With the fast-approaching debut of I Am Groot on August 10th, fans are excited to see more of this character, as well as from the other Guardians of the Galaxy. Drax, Mantis, Nebula, Groot, Rocket, and Peter Quill were glimpsed at the beginning of Thor: Love & Thunder, but more screen time is expected to be given to them in this new show.
They are, after all, a refreshing team to follow around in their shenanigans through space. Their lightheartedness combined with a rocking soundtrack fills their movies with a particular atmosphere unlike anything found in the MCU. This colorful mood is maintained online thanks to the millions of memes that neatly embody this chaotic team.
"I Am Indecisive"
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, there is a scene where Baby Groot proves his worth as comic relief and a Guardian to which this meme refers. As they are fighting Ego the Living Planet, they send Groot, the only one who could fit in the tunnel to the core, to activate a bomb made by Rocket.
The raccoon explains how it works to a confused Groot, who kept messing up the buttons, thinking he had to push the button that would set off the bomb instantly, killing everyone. While Quill is arguing with Rocket about the situation, Groot takes literally matters into his own hands, running with the bomb towards the core, where he placed it and pushed the right button. It was a fun moment in the middle of chaos - a sentence which, by itself, already sums up much of the Guardians' movies - showing how smart and resourceful Groot actually is.
Mantis And Drax's Bromance
Drax The Destroyer and Mantis have one of those friendships in the MCU that nobody saw coming. They are both sensible characters with big hearts and, despite their differences.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Drax tells Mantis that she is "horrifying to look at," adding that this is "a good thing." In his own Drax-way, he explains that " When you're ugly, and someone loves you, you know they love you for who you are... Beautiful people never know who to trust," leaving his companion thankful for being called ugly. This is one of the many moments when the interaction between the two is meaningful despite its strangeness.
A Gunslayer Raccoon? Count Me In
That surely is a way to describe the dangerous Rocket, a genetically enhanced raccoon who partners with Groot until they meet Peter Quill. Rocket is sarcastic and uses his cynicism to hide his true feelings, but he constitutes the perfect breath of fresh air from the goody-two-shoe stereotypical hero.
Few things could be more random than a raccoon with deep knowledge and skill in gun management. Not only is he a funny guy to follow around, but he is also popular on Earth if his 2025 life-size lighted statue and interactive game where fans could scavenge to win prizes at AvengerCon are to be taken into consideration, as shown in Ms. Marvel.
You Go Mantis
Her naïvity makes Mantis one of the funniest characters in the MCU, and her journey is one of self-discovery as much as it is about understanding the inner and inter-workings of other people.
She has the abilities of an empath, but that does not mean she always knows what is going on, socially speaking. Moreover, it does not mean that she is a passive character, as proven during Endgame. When Thor joins the Guardians on their ship, they are arguing about who ought to become captain, and Drax suggests a fight between them "for the honor of leadership." Eager for a show, Mantis interjects, asking them in a particularly sly manner to "use knives."
Every Ship Needs Its Captain
Gamora and Peter have been through their share of obstacles, but everybody knows that their biggest shipper is Drax. From day one, the Destroyer has seen the chemistry between the two characters and, at one point, was staring right at them while they kissed.
When they noticed him standing there, he justified himself, with little to no regard for the awkwardness of the situation, by claiming to be able to become invisible if he stood still long enough. This joke uses an old meme that plays with the chemical concepts of electrons and protons having respectively a negative and a positive charge and being inside a nucleus, while neurons, which have no charge, are outside the nucleus.
I AM GROOOT!
Groot is a Flora Colossus, which essentially means that he is a member of an ancient race of tree-like humanoid beings with superhuman abilities.
One of his most prominent features is that, despite understanding all kinds of languages, he can only speak "I am Groot" - an idiom that very few know. In fact, "I am Groot" has all kinds of meanings if his conversations with Thor and Rockett are to be taken into consideration. This makes Groot the perfect language to use in every sort of situation and given any question.
Saving The Galaxy One Song At A Time
One iconic piece that has become synonymous with Star-Lord since the first movie is his walkman and the songs constantly coming out of it.
Quill's Sony TPS-L2 Walkman Headset was given to him by his late mother, who also provided him with two mixtapes containing several songs from the 1960s all the way through to the 1980s. These have been alongside him since then and were a fantastic way to include in the movies some iconic songs - from Blue Swede's "Hooked on A Feeling" to "My Sweet Lord" by The Beatles alum George Harrison.
"Why Is Gamora?"
Arguably, one of the best parts of following the Guardians around is their comic relief moments. In Infinity War, when Quill asks Tony Start where Gamora is, he answers, "I'll do you one better: Who is Gamora?." However, Drax has to have the last word of the discussion, adding, "I'll do you one better: Why is Gamora?"
One of Drax's funniest quotes ever, this line had been impromptu and became one of his most parodied moments, with memes comparing it to the name of the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why [Gamora]. This particular case uses the logic of the discussion to add another h-question to the mix: "how is Gamora?"
The Real Plot Twist
Up until this Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 scene, there was no proof that the relationship between Yondu and Peter extended beyond business or even Stockholm Syndrome effects.
In the entirety of the movie, Peter searched for his biological father only to discover that Ego had never cared about his son or his former lover and merely wanted to use him. This could have solidified his lonesome status as an orphan, but every viewer's heart melted the moment Yondu asked Peter for forgiveness. It also proves that he had had a daddy all along.
Guardians Who?
This meme is part of a tag-yourself trend on Twitter inspired by the Guardians' eclectic and unpredictable team.
Quill's goofiness and impeccable musical taste, Gamora's troubled relationship with her foster father Thanos, Drax's quirkiness, Rocket's fluency in the sarcastic language, Groot's Grootiness, Nebula's complexity, and Mantis' naïvity - in the end, there differences and particularities are what makes this team work. Their ability to face threat after threat while maintaining their inner - often humorous - dynamics are the reasons why audiences love them and are eagerly waiting for the next chapter.