Guardians of the Galaxy Understands Evil.

[@ElvenRaptor]

I'm not gonna lie, just watching the High Evolutionary from the safety of my theater seat still felt like I was trapped in a room with an abusive uncle. He made me afraid and uncomfortable in ways very few villains have over the years. I think the High Evolutionary is specifically inspired by the authoritarian villains we saw in the 60s and 70s, like Nurse Ratchet or the government officials in "A Clockwork Orange". The kind of villains that just set off you fight or flight reflexes even from the safety of being outside your TV set or the silver screen.

[@RRSmurf]

Thank you for not lying.

[@MonkeyMatt1108]

I just watched a video about the mentioned characters bro 😭😭😭 (Radchet, and The Clockwork orange)

[@andreabanuelosavila2317]

I remember when I watched the movie, I cried when I saw Rocket’s friends die, him being sad and the High Evolutionary just…there. My sadness turned into anger, I really wanted to see him die, and even more since Rocket is my favorite guardian.

[@MarvNARK]

He is ​@@RRSmurf

[@alphabetsoup6837]

He's a metaphor for Disney. James is Rocket.

[@lilbill15]

Like he really hates rocket because he knows rocket is smarter than him and it just fucks him up like “how dare you think you were more” just really shows his delusion like he really never thought that something he created could want to be anything more than

[@mandalorianhunter1]

It's just not that but he also has pride in his child but only when it comes to what he has done. He sees value in his brain and nothing else.

[@Jon_EL]

Further irony in that it was his extra attention to Rocket early on that developed that ability. Its shown early on that he was mentoring Rocket more than most of his creations at least that was my take on it.

[@doodoo5594]

ironically, with all his intelligence he can’t fathom the concept of creating something smarter than himself

[@kyze8284]

He created something possibly smarter than him, and is upset that he mighe have perfected something else before he made himself perfect That's where I think his anger is coming from. "I can't make myself perfect, even though I made something closer to perfect than I am"

[@helixsol7171]

​@@Jon_EL Yeah pretty much

[@CloneScavengerVulpin8389]

The high evolutionary is so self-centered that he doesn't even realize his own imperfections.

[@MarvNARK]

In the films

[@glitchygear9453]

Like so many in real life

[@CloneScavengerVulpin8389]

@@glitchygear9453 unfortunate but true.

[@Jasmin_Pepelko]

How could a narcissist believe he's anything other than perfect? It's not possible.

[@yami122]

@@Jasmin_Pepelko And what I love about his narcissism is that he doesn't realize that he is unconsciously sabotaging his own pursuit He becomes genuinely enraged At something that solve any problem that he couldn't when ironically that is exactly what he should be striving for he is after all seemingly trying to create perfection and perfection should be always better than what is it's Interesting that he's just so so absorbed and doesn't really think things through on a philosophical level that he doesn't realize that of course perfect beings would be able to outfink him He himself should recognize even with narcissism that he doesn't know every answer

[@marqusmedina5983]

Your right. After so many sympathetic not exactly wrong villains a straight bad guy like the high evolutionary hits harder

[@MarvNARK]

*MCU's High Evolutionary

[@madtitanthanos7898]

@@MarvNARK 🤓

[@thisguy9733]

Wasn't killmonger just going to kill most of wakanda then commit genocides throughout the world because his dad lost the trial to be king and was exiled to a third world country (USA)

[@marqusmedina5983]

@@thisguy9733 uh no. He wanted their tech to to fight for and aid the black community AND revenge for his dad. T'challa even admitted killmomger was right. Edit- his dad was killed trying to attack Zuri in revenge for being a double agent he never challenged for the throne

[@thisguy9733]

@@marqusmedina5983 which black community because he is sounding alot like adolf Hitler did when he said he was going to save the white community

[@randymotter51]

The big reason he evokes such a deep and emotional connection with the viewer is because he resembles something both horrifying and familiar. He is not some alien with a lofty goal or a greedy shrew that hides his misdeeds as long as possible, threats that often feel far away and fantastical. He is a narcissist that leaves it all out on display for everyone to see with no shame and what he does is not much different from what many experience for themselves in real life. People like him are real, he represents the type of monster we all know and often fear and hate. The actor did an amazing job making this feel as personal as it did, I would bet that this was immensely satisfying for everyone who has had this kind of person in their life.

[@Crimzon_Nova]

Oh definitely!!! You can relate him to the most extreme fanatic in a room where everyone has the same value, but are uncomfortable with the one with the more extreme view and especially the one who looks to increase the standard.

[@aradraugfea6755]

This guy just casually has a higher kill count than anything this side of Thanos. And it's not towards some noble goal. It's not even some act of anger. He does it dismissively. He does it with all the passion I dedicate to cleaning out my inbox.

[@alejandromolina7270]

The High Evolutionary is that kid who built a good Lego car, but it wasn't what he envision and breaks it down and does it again and again until it what it's in his mind. And it's never perfect. So he always makes the same mistakes.

[@clanwaddell5628]

I hadn't thought of that, but his performance actually fits with that. He's never happy with what he does, always seeking perfection

[@marcusyates3044]

High Evolutionary: "You thought you could escape me?! NO! You think you have some worth in and of yourself without me?! NO! YOU ARE AN ABOMINATION! NOTHING MORE THAN A STEP ON MY PATH, YOU FREAKISH LITTLE MONSTER! HOW DARE YOU THINK YOU ARE MORE, 8... 9... P... 1... 3?!!" Rocket: "The name's Rocket. Rocket Raccoon"

[@glitchygear9453]

I love how that was his first time admitting he's a raccoon in the MCU. Real subtle character development there

[@lyokianhitchhiker]

@@glitchygear9453the only thing that would’ve made the scene better is Rocket calling the Evolutionary an abomination back.

