name "Star Lord". However, instead he's been stuck on the other side of the galaxy (if not universe), like John Crichton in Farscape for decades, and over the years he's been looking for Infinity Stone of Space so he can get home. The opening of the trailer, where Quill is arrested by Ronan the Accuser, is when he's finding either a clue to the Stone's location, or the stone itself. This also explains why Quill is so protective of the Walkman - it's his last connection to home.

• Most of this is actually confirmed. We don't know if that's why he's looking for the orb, or if he even wants to get back to Earth. But he was definitely taken from there when he was around eight, and the Walkman with his mix-tape is his connection to Earth.
  • Confirmed. Peter Quill is Star-Lord, who is a half-human, half-alien son of an evil emperor. He wasn't taken from Earth, he left it intentionally, looking for his absentee alien father. He hasn't been back since the eighties because he's busy and Earth isn't that important to him, aside from having good pop culture (specifically music from the eighties).
    • this is not actually confirmed as it comes from the Noncanon animated series.
  • Peter was abducted, by Yondu. Though it's hinted that this was for reasons related to his father.

Related to the above, the main Infinity Stone in the film's plot is going to be the Infinity Stone of Space.

Jossed. The Tesseract was said to be the space gem by Word of God. Doesn't rule out the chance of this film's stone being the time stone.

• Jossed. Word of God says that the Orb is the Power Stone.

The Nova Corps is going to be destroyed

As a show of power, Thanos will have them wiped out, either personally or through one of his minions. The Stinger will reveal that Dey managed to escape as the sole survivor and is heading towards Earth to find help.

• Jossed. Lots of the members die, but the organization persists.
  • Actually, considering the events of Infinity War this one might now be under the confirmed category.

The Red Skull will make an appearance

The Tesseract obviously did something to him at the end of Captain America, and since it is the Space Stone, it may very well have teleported him halfway across the galaxy.

• Jossed.

I am Groot.

I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot.

• We are Groot.

Groot will have a Crowning Moment of Awesome

Like turning into a giant while yelling I! AM! GROOOOT!

• Confirmed! It was multiple Moments of Awesome throughout the movie. Though this WMG is among them, it's not the most memorable one.

Ronan will be a Generic Doomsday Villain

Jossed. Ronan has a solid goal unlike Malekith. Malekith's reasons for wanting to "destroy light" are never explored while Ronan is clearly stated to want revenge by destroying Xandar and is rather annoyed with the war being over just like that.

The Box of Bombs will turn out to be Chekhovs Guns

One of their enemies will be escaping in their ship, and the Guardians will lament that they got away. Then Rocket will pull out a detonator and grin. Kablooey.

• Jossed.

Nathan Fillion's cameo will be...

• Captain Malcom Reynolds
• An Expy of Captain Malcolm Reynolds
• Thanos. Josh Brolin will actually be playing an actor hired to play Thanos to distract from the true Thanos.
• Richard Rider
• J'son of Sparta, Peter Quill's Father
  • All Jossed. He is playing a random inmate.

Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel will have cameoes

At some point, they will show up for a few seconds as Xandarians or prisoners or something.

• Jossed.

Nathan Fillion will cameo as Cosmo, the Russian Space Dog.

Because want people Cosmo, and there are enough rumours of Fillion appearing for it to be plausible.

• Jossed, he's just a random inmate. In all likelihood, the voice of Cosmo is...

Lloyd Kaufman is the voice of Cosmo

Jossed, Cosmo doesn't speak in the film.

The Guardians of the Galaxy were a legendary team of heroes centuries ago, led by the original Nova for which the Nova Corps of the present is named.

Which is the actual reason Quill's team is met by derision and disdain from the "what a bunch of a-holes" guard, because he sees them as being disrespectful.

• Jossed

Yondu will be a Stealth Mentor for Peter and later the group as a whole.

He will also turn out to have been one of the original Guardians.

• Jossed. At least, not in this movie.

Drax will kill Ronan at exactly the wrong moment.

Similar to the way he killed Thanos in Annihilation.

• Jossed.

In gratitude for them saving the galaxy, the Guardians will be rewarded with their blue/red uniforms from the comics◊

Admit it, it would be awesome

• But Jossed.

Post-release theories

Groot was not regenerated from his remains after the crash of Ronan's ship.

If you notice one of the cut scenes in the prep for the final battle, he pulls a small twig from the side of his face. Obviously it's easy to miss, since no one's mentioned it here before. It's possible that the twig he pulls is the source of his regeneration.

• Jossed. According to Word of God, the original Groot died and the new Groot is his son.

About John Stamos...

Peter hasn't been back to Earth since the late 80s. He still thinks John Stamos has that Magnificent Full House mullet. Lucky bastard.

In the sequel, Mama Quill's mix tapes are going to be plot coupons.

Odds are, Star-Lord's dad will factor into the sequel in some way. Either he'll identify Peter as his spawn by the fact that the mix tapes contain all the songs his parents listened to during their brief time together on Earth, or it'll turn out that they're not really audio cassettes, they're alien recording devices that also function as audio cassettes, and contain the map to the McGuffin, or whatever.

• Jossed. The mixtapes are just music that she liked.

The first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Howard the Duck

The Stinger shows Howard the Duck among The Collector's... collection. Therefore, he's an official part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the 1986 film is the first installment in the franchise, not Iron Man.

The first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Slither

Among The Collector's... collection is a zombifying slug from Slither. Therefore, in theory at least, it's canon. This would also be some what of a good explanation for a catalyst for the creation and implementation of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Tremors

Given that the local high school in Slither is named after one of the two lead characters in the original Tremors film, that would mean that, chronologically speaking, the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is actually Tremors 4: The Legend Begins, set in 1889.

• Which, of course, would make for a Celebrity Paradox situation, as Kevin Bacon starred in the original Tremors film.

When The Collector's assistant uses the Infinity Gem Quill, the Aether was not present

The Aether is an Infinity Gem as well, shouldn't it have reacted somehow to the presence of another one? Since the one Quill and the gang had went of and destroyed the area it may have been in, it should have gone off. We already know that the Collector knows how powerful they are, and that he was given the Aether by Loki... just because the Collector had it at one point doesn't mean he didn't pawn it off to, say, Thanos, or someone else... or just decided to put an artifact of uber destruction somewhere more secure.]] Besides, the Collector is usually depicted as having multiple little storehouses for his collection. The one on Knowhere was probably not where the Aether was.

Ronan's army was supplied by the Red King.

The movie says they're Sakaaran (shadow people?), and given how much of a cruel bastard the Red King was in the comics it's not all that unlikely to think that he openly or secretly aligned himself with Ronan in order to destabilize the galaxy (or maybe he's also aligned with Thanos).

• Seemingly jossed, as Thor: Ragnarok shows that the Grandmaster is the one ruling Sakaar in the MCU. That said, it's still possible he lent Ronan a few troops in exchange for money, gifts, etc.

Howard the Duck will appear in future films as the Collector's assistant.

We know that the Collector's lacking an assistant at this point, and we've already established Howard's there. Given the apparent prominence of the Collector in the Thanos stuff, he'll keep showing up.

• Jossed. He's on Contraxia the next time we see him.

