Warning: Spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 are in play. If you haven't seen the film yet, please bookmark this page & come back after you've gotten hooked on this particular feeling.
Just in time for Free Comic Book Day, Marvel has graced us with the presence of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2! With critical praises being sung quite loud, and early audiences bringing the film to a $17 million opening night, there's clearly something there that's winning audiences over from both sides of the aisle. And we think we know what might be the best candidate for the deciding factor: the humor.
With as many, if not more, gags that land hearty laughs from the audience, writer /director James Gunn's follow-up to his 2014 hit has some awesomely funny moments, and we've got a list of 10 that we think take the cake.
Drax Has Sensitive Nipples
Drax The Destroyer looks like a warrior above all warriors, tough as hell and ready to dish it out. But there's one thing that acts as a weak spot for his battle read persona: his nipples. Hearing Dave Bautista deliver the explanation that Drax cannot wear a rocket pack due to his sensitive nipples, and with such a deadpan demeanor, is one of the best laughs that comes out of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. And the bonus is that considering it's right from the first act of the film, it's one of the first big laughs to land throughout the film.
Rocket Doesn't Understand How To Subtly Wink
Rocket Raccoon is obviously an MVP when it comes to humor in the Guardians of the Galaxy series, and Vol. 2 affords him some fantastic opportunities to make us laugh yet again. And now the sequel has him trying to master that higher form of communication: sarcasm. In particular, Rocket's trying, and failing miserably, to wink subtly as a sign of his insincerity. It doesn't work, and every time someone calls him out on it, it's as priceless as seeing him try to be sarcastic in the first place, as his wording is just as subtle as his winking.
Drax Has Famously Huge Turds
Action scenes don't always nail comedy, but when they do, it's usually in moments that are so funny it can't help but land. So when Rocket threatens Quill with some fresh raccoon turds in his pillowcase during a particularly tense space chase, it landed a laugh. But bringing Drax in on the gag, proclaiming that his own turds are notoriously huge, scores a nice 1, 2 punch for the team's comedic chops. If Rocket ever gets a spin-off, Drax is one of those guys we want on the short list for backup.
Rocket's A Trash Panda, Also A Triangle-Faced Monkey
This list isn't all about Rocket and Drax, we swear. But just one more hysterical running gag is the various insults that Rocket has hurled at him, regarding his appearance. But out of all the put-downs levelld against our woodland friend, two rank in above all others. When Ego (Kurt Russell) calls him a "triangle-faced monkey," it's delivered with all the comic charm that they could put into such a sign of disrespect. However, escalating to having Quill call him a "Trash Panda," only for Rocket not to understand the insult, is the cherry on top of the cavalcade of trash talk that the Bradley Cooper-voiced character endures.
Nebula's Fruit Really Isn't Ripe
One of the most important rules of comedy is the "rule of three." So Nebula was obviously never going to get to bite into that not-so-ripe space fruit the first two times she tries, and that's a pretty funny build up to an eventual payoff. And boy, does that payoff ever deliver, as Neblula gets her fruit in the middle of her escape / assistance of the Ravagers, and yeah, it's not as ripe as she'd want it to be. Nothing like a stone cold killer decrying how their snack isn't ready just yet.
Groot Hates Hats
While Rocket and Yondu are stuck in a jail cell, it's up to Baby Groot to try and interpret their orders to fetch Yondu's fin. And it's during one of those attempts that we learn something important to Groot's character: he hates hats. So much so that he's upset when he thinks Yondu wants him to wear a Ravagers badge as a hat, which is translated with perfect straight-man timing by his best friend, Rocket. It's one of the more subtle laughs in the film, but it helps keep the big ticket gags fresh.
Peter, The Celestial, Swears He's Going To Make Some Weird Shit
One line is all it takes to break an audience into a well-timed laugh, and surely Chris Pratt's years on Parks and Recreation have taught him just that very lesson. Which means that if you look closely, you could see a little bit of the old Andy Dwyer magic in the scene where Kurt Russell's Ego introduces Star-Lord to his powers as the child of a Celestial. And what's one of the first things Peter promises to do? Make some weird shit, like a statue of Pac-Man. That one damned line breaks the audience every time, and helps set up a more important laugh down the line.
Yondu Is Mary Poppins, Y'All
The character of Michael Rooker's Yondu is not only important to the overarching story of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, he's still one of the most amusing to watch. Part of it is his Southern drawl crossing over into the delivery of such extra-terrestrial dialogue as he gets in these films, and it helps deliver one of the funniest, yet most emotional laughs in the film. For Yondu not to only mistake Mary Poppins as a he, but to also proclaim himself as Mary Poppins, is a moment that only Rooker could deliver to its fullest potential.
Peter Powers Up Into Pac-Man
When Peter Quill sets his mind to something, he usually doesn't give up on it. So during his super-powered battle of the gods with his father, Ego, he delivers on a personal promise he made to himself, and the audience. Just when the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 battle starts to look too much like an outtake from Man of Steel, Ego summons a bunch of rocks into a larger than life formation that looks like himself. Quill's opposing form is none other than the Man of Pac himself, complete with sound effects, which lands solid laughs through visual flair and calling back to a previous joke.
Teenage Groot Thinks Peter Is Boring
Even the various mid-credit sequences during Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 manage to generate solid laughs, none more than the scene where we see a teenage Groot playing video games in a messy room. Peter finally gets a taste of fatherhood while trying to get Groot to clean his room, and the role reversal Quill undergoes brings him to a hilarious realization: this is exactly what Yondu went through raising him. It's the parent's curse in action.
