Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 Review: 8 Ups & 3 Downs

3. Kurt Russell's Ego

You could probably have guessed that Kurt Russell's Ego wasn't going to be what he appeared to be on first reflection: it would have been too much to give Peter Quill this kind of happy ending, considering he and his fellow Guardians are defined by their demons.

But the best thing about the revelation that Ego is basically a maniacal space Hitler who believes that all of life is inferior to himself and thus deserves to be wiped out in favour of his essence taking over all the planets, is that it works so well.

Ego is one of those great villains Marvel has been missing for so long: he has a grand pantomime-like plot, he's charming in the same way Loki (and Ultron, to a lesser extent) was, and he's nothing like the cliches we've seen before in the MCU. And as his backstory is revealed slowly, he's genuinely evil, which really challenges your perception of him in the best sort of way.