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

Cathartic to the max

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

@@glitchygear9453 Exactly. It was beautiful

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

@@lyokianhitchhiker Some things we can see instead of hear

[@qwefg3]

There is a reason why people thought High Evolutionary would make a better main arc villain that Kang. They guy had resources, A grudge, and could easily make an army to invade earth our of petty revenge. Also in one movie he left a bigger impact on the audience than every prior villain before him in the new phases.

[@goji253]

I'd still say He Who Remains left more than enough of an impact. The problem is that introducing an enemy of that magnitude with the promise of his death heralding something even worse doesn't really work out when said promised destruction is followed up by his next variant getting beaten by socialist ants.

[@yami122]

It also really didn't help That Kang Was set up in a tv show instead of a movie And then in his movie debut What is seemingly one of if not his strongest variant one that apparently entire council feared and hated Was killed by ant man And nothing that was shown really set up anything that that was that intriguing he also had a huge problem in that nothing really set him up as being the next Thano sure he's talked about his being strong and that his Variants are dangerous but that's Just talk And numbers aren't really a good way to create a threatening hype it would have always been three main variants and then just an army of individuals who would be no different than any other army seen in an Avengers movie And lastly he just didn't have anything that was tying the story together to lead to him thanos had the Infinity Stones which well being relatively repetitive plot mcguffins did a very good job continuing to build up Thados even when he's not even shown in the move because with each stone scene it's setting in a piece that is going to have to be in play for Infinity War We knew when we see dr strained with the time stone That Infinity War is going to involve Thanos going after strange Same with vision And the guardians of the galaxy were certain to become involved in the chasing after either the power stone or the reality stone but with the conqueror narratively he doesn't have anything That's building up To a movie to movie if he's not directly mentioned or directly featured then he has no impact nothing is being put in place no puzzle is being put together no pieces on the chess board are being moved dr strange in the multiverse of madness thor love and Thunder and so on are doing nothing towards moving towards the Conqueror so while I am still overall disappointed that he was removed as much as I like Dr Doom has even less setting him up as the next villain And I would have preferred such a Grandiose and important villain being given his own phase of the movies to build up to him instead of just being thrown in as a replacement for the Conqueror

[@goji253]

@@yami122 They did start setting him up, we just didn't get to the point where it would have become more evident. The incursions were essentially set up by Loki, shown in Strange and would have likely been tied to Kang by the end. Same goes for the Ten Rings presumably being intended to have to do with Kang. You also very much can use reputation and words to build up the hype for a villain. Loki did so marvelously. It really boils down to Ant-Man immediately making a joke out of him in his first appereance.

[@stevendchu]

@@goji253 Yup the Loki variant (He Who Remains) had the potential and was the most fascinating version of Kang. An infintely old man with the power of God who has been driven virtually insane by his loneliness and all the atrocities he's had to commit, yet continues to do them because he feels its the only option. Doesn't even bother to try and appear threatening or intimidating when we meet him because he just doesn't care anymore. Yet in Ant-Man we just got a regular guy without much clear motivation who was defeated way too easily. Don't even get me started on the post credit scene either.....

[@clanwaddell5628]

Guardians 3 was easily the best movie of its phase. He's like a NAZI scientist, total God complex and lack of empathy.

[@travismiddleton8218]

The worst part is his admission that this is just one of many worlds he's destroyed in his quest for "perfection", making him a perpetrator of genocide on a truly vast scale.

[@chickensky1121]

As someone else pointed out, even Gamora, the literal daughter of Thanos (and NOT the same Gamora who went through everything with the Guardians up until Infinity War), was horrified by how callous the HE was. Thanos may have been spiteful at times, but it didn't seem like he committed genocide on a whim or for fun, he was principled, and his reasons were in the interest of survival of all life (to the extent that some people IRL actually think he had a point). The HE wiped planets out JUST because they didn't match his own personal standards, and he didn't feel a shred of sympathy for them, only disgust.

[@travismiddleton8218]

@@chickensky1121 I agree

[@voxfoxclips8684]

When Peter (star lord) told the High Evolutionary about him seeing a squid sell crack to kids, it was the sickest burn… but probably also the nail for that planet since it showed the imperfection he needed to self destruct it. Man had an ego to rival… Ego.

[@MusicLover-my6fo]

In a deleted scene that I kind of wish that James Gunn left in the film, it showed the High Evolutionary being imprisoned on Knowhere and him attempting to staple his face back together. I am glad that Marvel kept him alive and essentially still the same flat character, because it'll be so interesting to see how the High Evolutionary could interact with Mister Sinister in the MCU's X-Men.

[@christiandauz3742]

He should stay dead. MCU has too many villains

[@chefvideogame]

@@christiandauz3742Yes, but most of the MCU villains are dead. 90% of the time, the villains die in the movie they get introduced in. Having one or two villains being alive and maybe even reoccurring wouldn’t hurt the MCU at all.

[@jasapotato8362]

​@@christiandauz3742I'm sorry, too many? Not enough breathing, if we had too many villains, then the Thunderbolts cast would have more varied members.

