Warning: This article contains spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The Guardians of the Galaxy movies have always been Marvel masterclasses in how to tackle an ensemble cast of superheroic characters, with writer/director James Gunn beautifully balancing the many members of the cosmic team in each of his MCU movies. That’s especially true in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which fans are widely regarding as a supremely touching conclusion to the trilogy.
It has perhaps the biggest cast of any of the three films to boot, with so many characters swirling around the Guardians themselves, who are bigger in number than ever here thanks to the addition of some new members into the mix. As such, it’s interesting to note which individuals actually managed to grab the most screentime in the film.
Screen Time Data has crunched the numbers and determined the 10 most important GotG Vol. 3 characters. Let’s begin with a certain outer-space outlaw…
1. Peter Quill (1hr 12 mins)
Well, who else was going to have the most screentime in this movie but the guy who gets his name listed first in the credits? Yes, of course Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill, the legendary Star-Lord himself, has the biggest chunk of face-time in Guardians 3. The character makes the most of it as well, with Quill undergoing an emotional and cathartic journey across the film.
2. Drax (1hr 3 mins)
Drax’s MCU arc has often been lamented by fans, with many criticizing his frequent usage as a comic relief character and the fact he never got to kill Thanos, as is his goal in the first Guardians. With Dave Bautista done with the franchise, it’s pleasing to see that Vol. 3 does right by the character by giving him the second biggest chunk of screentime in the movie, as Drax gets to steal the show many times over.
3. Mantis (1hr 2 mins)
Pom Klementieff’s Mantis has come a long way since her secondary character status in Guardians Vol. 2. Following on from her starring role in The Holiday Special, Mantis is very much the heart of the team in this movie, helping steer her brother Peter on the right course and making a bold decision about her future at the film’s end. She thoroughly deserves her hefty dose of the action.
4. Rocket (1hr 1 min)
Rocket’s arc is right at the core of what Vol. 3 is all about, so in some ways it’s a surprise that he’s only fourth in terms of having the most screentime. This makes sense, however, when you realize he’s comatose for a huge stretch of the movie, even with flashbacks to his past keeping the character’s presence up. Fans will no doubt be debating if Quill or Rocket is the real main character here for a long time to come.
5. Nebula (1 hr 1 min)
Coming in at joint-fourth is Nebula, a character who doesn’t necessarily have a transformative time of it in this film as her presence in Vol. 3 mostly emphasizes the growth she’s undergone in previous MCU entries. Nonetheless, Karen Gillan’s redeemed heroine has many wonderful moments across her hour of screentime — her emotional reaction to discovering Rocket is safe can’t fail to bring a tear to the eye.
6. Groot (54 mins)
It’s often joked that Vin Diesel gets paid millions of dollars just to say three words over and over when he plays Groot — well, at least he got to deliver his signature line a whole bunch of times in this movie thanks to Groot’s hefty 54 minutes of screentime. Similar to Nebula, Groot doesn’t necessarily have a major arc this time around but he does have some wonderful moments — you know the one I’m thinking of.
7. Gamora (47 mins)
It’s slightly odd that Zoe Saldana, ostensibly Guardians 3‘s female lead, finds herself so far down this list but it makes sense with the unusual arc Gamora goes on in the film. As the time-displaced 2014 Gamora, she’s kept apart from the core team throughout much of the story, but along the way she learns to open herself up to being part of this family, although a romantic reconciliation with Quill is sadly not to be.
8. Adam Warlock (20 mins)
In the run-up to Guardians 3, fans feared that Adam Warlock was going to draw the short stick and, well, that kind of did end up happening, as Will Poulter’s golden boy could only manage 20 minutes of screentime across the entire movie. Nevertheless, within that truncated time-frame, the character managed to hit a lot of beats, going from dangerous villain to comic relief to one of the New Guardians.
9. High Evolutionary (18 mins)
Chukwudi Iwuji sure made the most of his slim screentime in Guardians 3 as it’s hard to believe that he had less than 20 minutes of space to do his thing in the film when he made such a big impression. In fact, his vicious turn as the overtly detestable High Evolutionary is immediately stealing fans away from the Multiverse Saga’s big bad himself, Kang the Conqueror.
10. Blurp (14 mins)
It’s true! Out of all the significant secondary characters in Vol. 3, the one and only Blurp steals the final spot on the top 10 characters with the most screentime. Not Ayesha or Kraglin or Cosmo the Space-Dog but Blurp, the furry F’Saki Ravager mascot that becomes Adam Warlock’s pet for the second half of the film. We can only hope that such an impactful character (his favorite song is “Baby Shark,” you know) will return. Could he be the one to defeat Kang in Avengers: Secret Wars?