10 Things We Noticed in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

Now that North American fans have had a full weekend to digest Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we're ready to reflect on all the deeper cameos, Easter eggs, and questions in the movie.

Even though writer/director James Gunn said that the film wouldn't really be connected to the larger MCU metastory, it does carry some big ramifications and implications about what's next.

Buckle up Baby Groot, we're heading into a quantum asteroid field.

But it’s Yondu’s death that hinted at their next direction – with his Ravager partners reuniting to mourn his passing, could Peter Quill and the Guardians be the next Ravager crew in their fleet?

Then there’s the matter of Kraglin – Yondu’s right hand man – who seems to have picked up Yondu’s cybernetic implant and special arrow in the wake of his captain’s death – could Kraglin be an actual Guardian by the time the next film rolls around?

(Hint: he’s played by James Gunn’s brother Sean – so yeah, we’re guessing he’ll stick around on some level.)

This includes scenes seen in the trailers for the film, such as the one where the whole team eats dinner around a fire, a reported sixth post-credits sequence involving the Ravagers, and Nathan Fillion's cameo as actor Simon Williams (A.K.A. Wonder Man) - to whatever extent it actually existed in the first place.

Looks like we'll have to wait for home video to get the full picture.

Michael Rooker is one of James Gunn’s best pals – and while a great cinematic death scene is as a good a gift as a director can give, with the whole of reality possibly at his figurative disposal thanks to the Infinity Stones, is there a chance Yondu could be one of the MCU’s first cinematic resurrections?

And if she survives the experience – what’s next? Comic book Nebula is exclusively a villain, so there’s no roadmap for her future. Could she be the wildcard the MCU has needed? Or will she return to the Guardians, perhaps even becoming a full-fledged member?

There’s too much promise in seeing the full-sized Groot battling alongside – or possibly even with – other powerhouse heroes like the Hulk or Thor for a half-formed hero to join the fray.

But what’s next for these characters? It seems hard to imagine them getting their own film, but with some A-List and fan-favorite names in the cast, there’s no way they’re fading into oblivion – especially with James Gunn saying he sees them as part of what he calls the Marvel Cosmic Universe (a sort of parallel MCU?).

Could they come together in Avengers: Infinity War, perhaps as a kind of cosmic cavalry with their respective crews? Or is there a chance they could form the basis of some kind of Infinity Watch-type squad after the conflict with Thanos?

There are also a few core members still missing – Nikki and Vance Astro, two name two. And of course Wonder Man – part of a cut-from-the-film cameo for Nathan Fillion – was a latter day member of the team, as was a version of Yellowjacket, the onscreen nemesis of Ant-Man.

Then there’s Ego’s origin – a godlike power sprung into existence and searching the universe for meaning and experience sounds a lot like the Beyonder – an ultra-powerful sometimes-villain responsible for the original Secret Wars.

And then, of course, there’s the fact that movie Ego is a Celestial – a race of godlike creators and scientists tied to the secret history of the Marvel Universe.

Celestials appeared in the first Guardians movie, when the Collector was explaining the Infinity Stones, but those Celestials appeared as they do in comic books – housed inside one of their colossal exo-suits.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige essentially confirmed the first theory, saying that’s the joke of his Guardians Vol. 2. And lo and behold, those bald guys he was hanging out with were none other than – you guessed it – the Watchers.

OK, so we can’t 100% confirm that this is the case, but every indication in the world is that Adam Warlock will appear in the next Guardians film alongside the returning Sovereign. (Unless that's Adam-X... nah). But is that where he’ll appear first?

Feige has shot down the idea that he’d have a role in Avengers: Infinity War, but given how tied he is to the Thanos saga, even if he doesn’t debut there, could he appear in the as-yet-unnamed sequel? And if he does … well, we’ll get to that in a moment.

But it’s a safe bet they’re keeping the title of that film secret for a reason…

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 brought in some new moving parts, and seems to have set up a clear path for the future by again, teasing Adam Warlock and the Sovereign as major parts of the next film – but could there be a twist we’re not seeing yet?

With the Ravagers/Original comic book Guardians now in the fray as well, and the Infinity Stones presumably getting sorted out in Infinity War, those gems will need somewhere to go. Given that Drax and Gamora are already part of the team – and the roles other established characters could fill – are we witnessing the birth of a big screen version of Infinity Watch?

Pip pip.