[@riley-dv8eu]

​@@christiandauz3742most of the villains who are alive rarely reappear like Hammer or Abomination (not counting the she hulk show) besides i say tbey should keep giving some recurring villains so tbey can put them in the raft

[@catalyst539]

@@riley-dv8eu Abomination was in Shang Chi too, getting his ass kicked by Wong

[@squiddler7731]

10:10 I remember when I watched the movie, part of the way through I was looking at his face and thought "wait, that's a mask. He doesn't have that in flashbacks, why does he have that?" Then later still I realized where the flashbacks were going and that it was going to be Rocket who fucked up his face. Such a good reveal, underneath the mask he looks so gruesome and disfigured, but you don't feel a single ounce of sympathy because he deserves nothing less.

[@yami122]

Oh yeah you're right I had forgotten that he gets his face scratched up by rocket

[@xdj2a2]

High Evolutionary was a better villan built up to than Kang and I haven't felt as terrified of a Marvel villan since Thanos and Winter Solider. High Evolutionary gets my Marvel Hall of Fame villan award

[@MarvNARK]

Why is it that you people can't seem to be specific in your writing? It's Marvel Cinematic Universe Hall of whatever

[@mateokirstine9782]

@@MarvNARKI get it dude, the comics deserve respect, but they are very clearly talking about the movie’s version because that is what’s being discussed here. Plus characters get reinterpreted all the time, it sucks when it happens to somebody you like and the new direction isn’t for you but it happens. Screaming into the void of KZbin comments won’t do anything.

[@noahsmethers9339]

@@mateokirstine9782 I don’t have anything to add on your comment, but I have to say good job. You managed to create a good place to talk and addressed and considered their point. If all of KZbin was like this, then we would have a significantly better platform

[@mateokirstine9782]

@@noahsmethers9339 aw thanks!

[@MusicLover-my6fo]

I remember when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was released and immediately after it was there were numerous debates on Twitter about how the High Evolutionary was a variant of Kang and that he's just a better antagonist overall. While I agreed with the statement that High Evolutionary is a better antagonist than Kang, I never understood why people wanted him to be a variant of Kang when their goals were just completely different.

[@calamityknyte]

Because they probably wanted Kang to have a direct or indirect influence on everything, like Thanos.

[@DreamyAileen]

Fans wanted the High Evolutionary to be a Variant of Kang because he seemed to be exactly what Marvel wanted Kang to be (a black male villain who was extremely smart, extremely powerful, kind of crazy, and utterly terrifying)

[@thevoicesaregettinglouder16]

Because kang sucks and having the high evolutionary replace him as a varient would make the phase 4 movies fun to watch for once

[@anodosarcade7355]

Because they’re both black

[@kingDowahs]

Because they wanted to have a fantastic overarching villain in the MCU instead of the guy who got beat by Ant Man

[@teamcybr8375]

Floor reminded me a lot of my kiddos. It was all I could do not to scream in the theater when they died. I knew it had to happen but in the moment it blindsided me, and I spent the next few minutes with my head between my knees trying to stay quiet. Had to rush home and hug them after, and I had nightmares for a few days.

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

Similar thought, but with Lylla and my girlfriend

[@ptonpc]

The entire scene was a gut punch.

[@TheTwilightKing-zt7dl]

What further adds to the depravity of the High Evolutionary’s destruction of 2nd Earth is how disgusted and shocked Gamora is. Like the literal daughter of Thanos - a villain who routinely killed half the populations of entire planets - was just so horrified by wanton and unnecessary lack of value in life. Really highlighted the HE ‘s true monstrousness.

[@eeveeofalltrades4780]

Not to mention that was the Gamora that didn't have the character development of ours.

[@yami122]

Agreed Thanos for all his horribleness never just outright nuke the place and killed everything and his violence was always to try to serve some higher purpose while the high evolutionaries violences pointless there's no reason to purge Planets that are perfect he could just leave them and let them do what they want

[@42ndguardian]

Thanos at least appeared remorseful for wiping half of a population, or at least seemed to understand the ethical weight of his actions and considered the people he killed people. The HE has no such care for anything other than himself.

[@noahsmethers9339]

Thanos wanted to help everyone, and that’s what makes him so much more than just some genocidal nazi-like character. Now, his way of helping ruined an indescribable amount of organisms, but he wanted to help the entire universe. He could have chosen an easier way that he didn’t believe in, or had done it for a horrible reason, but he didn’t. That’s what makes The High Evolutionary SO much more shocking, especially to Gamora. She cannot comprehend the insanity of what he is doing, because it doesn’t make sense. He took the easy and horrible way over a path he believes is right, no matter what. He is just plain evil, and it’s very disturbing. The only amount of sympathy you can give is the ability to be lazy and angry, but it’s in no way the sort of sympathy you like. It’s the sympathy that makes you awfully uncomfortable and squeamish.

[@hoovy2319]

God I loved the High Evolutionary, a villain that was bad just to be bad was such a breath of fresh air. I love a villain that’s written so well and acted so well to the point where I genuinely hate the character

[@yami122]

And honestly he felt more threatening and interesting of a villain Then all of the appearances of Kang ever did the story kept trying to tell us what a monster Kang Is and what a horrific threat he is but he dies in both of his appearances and he's not even that hard to kill And raw numbers are not enough to create a threat for an audience especially since audience knows that when it comes dying to deal with 100,000 of a powerful being that the narrative will arbitrarily weaken them so that everyone is taking out dozens with every swing and shot So I find it interesting that the villain of a Guardians of the Galaxy will be definitely one of the 2 wackiest marble franchise film wise had a villain that did everything better than the villain they were trying to set up as the next Thanos

[@Aristocles22]

If there's a common theme between all three main GoTG villains, it's obsession with a singular, twisted goal. Ronan is obsessed with destroying Xander, even when he's standing ON the planet and will be killed himself. Ego is obsessed with replacing the universe with himself because he thinks he's more impressive than it. The High Evolutionary is obsessed with making the perfect life form, no matter how many "failures" he has to kill in the process.

