Guardians Of The Galaxy Spoilers: 10 Ways It Sets Up Future Marvel Films

4. Genuine Anti-Heroes

For the most part, the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been pretty straight laced. So far, anyway. Tony Stark may have issues pertaining to his ego (and sorta hinted at drinking problem), but when it comes to it he always steps up to the plate and saves the day in the classic heroic tradition. Captain America's whole thing is that he's a pure force for good, and even when he finds his loyalties tested in The Winter Soldier his primary concern is protecting innocent bystanders. Thor is a god, and they tend to be pretty nice, even when they're Norse. Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye are more unknown quantities, partially because they've yet to have proper solo films. Which means that Guardians Of The Galaxy is the first time we've had proper anti-heroes on screen in a Marvel movie. Sure they end up doing the right thing in the end, but they're not doing it for purely altruistic reasons. The way Peter Quill manages to convince his merry band of outlaws that they should stop the universe-warping MacGuffin from falling into baddie Ronan The Accuser's hands isn't because it's the right thing to do, but because if he wipes out the universe they'll die too. It's a totally selfish motivation to save billions of lives. It takes them a long time to get there, too. At the beginning none of them get one, because they're all avowed a-holes. They meet in prison, where we learn that each members of the Guardians has a rap sheet the size of... well, of Groot. These are not good people. They have broken the law countless times. They do good, sometimes, but only if it suits them. This could mean that we'll see similarly amoral heroes headline Marvel films in the future, right? Frank Castle's not been up to much lately, if we recall correctly.