After delivering back-to-back duds in phase 4, Marvel Cinematic Universe has recaptured its groove with the recently released ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’. The film is being hailed as the best outing from the studio since ‘Avengers: Endgame.’
It seems like James Gunn is the savior MCU needed. However, one more factor played a significant role in the film achieving the kind of critical and commercial success it has- its primary antagonist, High Evolutionary.
Played deliciously by Chukwudi Ivuji, the character is hands down one of the evilest creatures to ever exist in any cinematic lore. However, towards the film’s end, the story attempted to serve poetic justice as Rocket had the opportunity to kill him once and for all. But Rocket refuses to do that.
The High Evolutionary ship blows up, indicating his demise. But again, it is left ambiguous, and there is no confirmation of his death. So should we consider that High Evolutionary was there just for one film, and now he’s gone forever? Feels a bit difficult to digest.
Let us scrutinize.
What Happened to High Evolutionary?
With a sinister mission to rework the entire universe in his image, Evolutionary conducts the most devilish experiments on the creatures across the universe, whom he considers inferior.
Rocket was created by him through an extremely torturous process, and it is only a miracle if a creature survives through that. Hence, High Evolutionary is portrayed as a villain with no empathy for his actions to allow him even a shred of sympathy from the fans.
The team takes on the bad guy in Gotg3 and ends up rescuing the children and animals that were genetically engineered and kept on Evolutionary’s ship. However, in the process, the evil ship is destroyed, indicating that High Evolutionary might have died. But during an interview with Strip Marvel, VFX artist Miguel Ángel Acevedo Montserrat from the film has finally revealed that Drax was carrying High Evolutionary as he escaped from the burning ship, thus saving him.
In a different Tweet, Gunn himself confirmed that High Evolutionary is still alive and is being kept a hostage on Knowhere.
On Twitter, James Gunn replied to a fan’s query about Rocket vs High Evolution.
“Yes! It’s the whole culmination of Rocket’s journey. His shift comes in that he doesn’t kill him – he goes from being the least empathetic to the most empathetic Guardian. It seems silly & hollow that he’d refuse to kill him & then leave him on an exploding ship. And, yes, there is a deleted scene. It’s really great actually but it messed up the pacing of the end. But you’ll see it in the extras eventually.”
James Gunn
In another Tweet, James Gunn wrote, “Imprisoned on Knowhere,” when a fan asked him the whereabouts of High Evolution.
So that clears the air, it seems. It also means that in the upcoming MCU outings, High Evolutionary might have a more significant role to play.
Is High Evolutionary a Hero or a Villain in the MCU & Comics?
High Evolutionary, without question, is one of the most evil villains to ever exist. His madness for achieving perfection in every little part of the universe has him conducting some of the most horrifying experiments on the creatures. He belongs to the mad-genius category of comic book supervillains who is hell-bent on achieving their goals, immortality being one of them.
Rocket resulted from one such experiment, and as was hinted throughout the GOTG films, we finally get to hear the story of Rocket’s dark origins. Rocket and High Evolutionary go head-to-head in the latest GOTG film with the subtext of ‘creator vs his creation’ playing in the background, giving the story a whole new emotional dimension. The film also clearly establishes that this villain has no moral ambiguity and is just pure evil.
However, there might be more to High Evolutionary’s story that we don’t know yet. Let us wait for the upcoming MCU films and see where this character goes and how the writers treat him.
Will High Evolutionary Be in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4?
Marvel Studios doesn’t believe in restricting characters to just the trilogies. In the past, they have stretched their characters and movies beyond the quintessential three-part-trilogy mold with ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Hence, it is a very high possibility that we might be seeing more of the Guardians through more films. That, coupled with the fact that High Evolutionary is still alive, makes it pretty much certain that this solo franchise will continue.
Let us wait until Marvel Studios officially announces the future of Rocket and the team.
Tell us in the comments what was your take on High Evolutionary as the villain. Also, let us know what will be the future of the Guardians of the Galaxy solo franchise according to you.