[@traviswhitfield8045]

Ego the Living Planet was also evil, but he has some remorse. Even when he codly told Peter that he gave his mother cancer, he says that he truly loved her, that he almost abanded his mission just to be with her and that it broke his "heart to put that tumor in her head." Yeah no, the High Evoutionary is just Pure Evil who care only for his progress.

[@0g0dn0]

Yeah, and Rocket doesn’t just beat up the High Evolutionary, he fully outwits him. For the H.E., this is much worse. The very thing that begins his downward spiral is the moment when Rocket, at a glance, figures out the solution to his “rage protein” problem with the Counter Earth residents. In that moment, Rocket essentially proves himself to be the H.E.’s greatest success, because what else can you call it when your creation outsmarts you? But the H.E. can’t see that, can’t appreciate it. As far as he’s concerned, Rocket and his friends are the scraps, the rough sketches he uses to plan out more advanced experiments, and to get his jollies on I guess. The H.E. is only explaining his experiment to Rocket because he likes to talk, loves the sound of his own voice. He wasn’t looking for advice, the High Evolutionary was basically just thinking out loud and showing off. The last thing he anticipated was to have his Frankenstein raccoon thing correct him mid-monologue, and it just breaks him, pulls the rug right out from under his entire self image. This is clearly a man with a fragile sense of self worth, something he is constantly trying to compensate for with his obscene experiments, and considering those experiments create entire races and worlds that worship him as a god, we can extrapolate exactly how astonishingly fragile his ego must be in relation. From his point of view, this rotten pile of stapled meat can’t be better than him, it just can’t. That’s not allowed. So when he kills Lyla in the middle of their escape, he’s showing off again, proving his superiority through violence. And it costs him his face. Cut to the present, he’s had probably decades to stew over this. The High Evolutionary is walking around with a skin mask and a suit wired with a gravity manipulation engine, which he delights in wielding against anyone who even gets sassy with him all throughout the movie. And when he finally gets a chance to use it against Rocket, immediately launching into his manifesto of superiority, no doubt practiced in the mirror every morning since he escaped, Rocket just flips a switch, drops to the ground, and shoot him point blank. The High Evolutionary hasn’t seen Rocket for a minute and he’s already been outsmarted again and knocked on his ass by a leftover experiment, and before he even has time to process that, the Guardians are spilling in out of nowhere (from Knowhere), knocking him around the room like a pinball until he drops. Yeah, that was satisfying.

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

💯 comment

[@johnk.patterson1733]

That's the best comment I've seen on YT in a while.

[@gavinferguson2938]

Goated comment

[@cosmicspacething3474]

“this rotten pile of stapled meat” Ha

[@ellicedarkblue2541]

He wanted perfection but he didn't want anything he created to be better than him, otherwise he's no longer their God. Rocket outgrew him, he didn't need the high evolutionary because he was better than him and like you said, Rocket was the scraps left behind from his experiments so for him to be the creation that's better than anything else he's ever made and smarter than him to boot that's too much for his ego to handle. How can something 'imperfect' be superior? It goes against his entire philosophy.

[@0g0dn0]

Re: Obadiah Stane Headcanon: I think Stane was secretly a HYDRA agent. Consider, HYDRA kills Howard Stark, as seen in Civil War, and grooms his genius son Tony Stark into being a weapons designer and manufacturer who doesn’t care what his weapons are used for, merely trusting that they will end up in the right hands. Stane is their plant, he takes over the company from Howard after his death and basically acts as a godfather to Tony, turning him into an unwitting asset for HYDRA’s ongoing plan to enable their new world order by continuing to drive conflict around the world until people submit to their institutions. But Stane gets greedy, and jealous of Tony always hogging the limelight. So he puts a hit on Tony, without the consent or knowledge of his HYDRA superiors. This is beginning of the end for him. Tony doesn’t die, and in fact he returns from his captivity under the Ten Rings a changed man, determined to see that his company never sells another weapon again. All the while, he’s holed up in his garage with a new source of infinite clean energy doing god knows what. HYDRA is nervous, their asset is wildly out of control, and shortly after getting reports of an “Iron Man’ blowing up terrorists on the other side of the world, they’ve just heard via Agent Coulson that Stane orchestrated the assassination attempt. Now they’re pissed off, so HYDRA stops covering for Stane and lets SHIELD follow up on Pepper Potts’ claims and arrest him, only for a mech fight to break out. Think back to when Stane had Stark paralyzed and pulled out his arc reactor. His big villain speech, one of the things he says is that the Arc Reactor will put the balance of power back in the right hands. “Our hands,” exact words. I don’t think he’s talking about him and Tony, if Obie were any bolder, he’d have thrown in a “Hail Hydra” at the end of that statement. Maybe it is just a headcanon, but it fits way too well to simply ignore.

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

Dude, that fucking rocks. What a perfect way to add to the canon material. It really fits

[@yanelluviano]

Dude I actually love that so much! That’s officially in my head canon now thank youuu 🔥🔥

[@seththeblue3321]

Welp, I’ll just be adding this to my HC library now.

