Guardians of The Galaxy 3 easter eggs make this MCU movie even more valuable when you figure out the details. However, even some Marvel fans didn’t notice the small details that gave more meaning to the movie. Here we dive deeper into the galaxy for the easter eggs you might have missed during the latest show from the Guardians of The Galaxy!
Spoiler Alert: The following content spoils the story of the Guardians of The Galaxy Volume 3.
All Guardians of The Galaxy 3 Easter Eggs
(Updated on September 30, 2024 – updated links and format)
Knowhere Moves
Knowhere is the head of an ancient Celestial, which used to be where the Collector stored his items. But in the Guardians of The Galaxy: Holiday Special, we learned that this head is now the Guardians of the Galaxy’s HQ. However, this time, the coordinates to Knowhere differ from the previous movies.
It’s not an issue by the creators that this location is now marked as M21I R516XS16C + 16151MW compared to M3RD 17R17211 + 2121224 from the previous movies. This head is floating in space, and the Guardians have relocated it as they did at the end of the movie.
Adam Warlock’s Head-Pin
Adam Warlock here has a very different origin from what we see in the comics. Seen first in the 1967 Fantastic Four #66 comic, Adam Warlock is described as an engineered being that has enhanced physical abilities. He was created by the Enclave, a group of earth scientists who wanted to perfect mortal abilities, something that sounds similar to the meaning of perfection by the High Evolutionary from the movie.
This Guardians of The Galaxy 3 easter egg is, in fact, a new approach that MCU has toward Adam Warlock. We saw him first in the post-credit scene of the GoTG 2 while still in a cocoon and in the creation process. However, although he possesses some huge strength enhancements like in the comics, he doesn’t come with the Soul Stone.
Adam Warlock is known to have the Soul Stone on his forehead, while in the movie, it is replaced by a bolt. This bolt might be his source of power here, but the narrative doesn’t explain how it works and if it shoots projectiles.
89P13 and Lylla Was First Seen in The First Guardians Movie
Many MCU fans might have discovered this Guardians of the Galaxy 3 easter egg as soon as they heard the 89P13 in the movie. Back in 2014, when the first Guardians film was out, we saw how the core members were imprisoned in Xandar, and their information was shown on the screen.
This scene has many details that help fans better understand the main characters. But some of this original information was not clear. For example, we see the subject 89P13 for Rocket, and his allies are Groot and Lylla.
Now High Evolutionary might have spread the subject’s name in the galaxy to look out for him. But Lylla was never mentioned again on any other occasions, and she was only in the cell with Rocket, dying in there as well. This Guardians of the Galaxy 3 easter egg just shows how consistent the writers of the Guardians movies are and how James Gunn had plans for the narrative from 10 years ago.
Yandu Knew About Rocket’s Origin
Most of the Guardians of The Galaxy 3 easter eggs are from the connection they have from the previous movies. We have seen MCU characters calling Rocket many things, like rabbit, squirrel, and even Ratchet from PlayStation’s Ratchet and Clank games by Tony Stark! However, there was one particular character throughout the whole Guardians trilogy and MCU in general who knew everything about Rocket Raccoon and High Evolutionary.
Back in Guardians of The Galaxy 2014, Yandu yells at Rocket, stating that he knows exactly who this Raccoon is. In fact, Yandu tells him, “You are me!” clarifying that he, too, used to be a slave. Yandu even mentions how the scientist that created Rocket didn’t care about him, which we see in Guardians of The Galaxy 3‘s flashback scenes.
The High Evolutionary Face
One of the very important details of Guardians 3 was how High Evolutionary’s face changed from the past. In the flashback scenes, he looks like a normal human being. But after he shoots Lylla, Teefs, and Floor, Rocket attacks him and cuts his face off. The result can be seen by the end of the movie, where Gamora pulls off High Evolutionary’s face.
