Marvel’s
Guardians of the Galaxy premiered just two weeks ago, so the odds are that most of the fan faithful have seen the film by now. Then again, there’s always a chance that a few poor souls haven’t yet found the time to check it out; maybe they’ve been busy vacationing away their summer, or maybe they’re just big huge slackers. Whatever the case may be, if you’ve not yet watched
Guardians, you’d do well to turn away, because things are about to get
spoilery – and groovy.
'Guardians of the Galaxy' End Credits Scene Explained
That’s because the House of Ideas has quite kindly put an official version of the first post credits sequence from the film online for audience consumption. If you’ve bought a ticket to
Guardians of the Galaxy already, then you already know what’s going on here; you also know that in plot terms, the scene doesn’t give much away. At most, it blatantly spells out Groot’s arc and diffuses his heroic third act sacrifice.
It says absolutely nothing, however, about how the ragtag antihero team of the title saves the day; nor does it dole out hints of what’s to come, or of the villainous Ronan’s ultimate fate. Some might call the bit “kosher” and move on, then, but part of what makes this clip so great lies in expectation. Since 2008?s
Iron Man, Marvel has programmed us to anticipate something big after the credits finish rolling, something that foretells events to come or upends the resolution of the movie we’ve just watched. We just
know that whatever comes up in the stinger will change the game.
Which makes the sight of
a regenerating baby Groot, happily shaking his moneymaker to the tune of the Jackson 5?s “I Want You Back” without a care in the world, startlingly wonderful. Everyone was too busy predicting a Doctor Strange or Captain Marvel appearance to consider for a second that James Gunn might be more interested in making his audience smile on more time. Like the film’s
other post credits scene, Groot’s climactic dance number is
all about fun over foreshadowing; Gunn cares about tone, personality, and laughs above all else here.
And nothing encapsulates those interests better than Groot cutting a rug while Drax blithely cleans his knife in the background, only semi aware that there are shenanigans occurring just behind him. One could argue that Gunn maybe missed an opportunity to spring Marvel’s next major franchise on the viewing crowd, but in a choice between something like Thanos’ first reveal or joyfully goofy comedy, goofy comedy wins almost every time.
Guardians of the Galaxy is currently in theaters.