[@0g0dn0]

@@Jonathan-A.C. So how does HYDRA rein Tony in? Their biggest and most advanced weapons factory just went offline and the man behind it is now stamping out all their operations around the globe. And they are simply **salivating** over this shiny new weapon called Iron Man, they’re dreaming of an army of those marching across the globe. There is a Senator who might be able to leverage the suit out of Tony’s hands, and a ratty little billionaire with a sweet tooth who’s already filling the Stark Industries void, but their first priority is to somehow bring Tony back under control. He needs a new handler. So Secretary Pierce looks to his old friend Nick Fury, who proposed that plan for a special response team awhile back. He would love to have a chat with Iron Man. As long as HYDRA has a hand in picking the team… Cut to four years later: HYDRA did NOT get to pick this team!! Romanov is on it, she’s useful but she’s not “in.” Neither is her buddy, Barton. Then some jackass found Captain America in an iceberg while we were sleeping, Fury called on the Hulk of all people, and oh yeah, turns out Schmidt was right about the old gods, because now two of them are having an all out war on the streets of Manhattan with his magic cube and an army of alien meat puppets! Holy shit! At least they still have nukes. Wait, Stark did what…?

[@mettatonex7221]

"You didn't want things perfect. You just hated things the way they are." A simple deconstruction of the High Evolutionary's true desires. He may hide behind a vision of a perfect society, but his true motivation comes from the distain of life as is and how it doesn't meet his standards. There are a lot of real world people that have this same problem, and my hope is that they see this and realize that the problem is with themselves, not the world around them.

[@DreamersOfReality]

??? Should a woman denied a life-saving abortion for political reasons not resent her society? Should a person enslaved not wish for freedom?

[@Jaspersrab73]

@@DreamersOfReality huh

[@LineOfThy]

it's rarely ever that simple

[@mettatonex7221]

@@LineOfThy So cherish it when it is.

[@LineOfThy]

@@mettatonex7221 and that time is not now

[@meloneatingwolf1882]

My favourite thing about him is that it feels they committed to him. When he does truly hate-able things. When he blows up counter-earth, people actually die, he personally kills Laela and has floor and teeth killed. They have the balls to show what his face actually looks like.

[@Drop_the_edit]

really liked this video, it felt a bit more personal due to the simple fact of the villain that's being discussed. i probably didn't give the high evolutionary or guardians 3 much of a chance when i first watched it due to the circumstances in which i first did but upon a rewatch and having some time to properly think about the movie i realized just how good of a movie and villain it truly had been. i genuinly think the guardians trilogy is some of the best the mcu has to offer now and videos like this just help show it.

[@christiandauz3742]

Guess you never witness abuse as a kid

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

It’s the best outside of the Avengers movies IMO. Just quality movie after quality movie that work with the MCU and work on their own

[@r01d2]

there's unused scene bonus in Blu-ray of High Evolutionary is in Knowhere (little detail Drax actually carry him before explosion), but now he is scared and inside laser cage, jailed by Rocket, a full circle.

[@malcolmroache3854]

The High Evolutionary definitely showed why he's beyond a monster. We all hated him and how he had no value for life beyond his mad experiments. Only thing i didn't like was how they had him annihilate his whole staff but then gets destroyed in a few seconds by the Guardians. It could've been a cool fight sequence but was disappointed.

[@christiandauz3742]

If I had a fraction of his and 'god's' power I would NEVER be that awful I also prefer Quality over Quantity Better to have just one Amazing, Moral Kid or Apprentice than a dozen manchilds like Trump

[@Quantu04]

I agree I wished for a longer fight too, but the way the guardians took him out, with speed and precision was probably the best way to stop him. They pressured him into a corner, gave him no time to react or use his powers because he could've easily killed them all if he did what he did to his employees. So Gunn probably wanted to get rid of that plot hole of "oh he was able to take out a whole room of people with just a simple thought" to one last cool action sequence of our favorite heroes kicking the absolute crap of this monster

[@otterfire4712]

​@@Quantu04The High Evolutionary's main power was gravity/force push. Rocket prior to being incapacitated built shoes that allowed the wearer to walk on any surface, in any direction. Rocket had the counter to THE's main power and that positioned the Guardians to a decisive victory. It also showcases the power of cooperation and teamwork after THE alienated all of his remaining forces due to his unrelenting narcissism.

[@Quantu04]

@@otterfire4712 yeah that's all true too, to top it off, when THE saw rocket use his boots, it stunned him. Not only was he surprised but he was once again outsmarted by his own creation, and we all saw how he reacted the first time rocket outsmarted him. Between being constantly beaten by people he calls inferior, the mutiny of his employees, and the destruction of his exploding ship; THE was probably already losing his mind, imagine how he felt being outplayed by his creation once more before being defeated

[@greatcesari]

Not every villain defeat has to be a result of some long boss fight. The development of his vulnerability was depicted well enough throughout the movie.

[@froztbite15]

My guy, fantastic video. You really hit the nail on the head. You articulated why it was so uncomfortable whenever the high evolutionary was on screen. Makes for an unforgettable antagonist. Seeing Rocket overcoming his abuser was so cathartic.

[@alexinfinite7142]

5:50 the abuse of walking on eggshells like that is awful. My heart goes out to anyone else who suffered from this. Theres a lot of "high evolutionary" types out there

[@RogueShadows]

The High Evolutionary wasn’t just evil, he was _vile._ I loved it.

[@nexusshark]

The High Evolutionary may not be sympathetic or even deep, but he's memorable. He leaves an impact. He's not just a villain to fill the villain spot. He's a villain you love to hate.

