20 More So-Called Happy Movie Endings That Absolutely Aren't

While Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the most fun entries in the entire MCU, it also gets pretty dark. The tone was set early with a young Peter Quill (Wyatt Oleff) having to see his mother's cancer finally beat her, with the film then book-ended by some of the most harrowing scenes in franchise history.

In fairness, James Gunn did a decent job of hiding much of these scenes and their aftermath, but there can be no denying they happened. The Guardians of the Galaxy formed, and Xandar was saved, but at what cost?

Through Captain America: Civil War, Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt) scolded the Avengers for the civilian losses in New York, Washington, D.C., Sokovia, and Lagos, which totaled 74, 23, 177, and 26, respectively. The death toll in the fight between the Guardians and Ronan (Lee Pace) above and on Xandar, however, was over 83,000, which eclipsed the Avengers' figure over 275 times, and is reportedly the highest on-screen death count in the history of cinema.

The only real reference made back to the planet following this movie was when it was destroyed by Thanos at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, but even the years in between would have been full of pain and loss, with society likely never truly being able to get back on its feet.