Some songs that were on Quill's Awesome Mixtape 2, and could show up in the sequel

• We Are Family by Sister Sledge
• Rocket Man by Elton John
• Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry
• Black Betty by Ram Jam
• Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Journey
• More Than A Feeling by Boston
• Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel (kinda fits the whole team, in more ways than one)
• Princes of the Universe by Queen (obvious, really)
• Johnny B. Goode (Since Quill was supposed to be a cross between Han Solo and Marty McFly) For added amusement, it will be the version sung by Michael J. Fox for Back to the Future rather than the Chuck Berry original).
• Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, for a quick gag. Maybe Peter will be looking for another track...
• Heading off to find his father, he'll toss on "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas as a Shout-Out to another snarky ass who loves classic rock with daddy issues.
• "Africa" by Toto
• All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix.
• (Don't Fear) The Reaper by Blue Öyster Cult.
  • This one was already used in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., though there's no reason they couldn't use it again.
• The Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy (it would be great for the reintroduction of the Milano and the Guardians!)
• The Joker by The Steve Miller Band (it has "space cowboy" in the lyrics, which is basically what Quill is)
• Hair of the Dog by Nazareth (great for a hero walk scene similar to the Cherry Bomb scene in the first film)
• Heroes by David Bowie (since Bowie was featured on the soundtrack for the last film)
  • If not this, maybe Space Oddity (aka "Ground Control to Major Tom").
• Renegade by Styx (seriously, that song fits Peter a bit)
• Two Tickets to Paradise by Eddie Money
• Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) by John Lennon
• Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
• Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan
• "Dancing in the Moonlight" by King Harvest (fits the space theme and the theme of obscure '70s hits).
• "Moonlight Feels Right" by Starbuck (for the same reasons as the above song).
• "Steal Away" by Robbie Dupree (has that kind of bouncy and twangy '70s intro that wouldn't be out of place on a Quill mixtape, plus lyrics that indicate spontaneity and adventure).
  • All Jossed.

When the Guardians join the main Avengers continuity, there will be a huge fight between Black Widow and Gamora

It will be a classic Let's You and Him Fight.

• Jossed - the two never meet in Infinity War, Present Gamora is sacrificed by Thanos for the Soul Stone, and Past Gamora doesn't come into the picture until after Black Widow sacrifices herself for the Soul Stone.

Yondu is lying about his men wanting to eat Peter.

As Peter points out, regular decent folks don't go around eating people, and the Ravagers, while thieves and pirates, don't seem to be in the habit of eating any other sentient humanoid species they come across, let alone one they were specifically contracted to pick up. Yondu made it up as a way of guilting Peter and keeping him line.

• Apparently confirmed in the sequel, though Peter clearly didn't enjoy the scenario, even if it was meant as a joke.

Yondu intentionally lets himself get conned.

He knew about the multiple spare containers from the briefing and the "don't open it" lines completely gives the scam away to anyone as savvy as him. Yondu realized that possessing the stone, let alone pawning it to someone would be bad news for him and intentionally let Quill get away with it as to not make himself appear weak in front of his crew who just risked their lives for nothing. That's why he ain't even mad at the end.

• The Director's commentary shows that he supports this theory.

Hummie is a racial slur for Terrans.

Rocket refers to Quill as a “Hummie” two times in the movie. Both times he uses it derogatorily and Peter is not in a position to hear him. And even at his most pissed off and sarcastic, Rocket still doesn't use the term to Peter’s face.

• Avengers: Endgame seems to confirm this one. Rocket uses the term again to directly address Scott Lang, and other scenes in the film make it absolutely clear that Rocket does not respect him at all.

Howard was actually setting up an April Fools prank.

Next April 1 Marvel will release an "exclusive trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron." This trailer will, in fact, contain new footage from the movie, as well as original footage not in the movie, but all of them will have been alterred to show Howard as leader of the Avengers.

• Jossed.

Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) will appear in the sequel.

Well, she was on the team in the comics, and another female member might be a good idea.

• Since Whedon has confirmed four prominent female roles in Age of Ultron, one taken by Natasha, the other by Maria Hill and a third by Wanda, this leaves a space open for Carol Danvers.
• Jossed seemingly. James Gunn has said he does not want any more human characters in the film and specifically shot down the suggestion of Carol Danvers joining on at least two separate occasions. She'll be getting her own movie as Captain Marvel the following year anyway.

Nova will appear in the sequel.

At least the setup for him will appear. Considering the Nova Corp has been drastically reduced from Ronan's assault, it would not be surprising to see the Xandarians creating the traditional armored uniform that allows one to harness the Nova Force to improve their odds against future invasions like the one Ronan led. A possible Sequel Hook could be the armor being lost in space and landing on earth where it will be found by Richard Rider.

• Jossed. James Gunn says he does not want any more Earth-born heroes, and has specifically said he does not like Nova. He was also one of the people responsible for Nova being cut from the first movie.

The Soul Gem will be seen in the sequel.

In the possession of Nebula, who used it to create Adam Warlock as a weapon to use against Thanos. This must have happened before the movie because Adam's cocoon is already in the Collector's collection.

• Jossed.

Nebula will be a member of the Masters of Evil in a future appearance.

Since she escapes at the end of the film and many of the Infinity Stones seem to end up on Earth, she'll be this film's representative to a big super-villain team-up.

• Jossed.

The bloopers will include Ronan accepting the dance off

Because it would be hysterical. Also, Word of God states that during one take of the scene, Zoe Saldana and Lee Pace accepted Chris Pratt's invitations to dance while the cameras rolled.

• Totally confirmed, as it has been released and shows Chris Pratt, Lee Pace, Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista all dancing. And is hilarious.

Rocket can't self terminate

He was taken apart multiple times by the people who created him, he's treated either as a monster or an animal by almost everything he meets, and he's pretty clearly traumatized by it all - it's not a big leap to imagine that he tried at one point. Why couldn't he? The scientists digging around in him that were rewiring his brain made it so he can't commit suicide.

Eventually he learned to live with his condition, probably after he met and started working with Groot. After having someone around who treated him like an equal he began to stop lamenting his life. He fell into stride and began to enjoy his existence as a thief.

I'm hooked on a feeling!

Kevin Bacon will cameo in the next film featuring the Guardians.

They will be honored to meet such a renowned hero. He will be confused, but flattered.

• Jossed for the sequel. Surprisingly, Bacon did appear in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special as himself!

Groot really is dead.

• Yes, we see him regenerate, but we never see Rocket, his closest friend, act with relief when he sees it happen. The sapling is a new Groot, with all the memories and experiences of the old one, but... it's not the same Groot. To Rocket, it's not his friend coming back. It's his child.
• The new Groot doesn't have the memories of the old one, thus Rocket and the gang will give him/her a separate name; Groot Jr.
• Groot didn't just "regenerate", he regenerated. His species was part of the flora on Gallifrey and so the new Groot, while still calling himself "Groot", will not be the same Groot.
• CONFIRMED.

Guardians of the Galaxy was the first movie of the Thanos sequence

The same way Iron Man was the first movie of the Iron Man sequence and so forth. Thanos needs to be introduced if he's going to be the main villain of some later movie, so he will get his own series in which he will be gradually introduced against various heroes. This does mean that the GotG sequence won't be continued. Yes, we know the Guardians are going to return, but we don't know for certain that A) it will be in a sequel movie, or B) it will be the same Guardians we saw this movie 'round (Vance Astro's group could fight Thanos in a later movie.)

• Jossed. Thanos doesn't make a substantial appearance until Avengers: Infinity War.