[@Scuzz1204]

One of the best parts for me is that not only is it personal but it’s specifically not threatening anyone. He’s a “creator” he wants to make things but he never threatens to destroy the world or universe like most other threats which gives us a grounding for the entire story.

[@Rafael-2105]

I think that it's an incredible achievement to write a character like the High Evolutionary because they still managed to pack a lot of nuance into his behavior without trying to give him a sympathetic backstory or add more redeeming characteristics to his behavior. He is still evil through and through but you do get a good glimpse onto his reasoning when you see him interacting with other characters and also his methodology and experiments.

[@andrewventura3287]

The Guardians villains like ronen,ego, and the high evolutionary are so pure evil and they couldn't care less but power and way more evil than thanos

[@madnessoverload7824]

My problem with sympathetic villains is that they are unrealistic. The high evolutionary is what real evil looks like: people in positions of power causing immense suffering in pursuit of their sadistic goals.

[@Raptor_Ren]

If pure evil villains like the high evolutionary are like the people born with power, sympathetic villains are like revolutionaries who gain power while fighting for freedom and become corrupt.

[@charlesthigpen8849]

What makes Herbert(his name) so compelling is his Dr. Frankenstein mentality.

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

Guardians 3 was so deep and emotional. Such a powerful and dynamic shift for the MCU

[@SmirkInvestigator]

I thought they did a pretty apt Narcissist grandiose drunk dad style villain. Self centered villains are often done cartoonishly like they’re given big hair and a mirror and that’s it. Using Rocket to contrast his villainy and his villainy to help us understand rocket as a serious sympathetic character deserves applause.

[@djk7569]

I cry and get so emotional during each guardians film

[@inazuma3gou]

killgrave from Jessica Jones was another great villian who was purely abusive.

[@jackDaddy23]

There's a bit of a throughline with H.E. and Ego. They both care so little for those they seek to use, but one thing leading me to believe Ego is still the most "evil" antagonist in the MCU thus far is that he killed his own children when he didn't get what he wanted out of them. People kinda forget that mountain of skulls in pt2 were all his dead kids. That's Peter and Mantis' siblings they'll never meet.

[@williamdaviddiazcuchimaque7511]

I need Brainiac to be the big villain of the gunnverse

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

Yo, with how Gunn made the Guardians trilogy, I’m looking forward to the DC stuff. I wanted Snyder to be able to finish out his universe, but I’m happy to have Gunn start his

[@mandalorianhunter1]

I really love the first Guardians movie, two and three are good but not that great. Having five guardians, I'm including both Peter and Mantis for Ego while having Gamora and Nebula for Thanos together, have abusive fathers is crazy but realistic. Thanos being a genocidal monster, an abusive father to his children that fail him and showing acts of kindness sometimes just messes you up. Ego being a monster who eats his own children and would eat world's whole is insane. What makes it worse is that he feels love but still chooses power is crazy. Than onto the High Evolutionary, who is a animal abuser, a genocider, a drunk, abusive monster and sees himself as a false God is insane. He is definitely similar to business abusive fathers while having elements of a cult parent as well. Just so crazy. Thanks Ven I love the Guardians

[@cjayden04-87]

You can add mantis

[@mandalorianhunter1]

@@cjayden04-87 yeah I forgot

[@heatherleisure]

He’s a born psychopath like Palpatine, except nowhere near as rational, self-controlled and self-aware as Palpatine. Palps killed his whole family when he was young. He was always evil at all stages of his life, in contrast to many Sith and Dark Jedi in Star Wars who are psychically damaged people. But as for rationality and self-awareness, eg Palps partly blamed himself for Maul’s failure to defeat Obi-Wan, training Maul to fight too aggressively without any effort to protect himself. He also gave some grudging respect to Obi-Wan for defeating Vader on Mustafar, instead of having a tantrum like the High Evolutionary. Fantastic pure evil villains. I’m also disturbed by the dominance of sympathetic villains in today’s media. Just not enough variety anymore and I think it’s affecting people’s judgment.

[@cosmicspacething3474]

Tbh I don’t think the High evolutionary is “pure evil” even though he’s as close as you can possibly get. He still WANTS to believe he’s a benevolent savior like Thanos did before Endgame, but when pressed hard enough his repressed Malevolence comes out in full force, because his ego can’t handle it anymore. The mask makes you worse the more you wear it. I personally like to call it TRUE evil.

[@davidcook680]

The key is he may have somewhat good intentions. Every evil person in human history. Had somewhat good intentions.

[@Skidibibapbap]

Everytime the High Evolutionary appear or scream, I felt myself feel so uncomfortable. The more unhinged he got the worse I felt uncomfortable. And I never become uncomfortable in a movie aside from The Blob and Nope

[@fester23p]

Thought i'd just say, the new mic is great. Also great analysis, everyone's already said the best I could.

[@LimboGcX]

What an amazing breakdown of such a powerful character! I’m new to your channel, but man this made me love this movie even more. I’m also glad that you said truly evil people do exist irl. So many people online try to say that everything’s shades of gray, but sometimes, there really is just evil

[@Crimzon_Nova]

I love the fact that High Evolutionary is not a sympathetic villain. We get to many of those, nothing wrong with it, but i hate feeling sympathy for someone who is literally destroying if not killing lives live were to understand why they do it. This villain shows there are people who are just evil for their own selfish reasons.

[@noahsmethers9339]

I’m working on a huge project with the overall theses that “the imperfection of humanity is more beautiful and is better than anything that does or attempts to perfect humanity” I’m absolutely using this for my analysis, fantastic analysis from your end!

[@Hi_Just_Fred]

Sound was real good in this video. 👍 Great stuff as well enjoyed this one a lot.

