Just like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers were the unofficial leaders of the Avengers, Star-Lord has been pegged as the one leading the Guardians of the Galaxy ever since the team of eccentric heroes made their MCU debut. But this has never been the reigning notion amongst MCU fans and recently James Gunn further underlined it when he admitted that for him, the real protagonist of the Guardians has been Rocket Raccoon all along. And as much as this admission soothes anti-Star-Lord fans, it also paints Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 as the savior Phase Five needs to sidestep the pitfalls of Phase Four.
We have all witnessed Phase Four, haven’t we? Yes, there have been some absolute winners but more often than not, the interconnected stories have rested on shoulders that were not crafted the right way to support them — yes, we are not-so-subtly calling out Thor: Love and Thunder and its unnecessarily goofy God of Thunder as well as the majorly disappointing star-studded Eternals.