Warning: MAJOR spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ahead

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After fifteen movies, it's hard to deny that MCU movies have a certain formula. Each one follows quippy characters embarking on a hero’s journey to prove their self-worth as part of a MacGuffin-driven plot that sees them interact with an inevitably doomed mentor and suffering love interest, culminating in a large-scale, CGI-heavy finale. Oh, and there’s a Stan Lee cameo at some point and post-credits scene teasing the next adventure. The origin stories are particularly brazen, with Ant-Man and Doctor Strange feeling very much like riffs on the original Iron Man (which was itself inspired by the likes of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man).

For the most part, this dependability is accepted by the fans thanks to the unique spin each character and associated actors and filmmakers bring, although there’s one key part that repeatedly comes under fire: the villains. Saying that Marvel has a villain problem can often be taken to say that it has no good antagonists. Now that isn’t totally true, but there's no avoiding that outside of Loki, Bucky and arguably Zemo none have left any individual lasting impact on audiences (and the former two are most definitely in anti-hero territory by this point).

The core of the issue is that each villain is bland in a repeatedly similar way; almost in spite of the source they’re typically a mirror of the hero, which makes for a trite arc on the tenth time and ensures the finale is inevitably two evenly-matched, similarly-designed fighters punching each other. The threat they pose is also so underwhelming, with the depths of the scheme barely elaborated on and the talented actors brought in to portray them wasted. The exceptions prove the rule; Loki and Bucky work because they’re nuanced and conflicted, while Zemo’s tangible impact on The Avengers made him immediately formidable. Compare this to Ronan or Malekith or even Ultron; they do have defined motivation, yet are given no time to really breathe and express that.

Within this there’s the further problem of the big bads – the hidden, maniacal overlord secretly controlling everything: the likes of Alexander Pierce, Dormammu and to a degree Thanos. These characters are usually intended to be a surprise opposition, so are downplayed in marketing and have a slight role in the first half of the film lest their true motivations be laid bare, which usually leaves them even more underdeveloped than their lackeys.

This whole thing is a hangover from the original Iron Man where Jeff Bridges’ menace as Obadiah Stane was so intense that Jon Favreau realized he could cut several arduous villain scenes without lessening the character’s impact; further movies copied this amount of screentime, but didn’t put the effort into providing the same strong grounding as Bridges got. Iron Man is also the reason this hasn’t halted Marvel’s box office dominance. By design the MCU is a series about heroes. You go see an Iron Man movie to see Tony Stark in the Iron Man suit first and foremost, and the studio ensures that above else that is done right. Villains are still a narrative requirement, but if the film presents an interesting enough internal conflict for the protagonist from the off then all they really need to do is reflect that back. As crazy as it sounds, being fully-formed isn't a necessity.

It’s not ruined the franchise, but it’s a concern that spans die-hard fans and casual audience goers. Refreshingly, however, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 comes very close to showing how this milieu can result in a fresh antagonist.

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How Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Almost Fixes It

Now, as you're probably aware, the villain of Guardians Vol. 2 is Ego, Kurt Russell’s living planet and father to Star-Lord. The logic behind his basic existence and ensuing villain scheme is rather complex – as is wont when you’re dealing with a giant brain that’s created its own celestial body – but we’re more concerned with how he operated within the film (you can get a breakdown of the specifics here). And it must be said that, as conceived, Ego’s a pretty solid villain that directly addresses several deep-set concerns.

Part of this is the brilliance of the film’s marketing. From the early teasers there was the feeling of a lack of spoilers, something that continued as the months went by, and nowhere is this more evident than with the villain. Ego was shown and confirmed as Star-Lord’s father, sure, but his explicit nature as a living planet or evil scheme were hidden, with recurring secondary antagonist Ayesha taking the brunt of promotion (while Ravager usurper Taserface was the focus of the fan-front). In a media-saturated age, that makes for a big surprise.

Although that marketing approach is really just a result of how he’s presented in the film. Despite being a comic villain, Ego is introduced as a wholesome father figure and the film takes its time establishing what his core Celestial outlook on the universe is before showing the dark extent he's taken it to. It’s done through heavy exposition, but this turn manages to add weight to the often flippant big bad reveal and, in having the audience see it through Star-Lord’s eyes, we gain a deep motivational understanding that is so often missing in these films.