There is also another Guardians of The Galaxy 3 easter egg about his face, and that’s Peter Quill’s line: The face-off. Everyone calls going straight to High Evolutionary’s HQ a trap, while Star-Lord keeps calling it a face-off. It makes more sense when they literally take the main antagonist’s face off!
The Dealer From The First Movie
Remember a dealer from the first Guardians movie to whom Peter Quill tried to sell Power Stone? Well, he’s here in the Guardians of The Galaxy 3 playing cards with Howard The Duck, Cosmo, and Kraglin. After clearing out Knowhere, it seems this place is a home for anyone seeking refuge in the galaxy.
Dead God?!
We know that High Evolutionary knows a lot about different species and beings in the universe, but the fact that he calls Celestials gods is something new. At the moment when Kraglin is attacking High Evolutionary’s HQ with Knowhere, HE calls it a “dead god’s head.”
High Evolutionary believes that god doesn’t exist, and he’s there to perfect everything. This is why when Rocket beats him in calculations, he gets mad and wants to study his brain to know why he’s better.
We Are Groot...
This is probably one of the best Guardians of The Galaxy 3 easter eggs we’ve mentioned so far. The reason is we, the audience, are all included in the scene where Groot says: “I love you guys.” This isn’t some random line from him saying it in everyday language. In fact, he’s just saying, “I m Groot,” as he always does.
Director James Gunn clarified this easter egg, stating that we finally got to know the Groot language and understand what he’s saying rather than “I m Groot.” It is so nice to know that Marvel fans are also a part of this MCU family, and it shows how much heart was behind the scenes to finally understand a word from Groot.
Kevin Bacon Anomaly
Guardians of The Galaxy 3 has two post-credit scenes, and one of them is about Star-Lord, going back to his grandfather, Jason. After he meets his family and gets along with his old man, we have a scene where Peter is eating breakfast, and Jason is reading a newspaper. Now if you look closely at his newspaper, there’s a headline about Kevin Bacon and his space travel!
This Guardians of The Galaxy 3 easter egg is a nod to the Holiday Special episode. Where Mantis and Drax try to steal Kevin Bacon, Star-Lord’s hero, and bring him to Peter as a birthday present. It seems like after that incident, Kevin Bacon is talking all about his experience in Knowhere in different magazines and news!
Who is Phyla-Vell?
Just like Adam Warlock, Phylla is yet another character from Marvel comics whose origin is shown to be different here. She’s one of the High Evolutionary experiments we see during Guardians of The Galaxy 3. At the same time, the details show that she’s capable of working without rest and only 1 hour of sleep per week! But Guardians of The Galaxy 3‘s post-credit scene shows her as a very different character—the one with a purple eye and cosmic powers like Captain Marvel.
As a comic character, Phyla-Vell was first seen in Captain Marvel #5 in 2003. She’s one of the Captain Marvels in the comic book stories on Earth-616 and gets her powers from the famous Captain Marvel energy bands. By her last name Vell, one can assume she’s connected to the Mar-Vell’s Kree bloodline. However, things are pretty different in the MCU.
How Was Phyla-Vell Born in The MCU
We saw Mar-Vell in Captain Marvel 2019 movie first, and Phyla-Vell is her daughter in the Marvel comics. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe shows that Phyla is one of the High Evolutionary’s experiments with nearly unlimited stamina and superpowers. Now High Evolutionary couldn’t have stolen Mar-Vell’s daughter, but he might have found her DNA somehow to create Phyla. It’s similar in the comics as well, where Phyla and her siblings are not born from Mar-Vell, but created from her DNA on her own.
Now the name Phyla is only mentioned once in the movie’s dialogues, but there’s one last of the Guardians of The Galaxy 3 easter eggs about this character. If you look closely at the credits scene, you’ll see Kai Zen playing a role called Phyla.
Phyla-Vell was probably created in the same way as Rocket. High Evolutionary could have experimented on hundreds of children with Mar-Vell’s DNA to develop people with super abilities. Phyla-Vell is the only one to become a successful experiment to have powers.
