Does Part of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Take Place on Earth?

CBR

By Stephen Gerding

Published Apr 14, 2017

Will Star-Lord and the rest of the Milano's crew come to Earth in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2? A new Kimmel segment suggests they may.

Thus far, every scene, image and interview promoting Marvel Studios' "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" has focused on the film's cast of alien heroes and the story's cosmic setting. Which makes sense, since the team, their adversaries and pretty much everything they know is somewhere on the other side of the, well, galaxy. Audiences know, however, that at some point the team will cross paths with Earth's Mightiest Heroes when they join forces in "Avengers: Infinity War." The question fans have been wondering is, how will that meeting take place, and when?

Well, we may actually have our first clue, courtesy of an unlikely source. On the latest episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the show aired footage of Kimmel's sidekick Guillermo as he prepared to film a scene for the upcoming sequel. After several minutes of footage featuring Guillermo interacting with stars Christ Pratt, Kurt Russell and Dave Batista, we're treated to behind the scenes footage of his big moment. Unlike most Kimmel/Guillermo jokes, however, this one seems to involve a real scene from the sequel. Not only is James Gunn actually directing the scene, it involves real props, about half a dozen actors (including Guillermo) dressed as police officers, and numerous crew members making it all happen. Then there's the dialogue Guillermo's co-star has, telling bystanders (consisting of even more actors) to step back and stop taking photos of whatever the blue screen behind them represents.

If this is indeed a scene form the film, our guess is it's either a flashback to Russell's first arrival on Earth as Ego, or, judging by the modern model of the police cruiser, perhaps a post-credit sequence setting up the first meeting between the Guardians and Avengers. We'd be somewhat surprised if any Avengers actually appear in GotGv2, but the idea that we'll get a scene with the Milano crash landing on Earth as the Guardians attempt to warn us of Thanos' plans for the planet is hardly a long shot.

Though the majority of the original "Guardians of the Galaxy" was set deep in space, far from Earth (or Terra, as it's referred to by the Ravager's leader, Yondu), the opening scene was as Earthbound as you'll find. The movie kicked off with a glimpse into the childhood of the man audiences would come to know as Star-Lord, showing a young Peter Quill at his mother's side as she tells him great things about his father just before she passes away from cancer. Not only did this offer a solid emotional aspect of the character for the audience to identify with, it established that Star-Lord is not merely human biologically speaking -- he has real ties to this planet.

This bond with Earth, and presumably some of Peter's family members, would explain why he'd feel an obligation to come home to warn the planet of Thanos' machinations. Peter may not know of the Avengers' existence (though he may, thanks to Thor and Asgard's own cosmic presence), but it would make sense for him to at least try to give Earth's leaders a heads up that, hey, it might not be a bad idea to aim your weapons at the sky rather than at each other.

Whether we find out in the coming weeks if this was truly a sneak peek at the film, or an incredibly elaborate and expensive late night television gag, one thing we know for sure -- it won't be long before we find out what, if any role Earth plays in the next chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Debuting in theaters on May 5, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is a production of Marvel Studios directed by James Gunn and starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell.