As ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ ends, Marvel keeps asking ‘What if?’

My childhood was filled with radioactive spider bites and blue beasts who studied biology. Excluding the Saturday mornings where my mom dragged my brother and me to choir practice, we were glued to the TV, which was full of animated stories about time travel and superhumans.

Even with that upbringing, the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie was too abstract for me.

Certainly, it wasn’t an issue of unique, or perhaps niche, content. I simply wondered if Marvel’s commitment to the Guardians on the silver screen made sense after the successful debuts of their name brands – Iron Man, Captain America, The Avengers.

What I interpreted as a risk for the comic book giant paid off profoundly – not just in terms of box office revenue, but in what it meant to tell a fuller story of Marvel’s universe.

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which opens this weekend, is the quintessential Marvel payoff. Where “Avengers: Endgame” was a sendoff for Chris Evans’ interpretation of Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, this installment of “Guardians” wraps up the chronicles of its weird, plucky cast. 

The story mostly centers around the anthropomorphic, cybernetically enhanced Rocket Raccoon, voiced by Bradley Cooper. In what has become an unofficial Guardians tradition, due to their battles with the likes of Thanos, the team takes on yet another purple-palette baddie, the High Evolutionary, a being hellbent on creating the perfect civilization. Rocket’s soft, yet sorrowful eyes and furry exterior have always belied his horrific past. The movie’s venture into that trauma is not for those who are sensitive to animals being harmed – and is not kid-friendly, to put it mildly. 

The 150-minute film does capture the team’s journey in a way that shows Marvel’s adeptness at putting a bow on a series, yet I find this benediction to be profoundly different.

The Guardians’ series opened the door for more abstract Marvel properties to hit movies and streaming services – characters such as Shang-Chi and Ms. Marvel. Their successes are a byproduct of the largely successful space stories of Rocket, Star-Lord (played by Chris Pratt), and the crew. It’s easier to sell a superhero movie with a household name, but when Marvel struck gold with the Guardians, to put it in comic book terms, it opened up a nexus of infinite possibilities.

For critics of Marvel’s Phase Four, that might seem like a bit of an oxymoron. Some people believed Marvel lost its way after The Avengers’ two-part epic, which wrapped up arguably Marvel’s most successful string of movies, including “Captain America: Civil War,” “Black Panther,” “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” The Eternals movie was largely seen as a dud, and streaming series such as “Hawkeye,” even with that main character’s Avengers roots, were underwhelming. 

Still, I would contend that Marvel’s choice to branch out beyond the familiar strengthens its brand, both in terms of storytelling and in terms of diversity. It is shortsighted to view critique of properties such as “The Marvels” and “She-Hulk” through the lens of periodically sexist comment sections, and perhaps fanboys (and fangirls) will heed the words of late Marvel creator and icon Stan Lee:

“I have always included minority characters in my stories, often as heroes,” the late Mr. Lee was remembered as saying. “We live in a diverse society – in fact, a diverse world, and we must learn to live in peace and with respect for each other.”

Marvel has never been afraid to ask this existential question: What if? Further, it has never been afraid to act on that question in terms of its presentations. “Guardians of the Galaxy” and director James Gunn are evidence of that, which should give DC Comics fans some encouragement, since Mr. Gunn will produce a slate of movies for Marvel’s “rival.”

Mr. Lee, Mr. Gunn, and comic book storytellers share this profound understanding – the investment’s the thing. Getting folks to buy into abstract concepts makes the payoff that much sweeter. It’s a metaphor for life that celebrates sweet spontaneity.

“I don’t analyze things too closely. I find the more you analyze, the more you get away from spontaneity. I have only one rule: I just want to write a story that would interest me – that’s the only criterion I have,” Mr. Lee said. “Am I eager to see how it ends? If these characters really existed, would I want to see what happens to them? ... If I like something, there are bound to be millions of people who like it, too.”

The Guardians’ randomness highlights the things that are most commonly desired – the familial, the romantic, the heroic. The pursuit of those things doesn’t just happen throughout the galaxy. They are all too familiar to us Earthlings.

Ken Makin is the host of the “Makin’ a Difference” podcast.