[@Anathema_Infinitum]

Appreciate this. I’ll watch it again with a new perspective.

[@whitecat5782]

I love the Guardian movies cause all the villains got better over time. None out of all 3 of them are sympathetic to a degree of sorts. And I enjoy that.

[@cleverfoxdwellingbyapeartr2679]

Sounded good mate, well covered video and I look forward to watching more of your stuff.

[@babyjesuslovesme1219]

Oh, he’s definitely one of the very best scary and intimidating villains The MCU put out. The actor was brilliant.

[@kingDowahs]

The High Evolutionary is easily one of the best MCU villains, he was terrifying and felt shockingly real

[@diegovera1353]

I found the high evolutionary weirdly relatable, what’s good about truly evil villains is when you tap into characteristics and faces of the character that a normal human could also relate. Maybe it was his perfectionism that moved me, and found myself disgusted at the things I could connect with him, I think that’s the most interesting part about these type of characters, when the part of them that is wrong is the part the audience could also relate to

[@ghostavinci104]

That is a really good villian.

[@commonhuman5659]

I'm not gonna lie, his character actually taught me how to write menacing antagonists, good media inspires no matter how

[@khajiitimanus7432]

The problem with constant sympathetic villains is lack of contrast. I think most people can agree with that. But here's the reason why. One of the big reasons why such villains are sympathetic in the first place is the _tragedy_ in their character - both what they experienced, and more importantly here, the fact that resorting to evil was necessary. So, if all we get are sympathetic villains, then we're not being reminded _why_ what they did was evil in the first place. There needs to more emphasis on the _villainy_ being just as wrong as the _reason._ Reasons can be sympathetic, but that doesn't mean that the action is excusable. And that's where simple, brutal villains come into play. They regive that context.

[@Gell-lo]

Simple but solid vid. Thanks.

[@bradleymarshall5489]

The High Evolutionary was one of the best depictions of Gnosticism I've ever seen

[@rabenkonig6251]

Gnosticism as a whole? Or the Demiurge? If the latter, then yeah, he absolutely is a Demiurge figure and is exactly what the Gnostics would've feared.

[@bradleymarshall5489]

@@rabenkonig6251 more Voegelin s diagnosis of Gnosticism in perceiving reality as inherently disordered and in need of fixing

[@bradleymarshall5489]

@@rabenkonig6251 more Voegelin’s analysis that Gnostics believe reality is inherently disordered and therefore needs a savior to arise and fix it

[@rabenkonig6251]

@@bradleymarshall5489 Isn't that just plain old Christianity? I've been led to believe that the entire premise of Gnosticism was that the world *couldn't* be fixed. That material life is *inherently* flawed and removed from the spiritual order (ofc, the specifics varied between the sects).This is in direct opposition to what the High Evolutionary takes after: a Demiurge that "creates" life (more like he bastardizes pre-existing life) so he can have something to worship him. Ignorance and vanity are his main traits. The Evolutionary's line about there being no God and thus taking it's place is classic Demiurge behavior.

[@M1scarr1age]

He's just so Mother.❤

[@zarabee2880]

The bit that shivered me was the insidious bit where baby Rocket is sitting on his knee and the HE grasps his head, he’s still being “kind” at this stage but it’s gross & made my stomach clench 👏👏👏

[@Wifgargfhaurh]

Guardians of the Galaxy is a masterpiece of a trilogy, i will love these movies until i die

[@MusicLover-my6fo]

Ryan Ayrey from ScreenCrush literally just posted a video about this same topic, great minds think alike I suppose.

[@braydenwilliams4478]

Great channel, thanks for the content

[@mr_0n10n5]

Fun Fact: Besides Infinity War, GoTG vol 1 has the largest number of on screen deaths

[@MBKsolid1]

2:56 oh yea no, you didnt get it right. lol

[@dylancoykendall554]

Wdym

[@TheGreatestJediOfAllTime]

@@dylancoykendall554the name lmao

[@plaidhatter1674]

I didn't finish watching the movie, but I probably should have. This....THING was really something else.

[@introtheartist5625]

I'll admit I was ready to throw hands with the high evolutionary myself

[@chavesa5]

0:27 in and your prethesis is just inane. Thanos is the villain who thinks he's being complex but is nakedly rationalizing his own desire for total control and despotism. That's why his policies are inconsistent outside of raw narcissistic power-tripping -- he tortures and replaces Nebula for no clearly stated reason other than "competition," his royal guard makes evangelical statements as though he were a religion, and his one-time lapdog Loki speaks on his behalf literally saying that subjugation is the way. The *joke* is that his whole philosophy is from a discredited 19th century thought experience by Malthus. Like, I'm sure you probably have some good thoughts and I get the audience you're shooting for, but I cannot take you seriously if you fumble your intro that hard. Do you think Heath Ledger's Joker and the trolley problem was complex?

[@miguelrodriguez-pineroriva6713]

I think another interesting side of the character is how his personal antagonism of rocket was because rocket surpassed him. You could see how rocket figuring out the problem with the genetic work triggered his insecurity and him wanting to get rocket's brain to study it was more an excuse to eliminate him. He wanted to create perfection, but he forgot that he was imperfect himself, and could not bear to be surpassed

[@CountryShape]

i agree the high evolutionary is pure evil. another villain that is pretty evil i would say is Ego Afterall he did have many children only to kill them because they weren't what he wanted. who knows what else he's done.

