Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy came out of nowhere last year, surprise revealed at E3 2021 and then launched a few months later to strong reviews. Guardians of the Galaxy even took home the Game Award for Best Narrative, with many fans interested to see what this version of Marvel's cosmic crew would get up to in a sequel. No Guardians of the Galaxy sequel plans have been made public, but if one ever materializes, it has an obvious choice for its villain. SPOILERS for the Guardians of the Galaxy game follow.
The first Guardians of the Galaxy game features a number of different villains that Star-Lord and the crew have to face at various points in the story. At first, Lady Hellbender and her followers are positioned as the game's villains, but then it quickly becomes clear that Grand Unifier Raker, his Universal Church of Truth, and Adam Warlock's dark side Magus are the real antagonists of the game. The Guardians of the Galaxy are ultimately able to defeat Raker, the Universal Church of Truth, and Magus, sealing the latter away in the Soul Stone to be guarded by Adam Warlock.
For the most part, the Guardians of the Galaxy video game ends with very little in the way of loose threads. Nikki joins the team and the Guardians agree to work together to ensure that Magus doesn't escape from the Soul Stone. But while the Guardians of the Galaxy game doesn't really do much to set up a sequel story, if Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is ever made, there are some plot points that could point to who the antagonist will be.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Should Feature Thanos as the Villain
Thanos is one of the big bads in all of Marvel, selected to be the overarching villain of the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thanos is also tied directly to the Guardians of the Galaxy, as in many versions of the Marvel universe, he is responsible for killing Guardians member Drax's family. This holds true for the Guardians of the Galaxy game as well, as it's established early on that Thanos has killed Drax's family in this universe as well.
It's said throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy game that Thanos is already dead, having been killed by Drax the Destroyer in an act of revenge. But while Drax has the reputation of being the one that killed Thanos, he isn't so sure that he was actually successful.
If Guardians of the Galaxy players find collectibles in the game, they can trigger optional conversations with various characters, including one where Drax talks about his fight with Thanos. According to Drax, he was given a magical ability that would essentially allow him to sense Thanos and locate him anywhere in the galaxy. Drax used this power to find Thanos and fight him, with their battle raging on for days.
Drax remembers swinging the final blow but then blacked out, so he was ultimately unable to confirm his kill. Drax confides in Star-Lord that he can still feel Thanos' presence and he does not believe that the Mad Titan is truly dead. This leaves the door wide open for Thanos to show up in a potential Guardians of the Galaxy sequel if Eidos-Montreal is ever given the opportunity to make one.
Guardians of the Galaxy Infinity Stones
One of the most famous Thanos storylines revolves around him collecting the Infinity Stones into the Infinity Gauntlet to give himself unimaginable power. Thanos' ultimate goal with the Infinity Stones differs from one media depiction to the next, but regardless, his desire to collect the stones is pretty consistent across all versions of the character.
The Infinity Stones exist in the Guardians of the Galaxy video game universe and are in fact a major plot point. At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, the team work together to trap Magus back into the Soul Stone. Adam Warlock then decides to keep watch over the Soul Stone, with the Guardians agreeing to help him make sure that Magus never escapes again. The other Infinity Stones aren't seen in the game, but the existence of the Soul Stone implies that the others are out there.
Perhaps after his fight with Drax, Thanos decided to regroup, building the Infinity Gauntlet and setting out to collect the stones like his comic book and MCU counterpart. This would make Thanos a significant threat for the Guardians to overcome in a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, and should raise the stakes even higher than they were in the first time.
Guardians of the Galaxy earned strong reviews and won some awards, but there's not a lot we know about it's sales numbers. It's unclear if the game met Square Enix's expectations or not, but if it also sold well, then hopefully Eidos-Montreal can pursue a sequel.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.