The Sequel will revolve around Nova Corps using the Infinity Stone to create powered armor

The Nova Corps in this film are just space cops, with none of the powers they have in the comics. We already know that another Infinity Stone created advanced armor and weaponry (the Tesseract), and with the significant losses of personnel and equipment, and with a potentially hostile Kree Empire out there, they'll want to rearm quickly. It's a pretty basic temptation, and the Stone has to come into play for the Thanos arc... and the third Avengers film is going to be AFTER GotG2. Perfect confluence of events.

• I can imagine the conversation.
  Nova Corps Commander: In the wrong hands these stones have the potential to wipe out entire planets.
  Nova Prime': Let's make weapons outta these bitches!
  Nova Corps Commander: Best. Idea. Ever.
• Jossed. The sequel is about Peter and his father.

Deep down inside, Ronan really wanted to dance when Peter was distracting him.

Just look at his eyes for a split second during that scene. Down past all the genocidal shit, past all the hate and anger, he wanted to groove deep down in his soul. The same as Gamora, when she saw what Peter was doing.

This entire galaxy NEEDS a Kevin Bacon.

Gaarthan Saul will return as Supernova

His apparent death was given special attention and Saul did eventually have an insanity driven Heel–Face Turn in the comics.

• This will be a source of angst for Rocket, who will feel guilty about his death.

Peter Quill has never seen Footloose

Peter was less than ten years old in 1988, when he was abducted from Earth, and we can assume he has not seen that movie since then. When he describes the film to Gamora, he gets all the details wrong. We should assume that he omitted a lot of stuff so he didn't have to explain what a 'movie' is to an alien. Kevin Bacon, a city of people with (metaphorical) sticks up their butts, teaching people that dancing is not bad/evil.

Whether or not he's Peter's father, Starhawk will appear in the sequel and be instrumental in the Infinity War

Because Thanos is coming, and nobody dishes out cryptic warnings like the One Who Knows. (Well, one guy. But he's probably unavailable.)

• Jossed.

Starhawk's first appearance will be a loop of his life with "I Got You Babe" as incidental music

Go, pop culture references! This would be a pretty cool way to introduce us to his condition without heavy expospeak.

• Well... we meet a Ravager named Stakar Ogord. Assuming he's intended to become Starhawk, his first appearance was definitely not this. So, technically, Jossed.

Bereet is responsible for the orb that allowed Peter to see a holographic representation of Morag before was destroyed.

It's consistent with her comic book history and we know that Quill has slept with women before in the hopes of securing information.

• The Director's commentary says it was the Broker.

Peter's mom died from an alien STD or because she had sex with a being made of light.

Having sex with something described as a being made of light was probably akin to hugging the sun if we take what she was saying literally. Even if it was just a metaphor, coitus with an alien might have had unforeseen side effects.

• It is revealed in the sequel that Ego is Peter's dad, and his mom died due to a tumor that Ego put in her on purpose.

Peter's father is a Time Lord

His father is something incredibly ancient and also extremely rare. He disappeared one day but his mother still thinks fondly of him; obviously she was his companion. As for Yondu's "jackass" comment, the Time Lords have been called far worse.

• Jossed. He's a planet.

Peter is the Doctor

Because, as per the Eighth Doctor, he's half human, on his mother's side. That ship of his seems to be bigger on the inside and it wouldn't be the first time The Doctor has been mistaken for an angel.

• Jossed. He's half human on his mother's side. He's a god on his father's side.

The Broker, like the Collector, is an Elder of the Universe.

That's why he was part of such an important transaction; he's spent millennia building his reputation. But due to the clandestine nature of his chosen profession, the Broker keeps a low profile, unlike the Collector.

Drax's daughter is alive

It will be revealed that she was taken to be trained and is now one of Thanos' "daughters" like Nebula and Gamora, and has been renamed Moondragon.

• A second viewing of the movie revealed that when Ronan tells Drax, "I was mistaken. I do remember your family", he still doesn't claim responsibility for killing Drax's daughter.
• If Drax's daughter is still alive, that would also explain why Ronan says he remembers Drax's family. Ronan has presumably killed hundreds or thousands of people, so it'd be a bit odd for him to suddenly remember a couple of random victims among those... But if he delivered Drax's daughter to Thanos, that would be a bit more memorable to him.
• The part about her being one of Thanos' "daughters" is Jossed.

Thanos is playing the long game with the Infinity Stones

The Collector is working with Thanos directly or indirectly; either Thanos gets enough stones to build the Gauntlet or the Collector does it for him. Either way Thanos wins.

• If he doesn't get a Stone, he knows exactly where they are: the Tesseract is in Asgard (along with the Gauntlet itself), the Aether is with the Collector, the Power Stone is safe with the Nova Corps, etc. When the time is right he's going to strike and take them all.

Howard the Duck will have a Max like personality

He will tag along with the Collector, carry a big gun and ride Cosmo like a horse.

Howard the Duck will get his own movie.

It'll begin with him escaping the Collector, and soon finds himself on Earth, crash-landed in Cleveland. Beverly Switzler will be the Secret-Keeper, and Thog the Overmaster will be the Big Bad. There'll be one scene where a kid saw him and say "Mommy, look! It's Donald Duck!"

Groot's recovery was due to his exposure to the Infinity Stone's power

• Rocket knew Groot could regenerate, but he didn't think the guy could regenerate from that extent (hence his emphatic protesting to Groot's Heroic Sacrifice). It's possible that when the Guardians were diluting the effects of the Stone through mutual contact, that some of that power flowed into the twig in Rocket's hand and amplified his regenerative abilities.
  • Jossed. It's been officially confirmed that the Groot from GotG 1 is legitimately dead; the sapling that the Guardians are now raising is his offspring.

The infinity stones are the Elements of Harmony.

In the illustrations, the stones have the same colours as the Elements in the series and the one in Guardians was purple and all about thieves discovering generosity. It's even used to defeat the Big Bad with The Power of Friendship!

I am Groot.

I AM Groot. I am GROOT.

• I am Groot?!
• I AM GROOT!
• WE are Groot!

Groot's ablities apply to how many are a part of his 'Forest'.

The more members of the Forest, i.e. Colossi family unit, the better protected the Colossi are, as the connection to each other unlocks abilities that otherwise lie dormant. At the beginning of the movie, we just see his regenerating (probably a default ability that even lone Colossus have) and growing vines that he can use to trap others (an ability that his connection to Rocket grants him). As the film goes on and the group bonds, we see more of Groot's abilities being displayed. Why are they never shown or mentioned before Groot uses them? Because he couldn't use them until he bonded with the other Guardians making them part of his Forest hence his 'We are Groot' comment when he sacrifices himself for the good of his Forest, knowing both that he could regenerate, and that unless he used that final self-sacrificing ability, that his Forest would die and he would be alone once more.

When Groot was responding to Peter's "Ark of the Covenant" remark, he was actually trying to tell Peter what it was.

Quill has no idea what Groot was saying at the time and Rocket was in front far enough not to hear it. Since Groot saw that everyone was naturally moving to secure the Infinity Stone over the course of the series, he didn't feel like he needed to speak up on the matter again.

When Quill had to dive-tackling Groot out of the way of Rocket's ship.

Groot was actually intending to stop the ship or perhaps didn't care because he knew he was tough enough to survive. In the span of seconds, Quill couldn't have known that.

Rocket seeing the Ravagers risking their lives is his personal moment where he fully embraces being a hero.

This was the first time he'd met the Ravagers. It's not unlikely that he might see them similar to himself - rejects and oddballs stealing and scavenging to survive. To see them sacrifice themselves and to hear Dey and Saal depend on Rocket is the moment Rocket realizes he could be better as 'one of the idiots who live in the galaxy'.

