16 details you should remember before watching 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

• "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" debuts in theaters on May 5.

• The first film debuted in 2014 while a sequel came out in 2017. A holiday special was released in 2022.

• Insider has rewatched the franchise, "Thor 4," and previewed "Vol 3." Here's what to remember.

Peter Quill is a half-God, but seemingly lost his celestial status in the last movie.

He's the son of Meredith Quill (Laura Haddock), a human, and Ego (Kurt Russell), an all-powerful celestial, and was born on Earth. Peter later took on the superhero moniker Star-Lord, a nickname his mom called him.

In 1988, at the age of eight, Peter was kidnapped by Yondu and his Ravager gang of pirates and grew up in space.

We didn't know it at the time, but Ego was searching for the many children he sired across galaxies in the hopes of finding an heir who shared his celestial powers.

It turned out Peter was the only one.

Peter seemingly lost his powers after killing Ego in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2."

As far as we know, Peter's grandfather may still be alive on Earth.

Peter will likely be listening to music on a Zune in "GotG Vol. 3."

In the first "Guardians," Peter told Gamora his mother enjoyed sharing pop songs she loved growing up.

He listened to cassette tapes from her, dubbed "Awesome Mix Vol. 1" and "Awesome Mix Vol. 2," on a Sony Walkman.

The music from both mixes makes up the franchise's soundtracks.

Peter carried the Walkman for the first two movies until his father, Ego, crushed it in front of him.

At the end of "GotG Vol. 2," Kraglin handed Peter a Zune that was originally in Yondu's possession.

The version of Gamora in "GotG Vol. 3" isn't familiar with Peter or the Guardians. She's from the 2014 timeline.

As a refresher, Thanos sacrificed present-day Gamora so he could acquire the Soul Stone in "Avengers: Infinity War."

In "Avengers: Endgame," present-day Nebula encountered the past version of Gamora when she traveled back in time to 2014.

Those two then teamed up to help stop Thanos in the main, present-day timeline.

2014 Gamora was last seen in "Endgame" running into Peter and beating him up after he touched her because she didn't recognize him.

Peter and Gamora were in a relationship of sorts and he's still not over her.

Before getting killed by Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War," Gamora and Peter finally admitted that "unspoken thing" — they love each other.

Naturally, when Peter learned Thanos killed Gamora to acquire an Infinity Stone, he was crushed.

When we meet him at the start of "GotG Vol. 3," Peter will be trying to reckon with the idea that a version of Gamora's alive, but doesn't know him.

His inability to put his feelings aside and focus on his team may ultimately put the Guardians in danger.

Rocket Raccoon is from a place called Halfworld where he was known as "89P13."

When Rocket was captured by the Nova Corps in 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy," intel about the genetically modified raccoon briefly flashed on-screen.

The information revealed Rocket was formerly known as "subject 89P13" and listed one of his associates as Lylla.

In the same movie, Rocket also said that he was  "torn up and put back together" multiple times as a result of past experimentation.

Trailers and clips have hinted we'll learn more about Rocket's backstory in "Vol. 3" and meet some of his former friends, including Lylla the otter (voiced by Linda Cardellini).

Rocket's very successful at breaking out of prisons.

In "Guardians of the Galaxy," we learned Rocket had previously been charged with 22 counts of escape from incarceration.

He's since broken out of a few more jails.

If the Guardians get jailed once more, we don't expect them to stay prisoners for long.

The version of Groot we see in "GotG Vol. 3" is not the one we saw in the first film.

In "Vol. 1," Groot sacrificed himself to protect the Guardians.

However, he was reincarnated through one of his twigs, which Rocket retrieved and planted in a pot.

Groot's selflessness and rebirth led to the "Vol. 2" character that fans all know and love, Baby Groot.

Then he evolved into the video game-obsessed Teen Groot, seen in the end-credits scene of "Vol. 2" and his subsequent MCU appearances.

In "Vol. 3," Groot's still growing, and Gunn dubbed him "Swole Groot" in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Nebula is Gamora's sister who's just trying to find her place in the galaxy.

A daughter of Thanos, Nebula joined the Guardians in "GotG Vol. 2."

