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

3. The MCU's Mystical Side

Other than the morality and the cosmic, the other big element that Guardians Of The Galaxy introduces to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the more mystical side of the fictional world found in the comic books. For the most part the supernatural has been left unexplored in the Marvel films so far - we've got the Norse gods of Asgard, yes, but they're mostly explained in terms that a layman could understand. Natalie Portman's Jane Foster doesn't see all their fancy fantasy stuff as magic, just an advanced form of technology that Earth science has yet to reach. Even when dealing with mythical characters, we're on safe, recognisable ground. Guardians Of The Galaxy is mostly a sci-fi film, but it deals with the fantasy angle of the Marvel Cinematic Universe like no other has done before. That comes mostly in the form of the aforementioned MacGuffin that Ronan and, ultimately, Thanos want to get their hands on: on the surface it looks like a fancy-shmancy orb that Quill lifted from an ancient temple on an abandoned planet, but opening the old treasure up will reveal something much more interesting. And magical. It is straight-up magic and you cannot argue with that. The Infinity Stones have been very slowly introduced in the Marvel movies, although they're never named directly. The Tesseract was one, as was the Aether from Thor: The Dark World. Together these magical gems grant ultimate power and yes, they're total fantasy. They're like the titular jewellery from Lord Of The Rings, on a cosmic scale. That means we've not only pulled back so the Cinematic Universe takes in the wider galaxy, but also the realms of the supernatural. Which is handy, because we'll be dealing with the Sorcerer Supreme in the Doctor Strange film that's coming in Phase 3.