When the Guardians and Avengers team-up, Rocket will get ahold of Coulson's BFG from the Avengers movie.

And he will love it! Coulson will start to explain but Rocket will interrupt him with, "I already know what it does!"

• Jossed.

One of the casualties of the Kree-Xandarian wars somehow ended up on Earth.

• Presumably, the Kree and the Xandarians were going at it for a while before the peace treaty that Ronan's all hot-and-bothered over got drawn up. There would have been casualties between them. One of the Kree casualties got beaten up pretty badly in a fight and somehow drifted through space until it found its way to Earth, where it was taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, hooked up to life support, and drained of its blood to create a miracle serum that could resurrect the dead.

Thanos was never threatened by Ronan

He probably already had at least one of the stones (whether it's the Aether or not doesn't matter here), and could probably use it better than Ronan.

Richard Rider will show up in the sequel

He will be a human who accidentally came in contact with an experimental Nova force trainee who crash-landed on Earth, granting him the power instead. His character arc will be coming to terms with the awesome and troublesome powers he was granted. He will act primarily as a Naïve Newcomer and Audience Surrogate, and will eventually take responsibility for his powers and become a liaison between Earth and the rest of the galaxy. Also, to acknowledge their Bromance from the comics, Peter Quill will act as his Big Brother Mentor.

• Jossed. As mentioned above, James Gunn has said that he does not like Nova, and that he will not appear in the sequel.

The reason the Guardians could contain the power of the Infinity Stone without blowing up was due to their status as Fire-Forged Friends

The Stone was not just contained by the physical power of its wielder, but also by the wielder's strength of will. Thus Ronan, through his intense hatred of Xandar, could hold onto the Stone and place it on his hammer. So why were the Guardians able to briefly harness its powers? Their connection had to be similar to the pilots of the Jaegers from Pacific Rim, so as to concentrate their will power towards one purpose. Their connection was already foreshadowed in a previous scene where they were all able to silently communicate that Peter needed to distract Ronan while Rocket prepped the Hadran Enforcer.

• The sequel suggests it was due to Quill's celestial genes.

The Nova Force exists but the Nova Empire hasn't found a way to empower individuals with it yet.

One of the many applications of the Nova Force in the comics is the ability to create force fields. You know, like the one the Nova fighters created for slowing down the Dark Aster. For the moment, the Nova Empire has built receptors that allow their machines to tap in the Nova Force for limited applications, but they're trying to refine its use for getting more firepower. Then, some stupid Terran kid named Richard Rider will come along and accidentally absorb the entirety of the Nova Force within himself...

The "empowered" Nova Corps from the comics exists, but in a different form.

In the movieverse, instead of powering up all the corpsmen with the Nova Force, only selected individuals are allowed to harness it, making them a group of elite soldiers used for very specific missions. They didn't appear in the movie because they were "conveniently" on the other side of the galaxy at the moment, and couldn't make it back to Xandar in time.

• That actually sounds a bit like the Alpha Lanterns, only far less into Knight Templardom.

The Nova Corps plans to use the Orb

They'll use its power to create the MCU's version of the Nova Force.

• Rendered moot by Infinity War, in which Thanos decimates Xander to get the stone.

The markings on Drax's upper-body have some cultural significance

The reason Drax is always shirtless is that covering up the markings goes against his people's religious/cultural beliefs.

• Jossed. He's always shirtless because he has sensitive nipples.

Richard Rider is already part of the Nova Corps

How else could they know enough about human anatomy to tell if something was an anomaly or not?

The Orb that Quill gave the Nova Corp also contained a Troll-doll, or is otherwise a decoy.

Quill knows from Gamora and from Ronan’s actions that Thanos is looking for the infinity stone, and has the power to casually destroy worlds already. The last think he should do, if he wants to save the galaxy, is give the stone to the Nova Corp because that’s what Thanos is expecting. It’s the first thing Gamora thinks and she blurts it out in front of a bunch of random passersby on Knowhere. He has to hide it, somewhere Thanos won’t think to look for it. He's not going to give the Nova Corp a wepon they can't use when he knows he can use it against Thanos, if needs be. It’s on the Millano, hidden at the bottom of the fridge or in his sock draw or somewhere, and this will be plot significant in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 or Avengers 3. What's more, Nova Prime may well be in on it: if it’s a choice between painting a giant target on Xandar, or letting Thanos rebuild the infinity gauntlet, Nova Prime is possibly the only person willing to make that call.

• Jossed. Thanos decimated Xander to get the orb.

Groot is a Seedrian

Think about it, when he dies, he produces a sapling. He is a tree creature just like Cosmo and the other Seedrians.

Guardians of the Galaxy is set in the Mass Effect Universe

Think about it. Knowhere is a Skull that has acidic blood and flesh nnd is mined. It's not a celestial head as they think it is. It's actually the head of the human reaper Shepherd destroyed in Mass Effect 2. Nebula is an Asari, because she is blue skinned and is female. Her adoptive sister Gamora is a Drell, and Ronan is actually a Quarian, but his immune system is well developed unlike other Quarians, which is why he does not have a mask. His helmet says it all. The Collector is, well, a collector in disguise.

Drax is autistic

Based on this and this.It is mentioned that his entire species is like this but there's nothing that denies the notion that his speech patterns and overall behavior were based off of someone with a spectrum diagnosis.

The Guardians of the Galaxy will have a cameo in Avengers: Age of Ultron or a hilarious introduction in Avengers 3

• If it is the first, then it will show up as a post-credits scene. Perhaps a shot of the Milano cruising through space while the Guardians are bickering around the dinner table, only to be interrupted by Nova Prime who says the Infinity Gauntlet has been found...
  • Jossed. They do not appear.
• If it is the second, one of the Avengers (or Selvig) will comment about life outside of Earth and wonder what strange, fantastical creatures are out there... Gilligan Cut to the Guardians getting drunk and clowning around to Peter's mix-tape!
  • Jossed. They are introduced listening to "Rubberband Man", but nothing of the sort from the Avengers.

It was not Peter's father who ordered his kidnapping

Everyone seems to assume that he arranged for Yondu to fetch Peter, but what if one of his enemies ordered it (pretending to be him) and he spent the last years searching for his lost son?

• Confirmed, actually. It was the Ravagers acting alone, saving him from his father because he was, frankly, a real dick.

Groot is a Cotati

Because when you've got 30 years of back story to stitch together in 4-6 hours of movies, some splicing gets done (See Also: every book turned into a movie, ever). It would help explain how the Collector even recognizes Groot (the Kree massacre [almost all] the Cotati in Kree Year One, making intelligent tree people legendary in Kree space) and why he put such a high price on his body; it's also better than a generic race like "Floral Colossus from Planet X" because the Cotati are not just intelligent, they're also telepathic. This would also open the door for Mantis to be the 4th female character.

The troll doll was something Yondu would steal from Peter and vice versa as a child in order to teach him to steal from everyone.

• Peter giving it up to Yondu was then also a sort of "You're a better thief than I am, even though I stole the stone" kind of thing.
• It's a When You Snatch the Pebble moment, with Peter essentially showing Yondu that he was now his equal.
• It's a nice addition to Yondu's kitschy dashboard knickknack collection.

If Mantis shows up, she will have a Adaptation Species Change much like Drax

As James Gunn mentioned that the female characters showing up in Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 will not come from Earth, she probably won't have the same back story as her comics counterpart. It also helps that she's already green and has antennae, which can easily be explained as being part of her species' physiology.