The assassin has a strained relationship with her sister Gamora.

Though they were on better terms before her death, we expect these two to be back to holding a grudge against each other.

The Guardians purchased Knowhere from The Collector aka Taneleer Tivan at some point.

At the very start of the "Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special," Nebula mentions how they purchased the former trading outpost that was wrecked in 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy" by the power stone explosion and Ronan's subsequent attack.

Encased in the head of a Celestial, Knowhere used to be the Collector's hideout.

Ever since the holiday special, the Guardians have been working to fix it up and make it feel like home for themselves and others.

Mantis is Peter's half-sister.

Introduced in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," the empath has the ability to sense others' thoughts and emotions through touch.

Mantis can also alter emotions and put others to sleep for a short time.

2022's "Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special" revealed that Ego is both Mantis and Peter's father.

Mantis shared the news with Peter at the special's end.

There may be a romantic pairing going on between Drax and Mantis.

Drax met his wife, Ovette, at a war rally and it was love at first sight. They had a daughter together, named Kamaria.

Unfortunately, Ovette and Kamaria were killed years ago by Ronan (Lee Pace).

Drax later learned that Ronan murdered them because he was carrying out Thanos' order.

This fueled Drax's vengeance and desire to kill Thanos in the "Avengers" movies.

When Drax met Mantis in "Vol. 2," he told her that she reminded him of his daughter because of her innocence.

Drax also called Mantis hideous in one of their first interactions but by the end of the film he changed his opinion and called her pretty — on the inside.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" takes place a few years after "Avengers: Endgame."

"Vol. 3" takes place at some vague point following "Avengers: Endgame."

We know the film is set after the events of "Thor: Love and Thunder" and the recent "Guardians" holiday special which was released in November 2022.

Kraglin's in possession of Yondu's Yaka arrow and may or may not be married.

When Yondu died, sacrificing himself to save the galaxy and Peter in "GotG Vol. 2," Kraglin (Sean Gunn) inherited his friend's deadly weapon and headpiece.

At the start of "Thor: Love and Thunder," Kraglin revealed he was married to a woman named Glenda. That may or may not still be the case in "Vol. 3." (Peter mentioned that Kraglin kept marrying people on every planet they visited.)

The last time we saw Kraglin in 2022's "Guardians" holiday special, he was still mastering how to use the arrow as an official member of the Guardians.

"Borat 2" star Maria Bakalova joins the MCU as the voice of Cosmo the space dog.

First appearing briefly in 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy" as part of Taneleen Tivan's collection, Cosmo was recently seen in last year's "Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special."

Sent to space by Soviets before winding up in Knowhere, Cosmo will return in "GotG Vol. 3."

Sylvester Stallone plays Stakar Ogord, a Ravager captain, in the Galaxy franchise.

One of Yondu's original Ravager team members, Stallone first appeared in the MCU in 2017's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2."

The "Rocky" actor, who's friends with director James Gunn, confirmed in November 2021 on Instagram he'd return for the sequel.

Since Stakar returns, it's possible we may also see some of his teammates as well, including Michelle Yeoh's Aleta Ogord.

Their inclusion in "GotG Vol. 2" was a nod to the original Guardians' lineup from the comics.

According to "GotG Vol. 3" press notes shared with Insider, Gamora will be aligned with Stakar's Ravager group in the sequel.

Ayesha, High Priestess of The Sovereign, holds a grudge against the Guardians, and should be going after them in "Vol. 3."

Rocket stole a few valuable Anulax batteries from a group called The Sovereign after they were hired to do a job for them at the start of "GotG Vol. 2."

As a result, throughout the movie, their leader, Ayesha, attempts (and fails) to get revenge on them.

By the film's end, Ayesha created Adam Warlock, who you can read more about here, with the purpose of destroying the Guardians.

In the comics, Adam's an artificial human created by scientists in the hopes of creating a supreme race of humans.

Originally cut from having a larger role in "GotG Vol. 2," Will Poulter will appear as Warlock in "Vol. 3."

Want a bigger refresher before seeing "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" in theaters? The previous films in the MCU featuring the gang can all be streamed on Disney Plus:

Read the original article on Insider