[@cmwest0]

Something the high evolutionary could've done: clone Rocket multiple times for experiments, "apprentice" Rocket, and "deal" with him after his usefulness came to an end, lobotomize/turn him into something of a servitor who no longer has a personality but all the knowledge

[@jasonfrancese8359]

It’s also nice that the villain isn’t the classic Marvel “basically right, but WHAT ABOUT THE METHODS?!?!” Killmonger’s making too many good points, have him choke a woman. Karli seems to justifiable, have her kill some innocent people for no reason.

[@alfiechenery4146]

The high evolutionary had a greater impact on me that any other mcu villain (of what movies I’ve watched). And that’s really because we visibly see the most deplorable actions from this guy. The stakes are not really the highest, I mean he does destroy a planet but if we’re being honest we don’t spend enough time there to get really invested in the people, we just know the mass genocide is bad. But we personally witness him torture and murder characters we become attached to, and how he abuses rocket at every turn. I didn’t spend the movie on the edge of my seat cause the stakes are so high what if the hero’s fail. I spent the movie hating the guts of this guy, and begging that he is punished for his crimes. I remember thinking at times of the final fight like no please go back don’t let him live go kill him for sure. Because I had such a visceral reaction to this most evil person that I couldn’t bare the thought of him surviving into another movie

[@faffywhosmilesatdeath5953]

6:44 Listen, the video was great, but did you really have to spoil this gut punch of a scene?

[@Venxous]

Kinda it was part of my analysis, maybe should have had a spoiler warning tho

[@JCCyC]

Watch Entangled and afterwards tell me about Mother Gothel. You'll feel she's the High Evolutionary's twin.

[@levizilla-rf1pm]

a few days ago I watched gotg3 for the third time with a few people who haven´t watched it yet and always when another rocket flashback came in I was as upset about high evolutionary as them

[@runisa]

Literally was talking about this with my mom a few months ago

[@truthseeker7815]

Gotta admire the scientific spirit though

[@dicemace3664]

Theirs no intro into the video btw

[@estermagdali]

Great trilogy movie

[@MarvNARK]

I hope you're too illiterate to ever read the books

[@Lancersilva]

He is the best villain in the MCU due to the very fact that he is genuinely evil, he makes the audience scared and angry. I will die on this hill.

[@ShocktrooperProductions]

I was only rewatching this movie just to see this guy get beat up

[@moroteseoinage]

Good audio quality

[@rowandunning6877]

He is so FUCKING TERRIFYING BRO

[@WoWplayer-v6u]

mcu's high evolutionary was basically mcu's IShowSpeed

[@AH-is5yg]

He was a horrible villain done right. We really hate this villain because of his horrible acts. He mocked Rocket after he killed his friends. That is pure evil. James Gunn really did a great job.

[@avalsnep9910]

While I agree this was an amazing movie it’s not because of the villain. The high evolutionary isn’t a great villain to me (a good one for sure however). What really pushes the story forward however is not the villain but the characters reaction to the villain, the ptsd that is inflicted and how rocket overcomes that with the help of his new family. The family that he truly bonded with like he did with the other animals that he was kept with. A support system that kept him grounded. The story isn’t about the high evolutionary but rocket raccoon, and his closure with his past. The high evolutionary is a catalytic story element more than he is a villain. Without the high evolutionary and his history with rocket, rockets story would not have the same effect…

[@abraham2172]

I fully agree that the HE is truly disgusting and pure evil, but an amazing villain as well. The only question I have though, is why he let Rocket escape and live his life until he was hurt? Wouldnt he already have attempted to find him and get revenge in the meantime? Or did Rocket somehow manage to shake him off and out of his sight?

[@Crea_TV]

Honestly looking at it they did have the best villains, they were indeed evil. With the MCU itself Loki was just a fool being used, Ultron was technically right as humans are innately evil just with the potential of doing good so he lacked the patience to let such a matter sort itself out, he had no faith of his own, much like Tony. Thanos was afraid for the survival of all life he was just misguided and assumed the resources of life are what was finite another fool. But with the GotG villains, Ronan wanted to dominate and destroy a species for glory. Ego wanted to unify the universe and strip free will from everyone. Lastly the High evolutionary wanted to replace God which is sin incarnate of the devil variety.

[@BaiZhang-e7u]

As a diagnosed sociopath who is only able to relate with Homelander, Yeah. He's one of us. He's got his goals. He knows what he stands for. He did it for dumb reasons but god he tried.

[@axels3188]

I Agree The High Evolutionary is the bested representing of pure Evil villains and modern movies have overused The sympathies Villian troupe and Disney is one of them as they tried to bring back Classic villains in Wish but that failed bad but The gaurdians of the Galaxy triogy has done that very well.

[@electricVGC]

New Mic is solid mate

[@thelonebraincell5908]

Wait, they were building up to the Golden priest? I don't remember them mentioning that at all?

[@ulfrthewolf5065]

Pure evil exists in our world, and we just wanna see that put down

[@wump9066]

One of the things that bothered me the most about the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom reviews was that they were upset Ganondorf didn’t have any depth and was just bad. He’s the reincarnation of the embodiment of evil, he’s a demon, he doesn’t need to be sympathetic

[@baydiac]

They saw fanart of rehydrated ganondorf and were really hoping Calamity Ganon was just a good guy corrupted by dark magic. It would be interesting to see what Ganondorf would be like as an ally, I agree, and maybe they'll try it out in one of the future reincarnations of the trio. But I don't know if wanting that bc they were anticipating that he was gonna be a hot piece of ass was the right motivation... lmao

[@ptonpc]

Agreed.