• Confirmed. She is an insectoid species, and is Ego's servant.

Drax will gain a Second Love in the sequel.

• Jossed. The popular theory that Drax and Mantis would fall in love in the sequel was utterly quashed. Bautista even confessed that Drax is so broken over the loss of his family that he'll never love again.

Noh-Varr will have a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy 2

He'll be a young Kree cadet who is interested in meeting the one who killed Ronan. Peter will let him listen to some of his mix-tape. Noh-Varr will then ask if there is any more Terran music like this. Peter will smile and suggest that Noh-Varr visit Earth to find out for himself.

• Jossed.

Starlord will die in the sequel

Not every villain they fight will be as gloaty as Ronan. Eventually, they are going to run into a villain who will just shoot Starlord when he's doing one of his little song and dance routines.

• Jossed. He lives.

The Guardians will eventually become the bearers of the Infinity Stones.

In the comics, in order for them not to be used together again, Adam Warlock split the Infinity Gems between members of his group, The Infinity Watch. Said group already had Drax and Gamora among its members, so if the movies are gonna follow example of the comics, it seems likely that the Guardians will become the Infinity Watch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As for the sixth Infinity Stone, since the movie Thanos appears to be more villainous than the comic book Thanos (who's essentially an Anti-Villain), it seems unlikely that he will get it, so either Warlock keeps it himself, or it will go to a new Guardian introduced in the sequel (possibly Moondragon).

• Josssed. Thanos destroys the stones in Endgame.

Korath isn't a Kree in this version

He's a Sakaaran. In the comics, the Sakaarans are split into two subgroups, the grey-skinned Shadow People, and the red-skinned Imperials. It is possible that in the MCU, Korath is a a member of the Imperial subgroup. This could also explain why he lacks blue skin unlike every other Kree seen in the film, why he commands the Sakaaran soldiers, and why his clothing and weapons closely resemble those of the Sakaarans.

• Jossed. He is a cyborg Kree.

More members of the original Guardians of the Galaxy will show up in the sequel

James Gunn has mentioned that he would like to focus more on Yondu in the sequel. That might include his old teammates from the original Guardians of the Galaxy lineup like Major Victory, Martinex, Starhawk, Aleta, Charlie-27, Nikki Gold, etc.

• Confirmed! Starhawk, Martinex, Aleta, Charlie-27, Mainframe, and Krugarr show up as Ravagers.

The whole story is really just a tabletop roleplaying campaign.

In accordance with traditional roleplaying cliches, You All Meet in a Cell. Groot and Rocket Raccoon are both Min-Maxed Lethal Joke Characters, especially Groot; Rocket is more of an attempt to make a viable character out of an irritable raccoon, but Groot is an obvious case of "my character can only say three words, but he can't be killed". Quill is basically just a self-insert, who looks and acts exactly like his player, but has higher charisma. Drax is played by a Real Man type, who's willing to partake in a certain amount of silliness but when he gets bored decides to phone his nemesis so he can do some fighting. Gamora is The Roleplayer, making a determined effort to play a character who'll actually advance the plot. Nebula is an NPC, and her Healing Factor is a result of Rule Zero: she can't be killed off if the DM doesn't want her to be. The only reason they manage to steal the things they needed in prison in broad daylight is because of some really lucky rolls. More than half the team is Chaotic Neutral.

• It's Avengers playing a homebrew version of D&D! Bucky is the DM who is generous towards Steve (Rocket), Natalia is playing Gamora, Clint's character is Peter (duh), Drax's player is Thor and Bruce Banner (whose only half-playing because he's busy with something else) is Groot, thus why Groot has such a large range of powers and limited vocabulary, DM Bucky is filling in and randomising everything, he's also very lenient towards Steve. Natalia is pissed off in this turn of events because her character Gamora is being one-upped constantly by Steve's Lethal Joke Character Loonie antics.
  • Jossed. The Avengers and the Guardians meet in person.

There are other humans and/or things stolen from Earth in the galaxy

How else would Peter remember so many references from Earth's culture and somehow get his hands on a working stereo and other various Earth knick-knacks?

• Jossed. Yondu made runs back to Earth to get more stuff. Including a Zune.

Ronan unknowingly made the Guardians able to hold the stone.

After all, it was Ronan himself who called them the Guardians of the Galaxy. The stone, unable to detect sarcasm, took Ronan's (worthy of the stone) words as making the guardians worthy as well. That´s why it only accepted them once all the living}} says members were holding it.

Some of Thanos' other "daughters" are Supergiant and Proxima Midnight from Infinity.

• Confirmed for Proxima Midnight.

Ronan's killing of the Other will be the cause of a Kree-Chitauri war.

Yondu had a similar back story to Peter

The reason that the Yondu in the film is so different from his comics counterpart is that Yondu was taken from Centauri IV at a young age and raised in a hostile environment. Either he was Made a Slave or he was similarly stolen and raised by a bunch of criminals. Along the way, his signature headfin was cut off and he lost a lot of his culture. This is why he's more of a Space Redneck than a Space Native American. His Yaka Arrow is a Tragic Keepsake and the only thing he has left of his Centaurian heritage. That's why he's so callous towards others and why he's so fond of Peter, who he realizes is not so different from him.

• The sequel reveals he was sold into Kree slavery as a child.

Peter will end up with blond hair at the end of the film series.

Towards the end of the movie, it almost seems like Peter's hair is a lighter shade than it was at the beginning of the film. So maybe accessing his heritage on his father's side when holding the infinity stone is going to cause a slow change in his appearance, namely Power Dyes Your Hair. It would also work as a shout out to the fact that Peter is blond in the comics.

Peter Quill and Adam Warlock will have a Red Oni, Blue Oni dynamic

Adam will be concerned about the "greater good" and be willing to do morally questionable things to achieve that greater good, namely being willing to sacrifice people's lives in order to keep the Infinity Stones out of Thanos and/or Magus's hands. Peter on the other hand will refuse to go along with Adam's logic and will try finding ways to keep the Infinity Stones safe while also saving as many lives as possible along the way. Despite their personality differences, they will be good friends and inspire great things out of each other.

Phyla-Vell or Mantis may appear in the sequel

James Gunn has said he will be introducing one of his favorite superheroes in the second movie, and strongly hinted said hero is a woman. It could be Phyla-Vell/Quasar or Mantis, especially if Moondragon appears in some capacity.

• In both characters' case, it doesn't hurt that they actually were part of the 2008 team (i.e. the one the film's configuration is based on), have ties to characters like Star-Lord, Nova (the Richard Rider Nova, that is), Moondragon, and Adam Warlock (thus providing another link to Thanos), as well as the Kree (which is bound to have some importance given the first movie's events), and would provide slightly more balance to the group's gender ratio. Quasar may have a slight edge: she's had more appearances on the team compared to Mantis and fans of Marvel's animated works might also be more likely to recognize her, considering the character's one-shot appearance in the widely-acclaimed The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (though she didn't appear in any of the recent Ultimate Spider-Man cartoons with the other five; it remains to be seen if either will appear in the actual GotG cartoon). Her sexual orientation, on the other hand, may prove problematic ^note trying to downplay it or outright make her straight would likely result in controversy due to Unfortunate Implications and because of the Guardians' limited screen time in EMH, fans not privy to the character's history may not even know she's a lesbian to begin with (which could elicit a meta Ass Pull reaction).
• Confirmed. Mantis will appear in the sequel, portrayed by Pom Klementieff. No news on Phyla, however.
• In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3., one of the High Evolutionary's experimental children is later revealed to be the MCU's version of Phyla-Vel

Ronan destroyed Drax's people because of their literal mindedness.

