Gunn’s humor is more miss than hit for me, I think, and I think you can tell he and many others were ready to move on. There’s some creative action sequences especially using Nebula, but some of the comedy is almost perfunctory and Gunn going through the motions before going after his DC passion. And Bautista makes his material work, and there’s a nice bow to it that made it click for me, but he’s still underserved and clearly ready for meatier stuff.

But the Rocket stuff? That hits. That’s what he’s still invested in, and Rocket has always- from the movies to the Telltale game- been far and away what I’m most invested in with the Guardians. It’s raw, honest stuff showing his growth and getting into something more traumatic than the usual MCU fare. Iwuji delivers as the villain, a man who’s idea of perfection is himself, and everything else can strive only to his design. The entitlement and indignation is palpable on his face and every movement, and it makes for the most cathartic villain defeat.

But what really sold me in the end was the finality. Resisting the cliche heroic sacrificial death and easy closure of the Avengers. People change. People move on. And you have to move forward. It’s so rare for this mega franchise to do. Guardians is, except for maybe Coogler and Panther, the most personal and tied to its director. It’s a shame to see it go, an end to an older era of Marvel when the current one is so impersonal and sanded down and made by producers and execs. But it’s also a relief to see it go on its own terms, as it’s own flawed fun messy thing.