A great ending not only enhances what’s come before it but imbues the story with fresh meaning, and thankfully that’s exactly what Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 does. Unlike pretty much the entire rest of the MCU, this trilogy was planned from the beginning, with James Gunn always knowing where the journey of the cosmic super-team would go from the off.
In the wake of the threequel’s arrival, then, fans are revisiting the first two movies in the Guardians saga and discovering new moments of importance that we never picked up on before. Case in point, Redditor FireWanKenobi has realized that the already literally and emotionally powerful ending to 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy has more to say than we knew.
As the OP shared on the r/MarvelStudios sub, the hidden detail concerns the Guardians coming together to hold the Power Stone, with the foursome of Quill, Gamora, Drax, and Rocket miraculously managing to contain the Infinity Stone’s power long enough to destroy Ronan the Accuser. Rocket is the last of the quartet to join the fray, with his presence stabilizing their connection to the stone.
In FireWanKenobi’s words, “this sets up Rocket to take over the Guardians at the end of 3 as he was the glue holding them together from the beginning.” So while the now-proud raccoon assuming command of the team from Star-Lord came as something of a surprise, perhaps it should’ve have been as Gunn has been seeding how integral Rocket is to their group all along.
One commenter put it best with the response: “How could I have not seen this[?]” Gunn, you sly dog (lover), you…