Can you imagine how that came about?

• Jossed. Drax's world was one of many that got "balanced" by Thanos. Ronan was in charge of seeing it done.

Heimdall was left in Stunned Silence

It's not hard to guess that Heimdall has seen from Asgard all those things that were taking place. That's his thing. And then, he went to Odin, to report that an Infinity Stone has been found and many people have been fighting for it, which is surely of the highest priority. So, he reported the whole saga of events involving Ronan, Thanos, the Guardians, the Xandarians... "I see. So, this villain Ronan landed on Xandar, with the Gem of Infinite Power, ready to destroy the planet. How exactly did those warriors vanquish him?" Heimdall could not find the words to describe it.

• Pretty sure "Odin" was actually Loki at the time since the film takes place after Thor: The Dark World, so if Heimdall said "They distracted him with dancing" he was probably thinking something along the lines of "Dancing as a distraction to get something? I must remember to use that tactic." Hell, it would be odd if Loki hadn't tried something like that once in his life.

The Cold Opening of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will involve either Yondu or Peter's father or both

Either it will show how Peter's father is related to the Infinity Stones, or it will reveal something about Yondu. If it's the former, then we will learn why Peter was able to hold the Infinity Stone. If it's the latter, it might reveal something about Yondu's past and why he is so cynical and hard-bitten.

Or it might show how Yondu was hired by Peter's father and why he decided to keep Peter as a child.

• Confirmed. The opening shows Peter's mother and father and how he is an alien.

Kang the Conqueror will be the main antagonist of the sequel.

Kang's time traveling gimmick would allow them to explore the original Guardians team, and introduce the Time Stone in preparation for Infinity War.

• Jossed. James Gunn has confirmed Fox owns the rights to Kang (presumably due to him being a descendant of Reed Richards).

Drax is an Eternal

We know he's some sort of alien but based on the fact that Moondragon may still appear, he'll have to be based closer to Earth. Odds are, he's an Eternal and thus the same species as Thanos.

Peter will get a costume more like his comics one

It will be vaguely similar to the Nova Corps outfits with a few tweaks, to signify him partially being under their operating authority.

• Confirmed for the third installment.

Korvac will be the main antagonist of the sequel and he will wield the Time Gem.

• Jossed.

The first scene to show the Guardians in the sequel will be shown via The Oner

In part to reintroduce the characters and their dynamics and in part as an homage to Serenity.

• Confirmed. It is the Guardians fighting the Ablisk in the background, with baby Groot dancing to *Mr. Blue Sky* in the foreground.

The girl played by Laura Haddock in Captain America: The First Avenger was Peter's grandmother

Peter's mother just happens to look exactly like her mother when she was young. Peter probably heard the story about how his grandmother met Captain America over a hundred times!

• Confirmed by Word of God.

The sequel's new villain will play Big Bad Duumvirate to Thanos.

Thanos has been sitting on his throne, so in order to make his appearance in "Infinity War" all the more foreboding, he'll be partner to the Big Bad. They will work together so he can get the Power Stone, leading to a Bittersweet Ending. A new Big Bad will be portrayed as stronger than him at first (thus making the new Big Bad a badass threat as well), however being Thanos he'll out-gambit his partner, betray him (or demote him to dragon) and gain two Infinity Stones. They'll be driven out, but it'll be a Bittersweet Ending given the devastation wrought and Thanos almost being half done.

• Jossed. The villain is Ego, who dies by the end.

Rocket speaks Drax's language.

Most of the film is seen from Quill's perspective, so his Universal Translator causes all conversation to be heard in English, but there are two scenes with Rocket and Drax where they understand each other perfectly, despite the fact that Quill can't be aware of their conversations: First is in the bar on Knowhere, when they get drunk and eventually descend into fighting. Quill is out talking to Gamora at the time, so there's no way he can hear them. Second is the scene after Ronan beats Drax and leaves him for dead. Rocket lectures Drax for calling Ronan to Knowhere, but Quill can't be hearing that because he's on Yondu's ship.

How do we explain this? Well, Rocket is a Bounty Hunter, meaning he's likely been all over the galaxy. The conversation about metaphors implies that Rocket has encountered Drax's people before, so it makes sense that he would have learned their language, especially if he was doing business with them.

In Avengers: Infinity War, Peter will be shocked to learn that even Thor has heard of Star Lord.

And it will be awesome!

• Jossed. Thor in his own words had no idea who the hell Star-Lord was.

Morag was the planet destroyed by Eson the Searcher.

Look at the scene when Peter is heading towards the Orb. The planet's atmosphere is full of purple and grey mist — the same colors that appear in the flashback. And if you look at the ruins in the background, they look eerily similar to the buildings that crumble when Eson touches his staff to the ground.

The CB slang alien from US-1 will show up in a quick cameo.

It would just fit the heavily 1980s atmosphere the first movie cultivated.

The sequel will be a time-traveling movie

The Guardians will find the Time Stone in the next film, one way or another. This will lead to them meeting the future version of the team (Charlie 27, Starhawk, etc.). They can also possibly meet other versions of heroes from different time periods (Iron Man 2020, Spider-Man 2099, maybe one of Marvel's Western heroes, etc.)

• Jossed. They all stay in one time period.

Peter has been back to Earth since his abduction

Peter has quite a bit of Earth cultural knowledge that would have been highly unusual for a 10 year old in 1988 to have possessed. Jackson Pollack and The Maltese Falcon are hardly something a 1980's pre-teen would be on a pre-teen's mind in the 80's. While it's possible he was given an unusual education in art and/or old detective novels/films, both would seem unlikely.

• Makes sense. It's not like there's anything stopping him from going back to Earth, and plenty of reasons for him to drop by for at least a visit.
• Jossed. He hasn't seen anything.

Earth has a fan club

There's a planet of Terraphiles or scroungers out there and it's not difficult to pick up Earth memorabilia to repair his stuff. It's also possible that there there's a whole subculture of abducted Earthlings he meets up with.

The Elders of the Universe were in this movie

Those guys in the mystical white robes who tried to harness the Orb's power were the other elders. Collector talks about it because he was there, attempting to revive his dead wife through its power.

Guardians of the Galaxy takes place in a Mirror Universe

Compared to the comics at least. Peter Quill is a young thug trying to get people to call him Star-Lord, rather than an old retired hero trying to get people to stop calling him Star-Lord. Groot is Rocket's bodyguard, rather than the other way around. The team was formed trying to oppose Ronan, rather than to aid him. Knowhere is a lawless mining station with Cosmo as an exhibit, rather than a universal meeting place under the tight oversight of Cosmo.

How the Xandar-Kree war ended

My theory is that the war was fought to a more-or-less standstill, though with the Xandarians having a slight upper hand. Why? The Kree seem rather warlike, with Ronan (I know he's a fanatic, but keep reading) and their experiments leading to the existence of inhumans. The Kree government are unwilling to condemn his actions, despite going against the peace treaty, meaning that he must have some degree of support by the Kree people and possibly even within the government. They do not come across as the kind of people who would go for peace if they have the other hand. The Xandarians do not seem particularly warlike, and I believe they would prefer peace to a Pyrrhic Victory, which that was could well have led to.

