How Avengers: Infinity War Is Basically Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

Infinity War is finally here, rolling in on a wave of trauma and death, and boy is it jaw-dropping. For even casual fans of the MCU, there’s no denying the movie is a certified hard-hitter, wiping out half of the Avengers and their pals with one fatal click of Thanos’s giant purple sausage fingers. What a d*ck.

Whilst the film is undeniably a main feature for the scrotum-chinned giant, bringing about a nuanced, incredibly powerful portrayal of villainy that often goes overlooked in Marvel titles, it also serves as essentially Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. And yes, I know James Gunn’s actual movie comes out in 2020, but the central narrative of Infinity War is unarguably too tightly interwoven with the Guardians to view it in any other way.

Where the Avengers and their pals often serve as little more than cameos in large part, each of the integral members of our favourite space outfit has a narrative arc that coalesces into a strong central storyline - developing character, offering relief, and defining their future with catastrophic effect.

So what do we learn about our galaxy defenders in the movie, and what does it spell for the rest of their franchise?

Gamora is the key to Thanos’s plans, and likely a recurring feature for next year’s Avengers 4, if the haunted image of her as a child is anything to go by. In Infinity War, we see Gamora in her entirety - the stoical hard-woman of the group revealed down piece by piece to show us exactly how she became the most deadly woman in the universe. It’s the first time she’s shown in full vulnerability, which isn’t something to be taken lightly.

We watch as her family is taken and her race effectively wiped out, with Thanos choosing the young Gamora to adopt for her strength in the face of hopelessness. This sets us up for some of the most adept emotional beats in the franchise, playing off Gamora’s ingrained conflict at her ‘father’ that even in believing him to be dead, she’s still heartbroken at the loss. They love each other, no matter how begrudgingly, and this is reciprocated in Thanos’s devastation at having to lose the one thing he cares about to complete his quest to ‘save’ the universe from itself.