The Guardians of the Galaxy are some of the most popular characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in addition to their own movies, they have teamed up with other MCU characters in some of this universe’s most significant battles. After introducing the Avengers and establishing that danger isn’t exclusive to Earth, the MCU began to expand with the exploration of its cosmic side and introduced a team of space misfits in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014. The Guardians quickly won over the hearts of the audience, and the success of their debut movie made way for not only two sequels but also appearances in other MCU movies.
Led by Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), the Guardians of the Galaxy have taken the audience to different planets and have come across an interesting variety of villains – from Kree warriors to a Celestial and a scientist who has done some truly questionable experiments. In addition to learning how to work together as a team given their different backgrounds and personalities, the Guardians have also learned to forces with other MCU heroes on different occasions, allowing them to build a couple of alliances that have come in handy on different occasions while also making them feel more like part of the wider MCU. Here are the Guardians of the Galaxy movies in order, along with their appearances in other movies, to follow their journey through the MCU.
Guardians of the Galaxy
The first Guardians of the Galaxy movie first took the audience back to 1988 to meet a young Peter Quill (Wyatt Oleff) in Missouri. Quill was raised by his mother, who had been struggling with cancer and was preparing to say goodbye to her young son. After Meredith Quill ed away, a distressed Peter ran away from the hospital and was abducted by a group of alien thieves and smugglers known as the Ravagers, led by Yondu Udonta. Peter was looked after and trained by Yondu, becoming a Ravager when he grew up, and the movie jumped straight to 2014 to reunite with a now adult Peter (now going by Star-Lord) as he stole an Orb that, unbeknownst to him at the time, contained the Power Stone. Guardians of the Galaxy is set before Avengers: Age of Ultron, which is why Thor’s vision at the Water of Sight included the Orb with the Power Stone.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, and Rocket shared the power of the Power Stone in order to defeat Ronan, vaporizing him with it. Now fully aware of how dangerous the Power Stone can be, the Guardians put it back into the orb and gave it to the Nova Corps, and so the team left Xandar, ready for their next adventure now that their criminal records had been erased. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 also takes place in 2014, so it’s set right after its predecessor in the MCU’s timeline and thus before Age of Ultron. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 saw Peter meeting his father, Ego (Kurt Russell), a Celestial who had dangerous plans and who was revealed to have killed Peter’s mother by giving her a brain tumor. The Guardians ultimately defeat Ego but Yondu sacrifices himself to save Peter, and in one of many mid and post-credits scenes, Ayesha revealed the creation of Adam Warlock with the purpose of destroying the Guardians.
Avengers: Infinity War
After the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the Guardians returned four years later, in 2018, in the first act of Avengers: Infinity War. Set after the events of Thor: Ragnarok, Thanos and his army intercepted the spaceship carrying the survivors of Asgard’s destruction, destroying it and killing everyone they could, including Heimdall and Loki. The Guardians responded to the Asgardian ship’s call but it was too late as the ship had been destroyed, but they rescued Thor, who explained to them what happened and that Thanos already had some of the Infinity Stones. Thor, Rocket, and Groot traveled to Nidavellir to ask dwarf king Eitri for help in creating a new weapon, while the rest of the Guardians traveled to Knowhere to stop Thanos from getting the Reality Stone, but it was too late, and he kidnapped Gamora to take her to Vormir and sacrifice her in exchange for the Soul Stone.
While Eitri helped Thor, Rocket, and Groot create Stormbreaker, the rest of the team got messages from Nebula and met her in Titan, where they met Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man. Thanos caught up with them and the Battle of Titan began, where the heroes came up with a plan with which they almost stole the Infinity Gauntlet from him until Star-Lord learned that Thanos had killed Gamora. After Doctor Strange made a deal with Thanos and gave him the Time Stone, the Mad Titan traveled to Earth, where Rocket, Groot, and Thor ed the rest of the Avengers in the Battle of Wakanda. Thor stabbed Thanos in the chest with Stormbreaker, but Thanos was still able to snap his fingers and vanish half of life in the universe, with Rocket and Nebula being the only Guardians who survived.
Avengers: Endgame
23 days after Thanos’ snap, Nebula and Tony Stark were rescued from deep space by Captain Marvel, and as Tony recovered, Nebula ed the rest of the surviving heroes on a mission to find Thanos and hopefully undo the snap, but the Mad Titan had already destroyed the Stones, and so Thor decapitated him. Avengers: Endgame then jumped five years into the future, and in 2023, Nebula and Rocket continued working with the surviving heroes and ed them in the Time Heist, with Rocket traveling to Asgard in 2013 with Thor and Nebula going to Morag in 2014 with Rhodey. 2014-Nebula incapacitated present-day Nebula and took her place, allowing Thanos, his armies, and 2014-Gamora to travel to the present day as well, but present-day Nebula ultimately killed her past version during the Battle of Earth.
Hulk’s snap brought back all those who vanished at the end of Infinity War, and so the missing Guardians ed the rest of the MCU’s heroes in the Battle of Earth, which ended when Iron Man sacrificed himself to save the universe, making Thanos and his armies disappear. Gamora left and the Guardians attended Tony Stark’s funeral, after which they flew to New Asgard to pick Thor up. Peter continued his search for Gamora, while they also continued answering various distress calls across the universe.
Thor: Love & Thunder
The Guardians returned briefly in the first act of Thor: Love & Thunder, as since they left Earth at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Thor had been traveling with them, and he used this time to find himself and get back into shape, though he didn’t help the Guardians in any fights until they requested his help. After a fight in Indigarr, the Guardians and Thor got an alarming number of distress calls that revealed that Gorr had been slaughtering gods, which prompted Thor to leave the team to go after Gorr, while the Guardians went on their own way.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
The Guardians later starred in their own Christmas special titled The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, in which it was revealed that they bought Knowhere from the Collector and are now using it as their headquarters, so they rebuilt it to make it livable. After learning how Yondu ruined Peter’s Christmas spirit, Mantis decided to do something to cheer Peter up, as he was also still mourning Gamora’s death and departure. Mantis and Drax traveled to Earth and, after a series of fun events, they kidnapped Kevin Bacon and brought him to Peter as a present. After celebrating Christmas all together in Knowhere, Mantis revealed to Quill that she’s his half-sister.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
The third Guardians of the Galaxy movie takes place sometime in late 2025 and continues exploring how the team adjusts to life in Knowhere, while Peter keeps looking for Gamora. Now ed by Kraglin and Cosmo the Spacedog (who ed the team during the holiday special), the Guardians go on a dangerous mission as parts of Rocket’s tragic past resurface, bringing them face to face with the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a scientist from Counter-Earth who specializes in creating hybrid creatures, and who is also Rocket’s creator. In addition to that, the Guardians meet Adam Warlock, who as ordered by his creator, Ayesha, is on a mission to destroy the Guardians of the Galaxy.
