Bad news for those sensitive about cruelty to animals: as it seems Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is at least in part about Rocket getting sick as his body begins to reject the genetic modification that made him the surly little beast that fans know and love. (You’re really not ready to watch a CGI raccoon crying. Really.) That storyline will bring in the High Evolutionary, a scientist who’s no stranger to genetically modifying animals for his own purposes… and, in fact, might have had something to do with Rocket’s origin in the first place.

There’s more going on than just that, though; Adam Warlock has been created by the Sovereign people to seek revenge on the Guardians for their actions in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which really has the potential to cause trouble for the team… and, as if that isn’t enough, Star-Lord still can’t get over losing Gamora in Avengers: Infinity War… something that is even more difficult considering that an alternate timeline Gamora is still running around as the new leader of the Ravagers.

Let’s just say that there’s a lot to get through, and — given that it’s the last movie in the series — there's a not-zero percent chance that not everyone will make it through the movie in one piece. Or even multiple pieces.

Marvel's official synopsis for the movie is this: "In Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 our beloved band of misfits are looking a bit different these days. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them."

Really: they’d better not kill off Rocket.

The final installment in James Gunn’s trilogy (well, trilogy-and-a-bit, with the addition of the Holiday Special on Disney+), Vol. 3 promises to bring the long-running story of the team to a satisfying end after nine years, as well as opening up space just a little bit wider for future Marvel stories to explore. It's a film that Popverse's own Tiffany Babb enjoyed a lot, calling it "the best superhero movie of the past six years" - which is high praise indeed.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens in most theaters May 5, 2023. Buy tickets on Fandango or Atom Tickets.

Get ready for the new film with our comprehensive Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 guide.