Drax will graduate from Literal-Minded to Sarcasm-Blind in the sequel.

Going based on the trailer, Drax seems to understand, at least in part, what Peter means when he says that he is a dancer and Gamora is not. He responds that Peter needs to find someone that is "pathetic, like you", only of course using it in the literal sense, as someone who incites feelings in others. Peter has the expected response, which is a notably sarcastic "thanks for that", in essence. The next thing that happens is Drax asking Peter if he needs a hug, and since he doesn't realize that Peter isn't still being sarcastic when he says "no", Drax gives him something of a bear hug (much to the latter's chagrin). He can get figurative terms and understands when people don't mean precisely what they say (picking up the "dancer" analogy pretty easily), even if he doesn't indulge in it so much himself ("someone pathetic, like you"). Understanding sarcasm would be the next logical step, but he'd have trouble doing that with a Deadpan Snarker because of how subtle the cues are at times and thus placing exactly where the tone shifts is a bit difficult for him (or alternatively, he never caught on that Peter was being sarcastic to begin with, and genuinely thought Peter was thanking him for the advice, and then taking Peter's denial of a hug as the standard "No" Means "Yes" response a lot of people will give if randomly asked if they want a hug).

• Jossed. The scene is somewhat different in the actual movie.

Rocket looks different in this film because he's malnourished.

OK, we all know the real reason is because more advanced CGI enabled the creation of a new, more lifelike digital model starting with Vol. 2, but here's a possible in-universe reason. The film doesn’t go into a lot of detail about the value of units, but comparing Rocket’s opinion of Quill’s bounty to the price Quill paid for that prosthetic leg, it’s pretty obvious that Rocket didn’t have much in the way of money. (And, in the prequel comic, he was actually forced to sell his then-favorite gun to obtain some cash.) Bounty hunting is far from steady work, so there’s a high likelihood that he and Groot have spent extended periods living on basically nothing, scrounging up whatever they could find to eat, yes, including space trash. After meeting the rest of Guardians and saving the day, he started eating a lot better and his health improved, explaining why his fur in Vol. 2 looks nicer and softer.

The Ravager's tractor beam is a primitive form of the same technology as the bifrost.

Pretty much because it forms rainbow lights around Peter when he's taken from Earth. This may or may not have been intentional, but it's interesting to think about.

Rocket's "Subject 89P13" designation was actually assigned by the Nova Corps, not his creator(s).

We only ever hear Nova officials using the number. Perhaps, at the time of his first arrest, Rocket was completely without a name or identity of any kind. They'd have to use something to identify him in their records.

• Jossed. The third installment confirms that the High Evolutionary assigned Rocket that designation.

For April Fool's Day or as a bonus feature for Disney+ or a physical release, Disney wil release a Flora Colossus dub track for eitther this film, Vol 2 or 3, or the Holiday Special

All dialogue will be replaced by characters stating "I Am [Name]" like Groot does.

Peter's Dad/Family

Peter's father is a Celestial

Even in the comics, nobody knows what a Celestial looks like under their armor, so one could have taken human or light form and impregnated Meredith. If they want to get really twisted it could even be Eson the Searcher, the one seen destroying planets in the hologram.

• CONFIRMED! Peter's dad is Ego, who is a Celestial in this universe!

Peter Quill and Tony Stark are half brothers.

Because both of them specifically landing on '12%' is way too much of a coincidence. Unless, of course, the writers just included it in as an Easter Egg.

• Jossed. Ego is Peter's father, not Howard Stark.

Quill and Skye have the same father.

Skye has mysterious alien parents and Quill had a mysterious alien father. Maybe he really got around while visiting Earth and they are half-brother and sister. "it's all connected"...

• Probably Jossed since the MCU version of Calvin Zabo is probably human since her mother is Inhuman; in the comics it was reversed with her mother being human and her father being superhuman. Quill's father is implied to be something ancient and definitely not Terran.

The Celestial that Knowhere used to be is Quill's uncle

Loki is Peter's father.

There are a few points of evidence here:

• Peter is said to be half-Terran, half-"ancient". Asgardians are established in the MCU as being thousands upon thousands of years old.
• Peter's mother said that his father was kind of heart. Since Peter's mother would've had Peter before Loki went down the crazy wormhole, she likely would've seen him as a slightly cocky but still empathetic god. Peter is also, despite speaking in 80s vernacular that's wholly alien to most of his counterparts, extremely good with words, much like Loki, and manages to pull off some impressive backstabbing, also like Loki.
• Peter's caretakers neglected to drop Peter off with his father because his father was "a jackass". Trickster God Loki would probably out-troll all of them, yes.
• While Thor shares a lot of these traits with Loki, only Loki knew of the wormholes to other realms. Unless Thor was asking Heimdall to send him places so he could pick up women, Loki would likely be the only Asgardian who could come to Earth and impregnate a woman. On a related note, Thor couldn't figure out a coat-hanger in Midgard, while Loki is implied to be adept at blending into Earth's populace, and wouldn't have raised the suspicions of anyone near Peter's mother nearly as much as a guy who hurls coffee cups into the ground.
  • This may or may not be relevant, but in the original Norse myths (which, granted, neither 616 Marvel nor the MCU stick to much), Loki is not a father. He's a mother, having transformed into a female horse and gave birth to Sleipnir, Odin's steed. Loki is also a father of many monsters in the Norse mythology, including Fenrir and Jormungand.
  • Loki isn't really a native to Asgard. He's a frost giant. When Quill is saving Gamora, he goes helmet less outside in an area that has freezing temperatures, and little to no air. While the lack of air affects him most, the freezing environment just turns him blue.

Peter's father is Starfox/Eros

It would explain his ladies' man nature and provide an interesting dynamic to his relationship with Thanos. Yondu calls Peter's father a jackass. Which describes Starfox pretty well.

• Jossed. Peter's father is Ego, the living planet.

Peter's father is Adam Warlock

Dey said it's likely his half-alien physiology is the reason he was able to hold an Infinity Stone for so long without succumbing. And thinking of people who would be exceptionally able to control a Stone, while also fitting Mrs. Quill's "radiant" description...the list is small.

• Consider Warlock's strange and changeable physiology and his unique relationship to the Infinity Gems. This would also tie Peter to a well-known enemy of Thanos from the comics, who fits the physical description of an angel and has at least some of the selfless traits.
• Jossed.

Peter's father is Captain Mar-Vell

Captain Marvel is a character who might get explored in more depth in the MCU- although not very well known outside of comic fans, he is somewhat important (for dying, but hey, he could die in the movie), has fought Thanos (then again, who hasn't?), and could be active in the 60's alongside movie!Ant-Man.

• Mar-Vell was a bitter enemy of Thanos. It's possible he'll at least show up. He was also a Kree and was beloved by most of his people, but he was Thanos' Arch-Nemesis alongside Warlock, so it's plausibe.
• While the term jackass wouldn't normally apply to the comic version of Mar-Vell, the MCU has been known to change character personalities. Alternately, Yondu might consider someone like Mar-Vell a jackass due to their different moral codes.
• Jossed.

Peter's father is Starfox, who has used various alternate identities (like Captain Mar-Vell and J'son of Spartax) throughout time to pick up girls in bars

Everybody wins!

• Jossed.

Peter's father is a literal angel

Peter's mother mentions that he was a pillar of light, and we all know angels are wavelengths of celestial intent, as Supernatural says. There was an alien race of bright orbs of light that circled their distant planet who rarely had any contact with anyone that wasn't part of their pantheon.