That Star-Lord viewpoint is essential to Ego's success. Guardians 2's knockabout tone is grounded by an extensive exploration of fatherhood – Ego and Yondu as double-fathers to Quill, Thanos raising Gamora and Nebula, the entire team looking after Baby Groot – and that helps integrate Ego into the wider framework. He’s not a random character plucked from a 1970s comic, but an essential part of the movie who is as important for his representation – he’s played by Kurt Russell, you can’t get more idealized than that – as he is story.

Ego also represents one of Marvel's best rewritings of a previous movie. A minor yet prominent part of the Marvel formula is that sequel villains are in some way linked to a hero’s past – Whiplash’s father was swindled by Howard Stark, Malekith hated Odin, Bucky and Hydra were key to Cap’s origin, Killian was a remnant of Tony Stark’s dickhead days and Zemo was motivated entirely by Age of Ultron's finale – but where many of these struggle is in creating a tangible overarching connection; as they're rarely planned from the start the establishment winds up feeling like a limp retcon, with The Winter Soldier only working so well because it was implicit in the comic that inspired the film. James Gunn has managed to write around this, having the various clues about Peter Quill’s father in the original movie extrapolated: Yondu didn’t deliver Peter to Ego because he discovered his plan; Ego couldn’t return to Earth due to the limits of his avatar projection; Peter could hold an Infinity Stone because he was part Celestial. Even before we see Russell, he’s been carefully integrated into the MCU. This smart story structure isn’t just resigned to the villain – we get further threaded motivation for Yondu, Gamora and Nebula – but is certainly most effective with Ego.

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Why Ego Ultimately Fails

But let’s get real. Character is essential – and in Guardians is clearly the focus – but when we’re dealing with a villain it needs to be matched by threat. And here’s where Ego and the film in general fails; it’s so lackadaisically told it forgets to have a proper through-line.

Ayesha is at first the clear primary threat, chasing the Milano and hiring the Ravagers to hunt them down (making Yondu and then his mutineers the secondary antagonists). However, from the moment Ego turns up - which is, lest we forget, totally at random - that tension is dialed way down; Sovereign takes a backseat and Taserface and co. are only a barrier for Rocket, Yondu and Groot. On Ego’s Planet especially the film slows to crawl for a good half-hour as Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax and Mantis amble about with next to no narrative propulsion, let alone a sense of danger. This helps establish Russell, but at the expense of a thrilling watch.

These problems are only exacerbated after the reveal and establishment of a focused peril for the gang to stop; Star-Lord has to take down his father, Sovereign comes in for one last attack, across the galaxy Ego’s pods begin to engulf planets and it’s clear that everyone's life is at risk. And yet not once does any of this ramping up feel genuine. We have a randomized sequence of events rather than a coherent plot and the stakes are further depleted by the film’s knockabout tone to the point where all the hard work done with Ego begins to unravel. Gunn even does the worst thing and has the main fight be a powered-up Star-Lord taking on an equally-matched Ego; it's men in metal suits hitting each other all over again, and no amount of Fleetwood Mac can hide that.

Worse, all that intriguing father discussion that should be underpinning these later developments winds up feeling loose and unresolved. Everything is raised, but never quite brought together to make a full point; Yondu's "he may be you father but he ain't your Daddy" is evocative, but so undeserved. This scattershot telling means that while we avoid the usual villain issues, there’s still a general confusion over what exactly the movie's trying to do.

Conclusion

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 wallpaper

Guardians 2 appears to have gone back to the source of the villain problem to rectify it, realising that clear onscreen development bolstered by alluded menace is what’s been lacking in many cases since Iron Man. However, in making such a fundamental adjustment to the formula it missed that to do so required a wider refocus.

As already established, this lazy trope has been roundabout bearable due to the franchise’s focus on the heroes. Guardians 2 definitely continues that, but because it's so invested in giving the villain real character it winds up with too many spinning plates and thus offers very little in way of tangible development – Star-Lord discovers and loses immortality (a totally self-contained arc) and Rocket learns to care for his adoptive family, but anything else is window-dressing. What we end up with is a villain heavy on potential, but no story to work effectively in.

Next: Will Guardians of the Galaxy 3 End the Series?

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