The cheeky kickoff to one of the finest sci-fi trilogies this side of ‘Star Wars’ chomps at the Simpsons’ heels on streaming

One of our greatest failures as audiences is not regarding superhero movies as the genre chameleons that they are. Would it help if more recent superhero movies were actually good? Yes, maybe, but even then, we’ve called the Guardians of the Galaxy films superhero movies instead of the more appropriate label of sci-fi.

With that in mind, it’s probably no coincidence that Gunn’s trilogy has been one of the most rightly beloved corners of the MCU since it first started making waves over a decade ago, and the adventure that started it all is now making a new kind of wave on the streaming charts.

Per FlixPatrol, Guardians of the Galaxy has entered the Disney Plus atmosphere as the 10th most-watched title on the platform’s United States charts at the time of writing, coming up on a ninth-place O C’mon All Ye Faithful, the latest Christmas special to come out of The Simpsons‘ brain trust.

Guardians of the Galaxy stars Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, a half-human, intergalactic thief who finds himself falling in with the likes of deadly assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), vengeful warrior Drax (Dave Bautista), tree-like alien Groot (Vin Diesel), and raccoon bounty hunter Rocket (Bradley Cooper). Together, these five misfits go on a rollicking adventure while trying to prevent Ronan the Acc (Lee Pace) from destroying the galaxy.

What makes the Guardians function so well as a group of characters — and this is most prominently realized in Vol. 2 — is Gunn’s understanding of how to present family dynamics that are flawed and raw, and simultaneously loving and honest. Quill and the gang bicker and fight amongst themselves to no end; if somebody pisses somebody off, they won’t waste any time in making it known.

But the reason they’re able to do that is precisely because they trust and love one another. They would rather clumsily navigate their interpersonal imperfections than hold back and inadvertently resent one another, and they can show those imperfections because they all know that they’re all going to be there for each other when it counts.

Then there’s the matter of the trilogy’s potent musical identity, which feeds into Guardians‘ thesis of opening one’s heart to those who love you. Indeed, there’s a parallel between the characters’ diegetic acknowledgment/enjoyment of the soundtrack through singing and dancing, and the freedom with which they love each other and allow themselves to be loved, even if some take longer to do so than others (looking at you, Rocket).

It’s true that these films suffer a bit from having had to play by Marvel’s rules (there’s no way that CGI army fight in Vol. 3 wasn’t a studio note), but then, it’s all the more exciting to think about what Gunn will be able to do now that he’s steering the ship with much fewer restrictions at DC. And if that Superman trailer is any indication, we’re getting exactly as hyped as we need to be.