• Half-confirmed, as Peter's dad is a Celestial, which is basically a god.

Peter's father is an Asgardian, but not necessarily Loki

Lots of the evidence for this is the same as the Loki theory. But in addition, we already know from the Thor films that Odin frowns heavily on interbreeding between Asgardians and non-Asgardians. If this were to happen, then in order for Peter's dad to pick him up without Odin knowing, he wouldn't be able to just use the Bifrost to go and get him. Thus a third party are needed- Yondu and his gang.

• Jossed.

Peter's father is Stardust

Mama Quill said something like he was a angel made of pure light and SD is an alien made of pure light. Since since Big G is owned by the Fantastic Four people, Stardust can sort of represent him as Big Bad in absentia. Stardust is also a bit of a douchecanoe, what with him killing people who try to escape the planets Galactus wants to nom on. So he fits the "jackass" part as well.

• Jossed.

Peter's father is Fandral.

Reddish-blond hair, roguish personality, womanizer with a good heart, and Asgardian.

• Jossed.

Peter's father is Thanos

Because it'd be shocking, unexpected, and ironic. Who's to say Mama Quill wasn't visited by "an angel of death"?

• Jossed.

Peter's father is J'Son (a.k.a. Jason of Spartax)

Because that's who Peter's father is in the comics.

• Jossed. Details Here.

Peter's father is Rocket, who is also an Eternal

Back in 1979, Rocket was an Eternal under a different name (let's call him Kirbi in honor of Jack Kirby) engaged to Sersi of the Eternals. However, his true love was a woman on Earth, who he had a child with. When Sersi found out he had a different wife, she was furious and searched across the universe to find him. Thinking that if Sersi took the child's life instead of him, Kirbi hired Yondu to take Peter from Earth to give to Sersi as a tribute.

However, when Yondu took Peter, he found pity on the boy and did not think handing him over to the Eternal to be worth it. When Sersi eventually found Kirbi, Kirbi apologized to a ridiculous extent and told Sersi about his plans to give her Peter to kill. Disgusted by his barbaric recompense, she transformed Kirbi into a raccoon, and, just to put him more into his place, wiped his memories clean.

The raccoon was eventually found by Xandarian scientists who took him in for testing, finding that he still had capacity for great intelligence. The cybernetic implants and genetic experimentation was just the scientists unlocking the speech and critical thinking locks Sersi put onto Kirbi. Without any memory of his past life as an Eternal, the raccoon began calling himself Rocket, and the rest is history.

This will all be revealed in the finale of Guardians of the Galaxy 2, putting the team in a very awkward position for their third movie, post Avengers 3.

• Unfortunately, jossed.

Yondu is Peter's father.

Peter's mother says that his father was "an angel". Late in the film, Yondu conspicuously says "I may look like an angel…". The flippant way that he and his goon refer to Peter's father toward the end, as well as his reaction to finding the Troll doll, are extra hints.

If this is true, then Yondu will probably be a much more important character in the sequel(s), and will almost certainly be revealed to be far more powerful than he initially appeared. That arrow trick can't be something a normal smuggler would discover/invent.

• Jossed. He ain't his father, but he is his daddy.

Peter's father is Howard the Duck.

Simply to see Peter's jaw drop, this should happen.

• Jossed.

Peter's father is Starhawk

Peter's dad is described as a being of light; Starhawk fits. He's described as a total asshole; Starhawk fits. He is a legacy character associated with the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics. His weird temporal nature could be tied to the Time Gem, which otherwise would be really hard to fit into any of the likely movies and he's powerful.

• Jossed.

Peter IS Starhawk!

Raised by Space Pirates slash raiders slash whatever. Strange connection to space. Unknown ability to manipulate energy, at least to the point that he can hold on to an Infinity Stone. If and when the Time Gem becomes relevant there's a chance Peter can meet his older self.

• Jossed. Stakar Ogord is Starhawk.

Peter's father is a universe hopping Darth Vader.

They are both owned by Disney and it makes more sense than Howard the Duck.

• Jossed.

Peter's father will reveal himself after beating Peter up

Peter will lampshade how it's just like Star Wars.

• Jossed.

Peter's father is a Vorlon.

They appear to all races as literal angels of pure light. Case closed.

• Jossed.

Peter's dad is an urSkek

Because even though they have no connection to the MCU, it's just funny.

• Jossed.

Peter's dad is Duncan Macleod

For three hundred years, he's been a wanderer. Warrior. Lover. Constantly facing other Immortals in combat to the death.Neural anomaly, you say? That would fit in with being immortal except in the case of spinal column severance. His final victory also bears a great resemblance to a Quickening, and he certainly comes out on the right side of exposure to a severed head.Heeere we are, born to be kings, we're the princes of the universe...

• Jossed.

Peter's father is Elsa

• Jossed. What?

Peter's father is The Silver Surfer

Incredibly ancient: Check. Made out of light (or a light-reflecting material): Check.

• Jossed, and Screwed by the Lawyers.

Peter Quill's father is Captain Jack Harkness

Nova Corps said he was "ancient" and they do share a love of Badass Long Coats, making love to multiple species, and both are reformed criminals.

• Jossed.

Peter's father is Pepper Potts

• Jossed.

Peter's father is Captain EO

Explains the dance moves, right?

• Jossed.

Peter's father will be one of the members from the comics' original team.

Yondu was one of them, meaning they might exist here as well. This would make him a Composite Character with J'son in the comics.

• Jossed.

Peter's father will be played by Chris Pratt

Peter's mother said that Peter looks just like his father.

• Jossed. It depends on how much you think Aaron Schwartz looks like Chris Pratt.

Peter's father is Han Solo

Why not? After all, Disney owns Marvel AND Star wars.

• Jossed.

Peter Quill's father is the Comet

An obscure little hero from the Comic Universe's 1950s, who met up with Rich Rider back when the latter was still new. His powers allowed him to manipulate energy (explaining Peter's ability to hold the Orb), his origin explicitly altered his DNA (so it would be different from ordinary Terran) and in the comics he had a crime-fighting son (although not Star-Lord).

• Jossed.

Peter's father is in possession of the Xandarian World Mind/Nova Force

The Nova Corps in Guardians of the Galaxy seem like a simple Sci-Fi Police Force with no special abilities outside of advanced technology. It's not like the MCU to leave such a huge stone unturned. In comics, it has been shown that the combined powers of the Nova Corps can be absorbed by a single member for the purpose of fighting a great enemy. Even a normally powered Nova Corps member could light up like an angel. Presumably, this "Super Nova" was presumed dead in some battle (before or after Peter's conception) with some great enemy (possibly Thanos).

• Jossed.

Speaking of Peter's dad being a Celestial...

The question is, which one? Funnily enough, before Vol 2. came out, it was theorized on this page that Peter's dad was a Celestial, specifically Eson the Searcher, seen using the power stone in a flashback. Of course, now we know it's Ego, but he's considered a Celestial in this continuity... which makes you wonder, just which one is he? The answer: the theory is actually correct. Eson is Ego. It's even in the name: Eson is just what you'd call a Composite Character of J'son (Peter's dad who turns out to be a bad guy in the comics) and Ego, and the character is very much searching for someone! Obviously, that can't be deliberate, as the three are unrelated in the comics, but the coincidence is all the more reason to do it: Eson the Searcher has done his searching under multiple names, each with a syllable taken from his original. At some point he was reduced to the form that became the core of Ego.

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